Milk

When I was pregnant, I swore to myself that I will exclusively breastfeed my baby. No formula for him for the next 3 months! Well, I thought wrong.

A few hours after I gave birth, the baby was brought to me to breastfeed. I immediately brought him to my breast and thought that was it. But Basti wouldn't latch. We continued on for several tries but to no avail until his cries finally unnerved me. I broke down and asked the pedia to prescribe formula for him.

For two weeks, until we got home, I could only count the number of times that I was able to successfully breastfeed my baby. It has become a stressful time for the both of us as he would cry when he couldn't latch and I would cry with him feeling that I failed him somehow. We became dependent on the formula to feed him and seldom breastfed him as much as I wanted. I pumped milk from my breasts but I only do it so often as it was so tedious and I can't get enough milk as I would want from my manual pump.

However, this changed when he caught a cold on his 3rd week. It was too soon for him to get sick and this was because he did not have enough of my anti-bodies to fight off the germs. Thankfully, the pedia did not prescribe any antibiotics yet. I hunkered down, researched tips on breastfeeding over the web and steeled my resolve to breastfeed my son and I won't let his cries affect me.

Thank God my husband has been so supportive through the whole thing. After a few tries, my baby and I found the right positions for him to latch and breastfeed comfortably. We still mix feed but I ensure to give him as much of my milk as I can. After a week of breastfeeding, his cold was gone and we could breathe a sigh of relief.

I still continue to breastfeed him and I'll continue to do so as much as I can. Just last week, we learned to breastfeed while lying down and we were both happy with that. I didn't have to strain my injured wrist further.

I'll be returning to work in three weeks and hopefully, I'll be able to express some milk even with my hectic and busy schedule at work.

Picture taken from http://sayyestobreastfeeding.com/