So if you spend any amount of time on Facebook you would have noticed by now that it was National Breastfeeding Week last week and if you didn't, well then you must have been hiding under a rock.
But anyway, it's made me look back on my breastfeeding journey so far and take a second to celebrate the fact that my breastfeeding journey with Darcy has been my most successful to date.
With Caden I only made it to about 8 weeks when the pain of my letdown and cracked nipples got the better of me and we switched to formula and pumping. I think I managed to pump until he was 3 months old and then we switched to formula full time.
Fast forward 15 months and my journey with Mahli started, this one lasted a lot longer and she was breastfed until 8.5 months when she started to refuse breastfeeds. I had started work when she was 4 months old so I think we both did well to get to that point.
And well my journey with Ethan was a completely different story. He was breastfed until 6 weeks of age when I was diagnosed with postnatal depression. I was put on medication that wasn't compatible with breastfeeding and that was that.
So this time round I was determined to give it a red hot go and Darcy seemed to be on the same page from the get go.
He had a pretty perfect attachment right from the very beginning and I had enough confidence in what I was doing to correct it when it wasn't 100% right. The only issues we have had in our breastfeeding journey was unbelievable painful letdowns until he was 12 weeks old.
Yep, you read that right! Even with perfect attachment there was pain. So many times you hear that breastfeeding SHOULDN'T hurt if you are doing it right. But I want to say that it can and does, it is something that both you and your baby have to learn and get used to.
After speaking with a few lactation consultants and lots of support from B I managed to overcome the painful letdown when he was around 12 weeks old and it been pretty much smooth sailing from then on.
I'm not sure how long this journey will last, but right now we are both happy doing what we are doing.
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