World Breastfeeding Week

This past week was World Breastfeeding week. It ended on August 7th. Breastfeeding is something that takes a lot of work...not gonna lie. It's very time consuming but oh so worth it. I struggled for the first five and half weeks to breastfeed. Juliana did not watch to latch. It made me feel like a failure. I'd try and try but she wouldn't. Whenever I would put her to me she would cry out like she was being tortured. I knew something must be wrong. But I went to several lactation consultants at the hospital and not one of them seemed to be real helpful. It was so frustrating.

On top of it I was trying to pump for Juliana to have something. I'd spend hours and getting nothing. Sometimes I would feel like we were getting somewhere because I would have two or three good days where I would get a good stash of breastmilk. But then back to nothing. That ended up being my pump. We had spent a couple hundred dollars on a pump only to have a cheap thirty dollar pump work.

Then there were times that I got an ounce or more of blood in my milk. It would look like strawberry milk. I had a huge laceration on my nipple that still has not healed normal and I'm sure it will never be the same again. I had excruciating pain, infections and several fevers.

Anyways, point is breastfeeding can have many bumps in the road but knowing the benefits can help you stay focused. 

Having great support is also very helpful. So all family members and friends should offer support. I'm so glad that I had Matt's support. He helped me throughout the whole ordeal. There were several nights, those first weeks, were I would spend hours pumping trying to get something. Then I would give it to him to feed to her and back to pumping I would go. My professor from Kansas State University was also very helpful. She suggested several things as well as many websites to look at (Matt had already looked at many of those sites). But one thing she suggested stuck out to me because I had wanted to take Juliana to the chiropractor before she was even born. I had heard good things about doing so. However, I was not aware of craniosacral therapy that some chiropractors practice. I took her to Absolute Wellness in Burlington, Iowa and within 24 hours she was latching. It was AMAZING! Click here to learn more about  craniosacral theray.

Through ALL of my breastfeeding challenges I would not trade it for anything. It is what is best and I know Juliana will benefit from it all.