I am the mother who breast feeding came easily for. The ability to feed your baby until he is fat, happy and passed out milk drunk is such a satisfying feeling, more than a feeling it’s a super power. I stayed home with my first son (Avery) until he was three, which was easier than the situation I am in now. I nursed Avery for the first year, he lost interest, and we switched him to whole milk. Not to say that being a stay at home mom is easy by any stretch of the imagination, but breastfeeding when you are with your child all day is much easier than breastfeeding when you are away from over 8 hours a day. You can’t argue that.
For one thing, a mother’s body picks up on her baby’s cue of when he is hungry. Remember in the show “The Office” when Pam returns from maternity leave and her coworkers make crying baby sounds to see if it makes her uncomfortable. It’s true, when a breastfeeding mother hears her baby crying, her milk often times let’s down. When you are away at work at not around your baby, you aren’t answering his calls of hunger, so you have to rely on a pumping schedule to help maintain your supply. I can and will give a whole slew of tips for being a successful breastfeeding mother while working full time, but that’s for another post.
My second born son (Chase) latched on like a champ within the first few minutes of his precious life and my let down quickly followed. He nursed solidly every 3 hours during my maternity leave, and I was able to bank over 150 ounces of liquid gold during that time. After I returned to work 6 weeks later I steadily brought home at least 20 ounces a day from pumping. To say the least I was a milk making machine.
However, recently I had a scare that was able to help me to finally relate to all of my mom friends who had milk making issues. My husband and I celebrated a friend’s wedding in Charlottesville, VA a few weekends ago, and the boys stayed overnight at their grandparent’s house. This wasn’t our first night without the kids, and I usually pump at some point to either store in a fridge (if I haven’t been indulging in micro-brews) or pump and dump. This trip was different. We would be gone for less than 24 hours, and even though I brought my pump. I chose not to pump before the wedding. Not because I didn’t need to, but because I honestly just wanted a night off.
Now that Chase is 9 months old, he is only nursing about 4 times a day. I don’t have to pump at work so long as I pump when I get home and my milk supply has been right on target. I left my pump in the hotel and reluctantly told another pumping mom at the wedding that I was leaving my pump at the hotel.
We had a great time at the wedding just being adults, and I woke up to engorged breasts in the morning. A painful but welcoming feeling to a nursing mama, even though it was a pump and dump kind of day. (I don’t have those alcohol level testing strips for breast milk, but if I did, I’m sure they would have shown that my milk that morning was not OKfor child consumption.) So after pumping and dumping we hit the road to get our boys.
Three hours later and we were all reunited, even though my breasts didn’t seem to notice. They felt as empty as they had just after pumping. Which was not normal for my usual gun-ho let down. The rest of that day would consist of me tapping into my frozen milk because my breasts still were not letting anything down. I pumped for 20 minutes before bed that night and to my dismay, I banked a measly 1 ounce.
My eyes welled with tears as my husband praised me for making it as long as I had. “You’ve fed him for 9 months, that’s amazing! We will only need to give him formula for 3 months before he can switch to milk, that’s not bad at all.” Formula? No. I have dealt with immense amount of mommy guilt this time around and breastfeeding was my way of dealing with the guilt of being away from home. As long as I was able to bring home milk (and the bacon) I was able to keep my emotions in check. I fed our first son for the first year and by gosh I was going to do the same with our second.
That night I set my alarm for 1:30 am, the first time I had to get up to nurse/pump since Chase was a newborn waking up in intervals to feed. I pumped for 20 minutes. My reward, another measly 1 ounce. At this point I have 2 ounces in the fridge for work tomorrow. I need at least 6 to be able to leave him for the work day. I’m starting to stress when the little train from one of Avery’s favorite books comes into my head. “I think I can, I think I can.” I get up and make myself my favorite lactation boosting shake. Protein packed milkshakes may seem a bit excessive for a midnight snack, but hey we’re trying to make milk over here. I fell asleep after that feeling like this may just be the end of my milk supply.
I woke up a little earlier than usual and set up my pump. My breasts still felt pretty empty, but it was definitely worth me trying again. I pumped, and lo and behold I banked 6 ounces, a full bottle! I was ecstatic! This experience brought me to realize that breastfeeding really is not easy for everyone. I can now relate to my friends and mothers who have struggled to provide their baby with milk, and I have been inspired to help them work through their struggles. A mother’s body is an incredible thing. We can grow a baby, birth a baby and make milk for our baby. Believe in yourself. You are someone’s superhero!
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article sponsered by Northern Michigan certified lactation consulting and Mother Hubbards Country Cupboard
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