Since my breastfeeding experience is over I’ve spent some time reflecting.
I hope I never forget those first few weeks of our journey. Those weeks were so raw as we were figuring out how it all worked and also figuring out each other. It was more than a nursing thing; it was bonding.
I remember constantly being asked if our families were babysitting a lot since they are in town. I was always surprised by this question because I couldn’t imagine not being around my nursing baby. For one, I could feed Jim whenever he was hungry. But that also meant I didn’t have to pump. From the day he was born he was a part of my life. If I had plans, they included him. Now that he’s older we do take advantage of babysitters every once in a while. While I miss him, I his eating habits aren’t impacted by my being away.
I’ve been thinking about what made it work. Aside from the fact that it worked for us. I think a big part of it was my husband. We spent quite a bit of time talking about it while I was pregnant. We both wanted our son to be breastfed. But neither of us knew what to expect. I read a book and we took a class. We both felt comfort knowing that our hospital was pro-breastfeeding and had a very high breastfeeding rate.
After Maximus was born, neither of us knew what to do. We had learned but doing was a lot harder. We needed help and we got it. One of the most important things was Bryan listening and helping me later. He listened to the experts and reminded me later when I wasn’t doing something right. He was amazing! Throughout the first year he continued to support ms in terms of washing pump pieces or transferring milk to the freezer or making sure we took milk to daycare. He wasn’t just there for moral support, he was a physical force and that is what helped me meet our breastfeeding goal.
I nursed Maximus the day after his 1st birthday and he hasn’t looked back since. He’s loving the sippy cup and whole milk world! It was a little touchy that first week when his daycare buddy got to drink so many bottles. He’s past that now and is loving the big boy world.
I couldn’t have ever imagined that I would have this kind of experience. Until I got pregnant, I never spent any time considering if I would breastfeed. My life is forever changed from this experience and I’m grateful for my husband and his support. Because of my successful experience, I look forward to doing it again.
I hope to breastfeed when I am a mom. It’s important to me – not only to nourish our baby, but also for the bonding time. I enjoyed reading about your experiences!
You did a great job lady! I was like you, until I was pregnant, I never gave breastfeeding a second thought. Then when I was pregnant, I knew it was something that I wanted to do. Unlike you, my husband was skeptical. He thought that bottle feeding would be easier, but said if I wanted to breastfeed he would support me. In the end, he was my biggest supporter and cheerleader. I wouldn’t have made it past the three week growth spurt without him. And when I had to stop nursing our younger son when he was three months old, he was there with amazing support and sympathy too. Dads don’t often realize it (especially before their baby is born) but they are a HUGE part of breastfeeding.