MY SURPRISING BREASTFEEDING JOURNEY
I started my breastfeeding journey earlier than I planned as my son was 3 months premature and I was told by the hospital that breastmilk was the only thing he could safely ingest.
I was referred to Breastfeeding Q&A by a Lactation Consultant and it was the best advice I got! Since my son was in the NICU, I had to exclusively pump from the start. I was doing 8 pumps, every 3 hours, and there were days where I felt completely drained - tired, with sore breasts and severely hurting back and neck muscles...the pump really takes it toll on you.
But every time I felt overwhelmed, I would read a story on this group that would inspire me - stories of people exclusively pumping for years and suffering all kinds of breast/nipple issues and still going strong. The advice I got from the group also allowed me to continue my breastfeeding journey longer as I learnt how to increase my supply and also how to pump and transport milk while traveling. |
My son never latched on properly so I continued to exclusively pump for him; in this way I managed to provide all his milk needs, and I pumped for 11 months with the support of this amazing group of moms!