Believe me when I say the first two weeks of having a newborn weren’t easy. Especially breastfeeding. Not that it hurt or anything, but because my milk supply was just not there.
Now please know that I also have an 11-year-old son. So, I’ve done this before. When I had him, breastfeeding was a breeze. It was easy, my son latched on, and he had more than enough breast milk to himself.
My son was in milk heaven.
But when I had my daughter, I had the same thought in my head. Breastfeeding will be easy. I’ve done it before. I know what to do.
Turns out, I didn’t know.
Before getting discharged from the hospital, my nurses would tell me to keep breastfeeding every hour. They made sure my baby was latching on well. I didn’t think much of it, knowing that my baby was healthy and sleeping and believing that all her vitals would come back normal.
When finally, a lactation consultant came into my room and offered so many different supplements to give to my baby: premade formula, trying a breast pump, drinking more water, all these different things. And I wondered why? Is something wrong?
They let me know that my baby was eating but not gaining weight. They told me that even though I was breastfeeding, she wasn’t getting enough to eat.
I instantly cried. I blamed myself.
I felt bad for my baby because I wasn’t feeding her enough. But knowing what was happening and all the options I could turn to, I really wanted to keep trying to breastfeed. I quickly decided on breast pumping because then I’d know exactly how much I was feeding my daughter. I started drinking more water and I began to eat healthy foods, hoping this would increase my supply.
On the first day of breast pumping, I was shocked at how much I pumped out.
It looked like nothing.
I went to my mom, my sister, my cousins. I asked my coworkers. I asked my lactation consultant what else I could try. What more could I do so that I could continue to breastfeed?
Finally, a friend of mine mentioned a protein product that could boost my milk supply as well as give me the energy to keep up with my baby. It’s called Boobie Body Superfood for Super Moms. I found this one at Target.
And let me tell you now, after the first few days of taking this product, my milk supply came in so fast I cried tears of joy. I had one protein shake a day. I pumped every two or three hours, and I was pumping over 7 ounces at a time.
I was proud of myself because, after two long weeks of tears and frustration, I didn’t give up. I wanted nothing more but to give my daughter all the nutrients she needed from my milk.
Motherhood is full of challenges, and mommas should decide to feed their baby in whatever way works best for them and their family. But, if you really hoped to breastfeed, I want you to know that it is very common to have some struggles in the beginning.
So if I could give any advice to a new mom who really wants to breastfeed her baby, then I would tell her to seek help and keep trying in those early weeks. Because at the end of the day, your body knows what to do, it just might need a little bit of help.
The opinions expressed in this post are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of ABQ Mom, its executive team, other contributors to the site, its sponsors or partners, or any organizations the aforementioned might be affiliated with.
