By Marcy T.

I’m a first-time mom who has a pretty unique background! Before I had my own baby, I worked as a doula, midwife, and peer lactation counselor for many years. I went into my own birth and breastfeeding experience with a lot of professional education. I had walked with families through these stages and gained second-hand experience and knowledge.

I felt that I really had an amazing foundation for our breastfeeding relationship already built prior to actually breastfeeding. I had sound knowledge that I felt confident in. I had a ton of resources available to me if I needed them, a very supportive partner, and family and close friends.

I had a relatively typical and undisturbed birth at home, in the safety and comfort of my birth team and calm environment. I followed my baby’s initial cues with breastfeeding, honoring the “golden hour.” We did immediate skin-to-skin and the “breast crawl“. Breastfeeding is one of the most important things to me in my mothering. Every single part and nuance of breastfeeding is extremely important to me. I love the endless health benefits for the breastfeeding dyad. The biological norm, connection and bonding, and the physiological communication that takes place while nursing. I love the way breastfeeding hardwires mothers’ and babies’ brains and nervous systems, allowing for co-regulation.

Luckily, I don’t think there’s anyone in my close family who thinks negatively about breastfeeding. I never had to deal with snide remarks or judgement. My family knows how important breastfeeding is to me.

I am the first in at least three generations of my family to have successfully breastfed my baby past the early newborn stage. I remember growing up hearing how hard my mother struggled to breastfeed me. She had a traumatic birth and, looking back, probably was also dealing with oral ties, so latching was very painful for her, along with postpartum mental health struggles

I have been exclusively breastfeeding my baby for seven months and counting. My goal is to breastfeed for at least two years. I truly haven’t faced too many struggles. Still, in spite of my professional background, I did have a lot of general worries, especially the first month.  I would ask myself, “Is my baby getting enough?”, even though logically I knew the answer to that concern! I think it is probably a question that wanders through every mother’s brain. I would continue to remind myself of what I know to be true.

Around one month postpartum, I had mastitis from breast inflammation. It seemed to come out of nowhere, and the symptoms I was feeling caused me a lot of anxiety, but I contacted a midwife who reassured me. I followed the current mastitis protocols and saw a lactation consultant the following day. My symptoms were quickly relieved, and I made sure to really prioritize rest that week and took lots of naps with my baby.

It took us a little bit of time to figure out the first week of breastfeeding, but, with some position changes, we were able to get a perfect latch. I have very large breasts and could only nurse in a football hold, supported with a flat pillow when my baby was really little. I was very determined to figure out a side-lying position for nursing, and it took us a couple weeks, but we eventually got it down!

I wanted to exclusively nurse, but I also thought there might be times where my baby would need a bottle due to us being away from each other for short periods of time. I wanted to stash away some milk but also didn’t want to pump too early on in my breastfeeding journey. In those early weeks, I wanted to focus primarily on establishing a good nursing relationship. I opted to wear breast shells or catch cups in my bra, which passively collected letdowns and leaks those early weeks, no suction or pumping. I think this was a really great option for me. I chose to wait until around six weeks postpartum to introduce a bottle to my baby, and my baby still has no issue going from breast to bottle or vice versa to this day.

The La Leche League USA breastfeeding info webpages were so helpful and reassuring for me to refer to during difficult times. Reaching out to other breastfeeding families for reassurance and encouragement is also very helpful and makes you feel less alone.

One of the best pieces of advice I think that can be said around breastfeeding is ” when in doubt, latch your baby!” If you’re worried about how breastfeeding is going, aren’t sure something is going right or not, or concerned your baby isn’t having frequent enough bowel movements, then latch your baby. If you are having trouble nursing, take a day and spend the whole day focusing on resting with your baby, focus on latching, and lots of skin-to-skin. There were quite a few times that I reached back to this. As parents, we often get so hooked on the newest gadget, the newest product, the quickest fix; oftentimes, we really just need to focus on the basics. When in doubt, nurse on demand, latch frequently, and be together with your baby.

Send your human milk feeding and parenting stories to Kylie at [email protected]

Supporting Breastfeeding Families–Today, Tomorrow, Always

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