The Big W
August 30, 2009
If you were to watch videos on breastfeeding, you would come away with the notion that it’s all extremely natural and easy for a newborn infant to latch on and nurse. Yes, perhaps, for some. But for me and DD, it was our first big challenge, even more than sleep. DD was very sleepy from being slightly jaundiced, and she was born with a short frenulum (aka “tongue-tied”), which made it hard for her to grab on (and more painful when she did). She actually lost too much weight in the beginning and the doctors recommended supplementing with formula. (I now realize formula is fine, but it was traumatic at the time after we had sat through the Pump Station’s anti-formula lecture.*) Each time, i.e., 8-10x a day, I would nurse the baby and then pump to stimulate my milk supply while DH would supplement my nursing sessions with formula. We were sleepless and exhausted, and for me, it was also very painful.
But we made it through! And I nursed pretty much exclusively until I went back to work when DD was 6.5 months old. I pumped at work until she was 9 months old. And now that she’s 10.5 months old, we are finally weaning the evening feed and will probably follow with the morning feed in a week or two.
This comes with some sadness, I had hoped to make it to 1 year, but we won’t make it there. I’ll miss the intimacy and cuddling that comes with breastfeeding, but as my DH reminded me, this is just one more step of separation that begins at delivery, and that includes starting school, going to college, and getting married. Sigh. I’ll miss it, but I’m proud that I was able to provide breastmilk for my baby for almost eleven months!
* Notwithstanding the fear of formula that was taught to us, I actually love the Pump Station.
