World Breastfeeding Week starts the first week of August! During the month of August I will be doing breastfeeding mini sessions to normalize breastfeeding. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to The Breastfeeding Project. They are a local non-profit organization that provides breastfeeding education, support and some amazing breastfeeding bags for expecting mothers. If you have made the choice to breastfeed, it's not always as easy as it seems and support is vital to establishing a successful breastfeeding relationship. I will be featuring mothers nursing photos and their stores here and on my Facebook page. The Breastfeeding Project will be hosting a Big Latch On on August 1st, 2015 at Life Point Church in Longwood and Tree of Life Birth will be hosting at both of their locations (Deland and College Park) on July 31, 2015. Both events are from 9:30-11:30am, the latch on will take place at 10:30 but please arrive at least 30 mins early to sign in. I will be at the Longwood and College Park locations and you can sign up for your breastfeeding photos there! You can also contact me at the contacts listed above or HERE
My Personal Story
I knew from the moment I got that positive test that I wanted to breastfeed my son. I always thought that it was just something that went off without a hitch. The baby would be born, you'd latch them on and your milk would just flow out and you'd live happily ever after. Maybe that is the case with some people. It was not the case with us.After a traumatic birth the only thing I felt like I still had any control over was breastfeeding my son but his latch was pretty horrific right from the start. He was born with a tongue tie and nobody would clip it for us at the hospital. Being that he was born the week of Thanksgiving, we had to wait until he was about 10 days old until we could get it done. After that, it was slightly better but he was still, literally shredding me, clamping down and my toes would curl in pain. He also couldn't stay latched to a bottle of even a paci. We both powered through the frustration, pain, mastitis (twice), slow weight gain and 5 different LC's (two said there was nothing wrong) until we finally found Beckman Oral Motor Clinic. $40 and a couple of weeks of my just moving my fingers around in his mouth and he was nursing like a champ! I don't think I would have made it through the mental anguish of those first couple of months without support! I connected with a group at Tree of Life called Lika's Leaking Ladies, led by a IBCLC Allika Alce. My son and I have made some great friends through that support group. Even though we struggled I feel like it happened for a reason so we could spread awareness and meet the amazing people that we have along the way.
Each of the following stories is so different, beautiful and inspiring....
"This photo meant I did it, I made it, we made it. We made it a year. Nourishing my baby from my body, the body that grew her, the way it was meant to be. With my son it wasn't easy, I had cancer when I was pregnant with him and needed to have radiation therapy done and my oncologist was only comfortable letting me wait six months after birth. Then we had other issues, he had oral motor weakness and could never latch correctly so I took to pumping for him which still allowed me to provide him the best but I so badly wanted a real breastfeeding experience.
So when my daughter had a lip and tongue tie and breastfeeding was horribly painful I was heartbroken and almost gave up but I didn't and I took steps to fix our problems and we made it! "
"When I had my third child in 2010, I was determined to breastfeed for 6 months. I had given up at 1 month with my 2 older children because of lack of support and because of my insecurities of breastfeeding in public. I plugged in with some awesome ladies before I had my daughter and knew they would help me. After birth injury resulting in a sore baby, oversupply, mastitis twice, plugged ducts, undiagnosed tongue tie and weak oral motor muscles added to my extreme fear of nursing in public, I spiraled quickly into my only battle with post partum depression. I fought with everything I had to establish breastfeeding. And it was hard. Really hard. But at 6 months, we were still going. And it finally got easier. So I set a new goal of a year. When we hit that milestone I decided we would take it month by month. At 18 months, I was diagnosed with a thyroid disorder. And my depression came back when the doctor told me I had to wean. After more support and research, I weaned my daughter down to 1-2 times a day. But made a promise to her that she could nurse as long as she still asked for them when she woke and went to sleep. We weaned at 4 years old. A few months after her little sister was born. I don't regret nursing my daughter for 4 years. I regret that I did not get more pictures though. I'm so glad Andrea was able to capture this moment for us while I was 8 months pregnant with her little sister. (Who is still breastfeeding at 15 months.)"
"Breastfeeding my children has been a blessing. With my first child, it was a difficult journey. I was working and taking master's degree courses. but that didnt stop me. Pumping was part of my day and each time I would be wishing for the day to be over to go home and breastfeed my boy. We made it to 1.5 years. I felt like a dream come true making it that far.
Amazingly, after going through very delicate health issues and giving up the idea of becoming a mother a second time, life surprised me. My little boy came to my life healthy and ready to breastfeed. He loves his "kie kies". He is 2.8 years old and not letting go of this magical bond that we share thanks to breastfeeding"
"This picture is important to me because it was the beginning of nursing a toddler. No more little baby. We had made it! And the gymnastic nursing had begun! We had a very rocky start to our nursing relationship. We had to go through a lot of hurdles, But with determination and a whole community of support, we fought to get here! I am proud of how far we've come! This picture is now a year old, and our breastfeeding journey is still continuing!"
TO BE CONTINUED....
