This post is not to scare you at all. This is only to inform you of what’s to come if you decide to do it. Okay, now that you all know my story, let’s dive deep. When I first found out that I was pregnant I knew right then l was going to breastfeed. The benefits outweigh the downfalls honestly. For example, if your child is sick it’s like your body automatically knows it. Your breastmilk has antibodies that helps them to get better faster. Breastfeeding also protects against allergies and eczema. There’s a long list of benefits and you can read it here. With all of the benefits of breastfeeding I am not saying that it is easy, but it is not at all. By that time, I have seen all of the videos I knew what I was in for. When I first saw my baby, I wanted to breastfeed her quickly you know build a bond look in her eyes and just see how it felt for the first time. Let me tell you what no one tells you breastfeeding for some people especially me hurts.
No idea why maybe it’s because milk is coming out of your nipples for the first time and a baby is sucking for their deer life on them. Make sure you get some nipple cream please and yes, it is safe for your child. In fact, if you don’t use it the skin could chap and could cause scabbing. Although it might seem like something super nasty, but you can still feed your child that way. For me it happened in the hospital and I thought it was the most gross thing ever and I didn’t want her to feed that long I would put her on the boob and let her stay on there for 5 minutes and quickly move her to the next one.
It took a while for it to heal too because she kept feeding on it. Now I know this sounds scary but don’t worry it doesn’t last that long. I believe it got better by the 2nd week for me at least trust me that should be the least of your worries. The real thing that got me is the two-hour feedings as well as the fact that if you’re out somewhere and a baby starts crying then it makes your breasts leak (not kidding it’s a real thing). You might want to build up your milk by pumping (not something that is recommended early) so let me just tell you don’t be alarmed that it might not be as much milk as you thought. It turns out baby’s stomachs (click here for a size guide) aren’t that big so it doesn’t take that much milk to fill them up.
Poop
When milk goes in, poop comes out. So, let’s get talk about baby poop. Baby poop (click here for the newborn baby guide) is something different especially when you are breastfeeding your baby. To me it’s almost as if the poop had no smell to it at first. Which is short lived because then you have the blow out stage. Breastmilk is easier for babies to digest so that’s why one minute you could be putting your baby in the car to drive down the road to the store and you get there and they’ve ruined their clothes and the car seat from a blowout (it happened to me and it wasn’t pretty).
I’d find that what I ate would depend on if she had a blow out or not and it was all of my favorite condiments hot sauce, hot anything really, and ranch. I couldn’t eat it for a while which sucked. This brings me to something else I should say it’s almost impossible to get the yellow blow out stains out of your child’s clothes. If it happens to you it’s over, I mean you might as well throw the whole outfit away and those white onesies? Forget it! It costs way less to just buy a new set of them. Now I’m sure there’s a mom out there who has probably mastered it and got it down to a science but who has time for that right? I mean… I know I didn’t.
Feeding struggles
You’re probably exhausted from waking up in the middle of the night because of the obvious… Only you can whip them out and feed your baby. Which is a struggle within itself. Meanwhile, your significant other is all snuggled up in bed comfortable and you are ready to scream. I don’t recommend this, but I woke my boyfriend up sometimes because he was looking too comfortable. It’s not one of my proudest moments but I thought why should I be the only one tired especially if he didn’t have to work the next day. Now, not too many people know this, but you can get a free breast pump through your insurance (click here to get your free pump). No, I am not kidding. It’s literally one less thing you need to worry about paying for. I suggest you get one sometime in your third trimester before you have your little bundle of joy.
Another thing that you don’t need to worry about is going back to work and pumping after the baby. It varies by state so I can only speak for mine but in the state of Kentucky you get a break every two hours and you have to pump for 15 minutes so you can get all of the milk out of them for your baby. Also, your job has to have a safe environment for you to be able to pump and store your milk. Click here to see the specifics on your state. Now I am also sure that you have heard that some people have troubles with their milk production. There’s a list of things that you can do to boost your milk supply; there’s teas, cookies (which are delish), drinking more water, but I find that the best way to keep your milk supply going is to feed your baby more. Looking your baby in their eyes that bonding time while feeding them it makes you all the more closer. Breastfeeding can be a very hard thing to do but I will say that it is a good idea to look into it more.