Breastfeeding for the first time: Nic’s experience

We all know that ‘breast is best’, but when you’re pregnant for the first time and baffled about pretty much everything from which pram to choose to how on earth you’re gonna squeeze a whole other person out of you, the thought of getting to grips with breastfeeding can be more than a little daunting.  However much you read about techniques and latching and pumping and mastitis, there’s no substitute for getting advice straight from the horse’s mouth – from mums who have been there, done that and got the milk-stained t-shirt.  This post tells the very positive and inspiring story of Nic who took an ‘as it comes’ approach to breastfeeding baby R, and after a few initial hiccups, found it easier than she had expected!

This is the first in a series of posts featuring ‘real’ breastfeeding stories from NI mums, so if you think your own experiences might help others, then please get in touch – maybe you’ve breastfed twins or a preemie, come up against problems like postnatal depression or tongue tie, or maybe like Nic you were really worried about breastfeeding and were pleasantly surprised!  If you’d like to get involved then please contact me at mumunplugged@googlemail.com.

“When I was pregnant, my attitude to breastfeeding was always ‘I’ll give it a go’. I knew I definitely wanted to try but I told myself it wasn’t the end of the world if I couldn’t do it. My main concern was that it would be painful.  My labour was relatively quick but I had a bleed after Riley was born so I think it was about 45mins to an hour after she was born before I held her, and I first fed her shortly after that. There was no pressure, the midwife just asked if I wanted to try and feed her and to be honest it was easy, Riley just knew exactly what to do. I was very lucky, she just got stuck in and began sucking straight away and it felt really natural.  My midwife was really supportive.

“At one of my ante-natal classes a girl who came to speak about breast-feeding described it at the start as ‘toe-curling’ and I have to admit she was right!  Certainly not all the time, but after we brought her home and I was feeding without anybody there to help I know at times I didn’t have Riley latched on properly and that was sore.  I was a bit naive and just let Riley carry on feeding even when her latch was a bit off, and ended up with cracked nipples. Once I learnt to take her off and re-position her it was a lot easier and my nipples healed up.
On day 3 when my milk came in my breasts were huge – something I’m not used to at all!  That was very uncomfortable, even my back and arms ached, but I spoke to a good friend who had also breastfed her baby and she advised me to lie in a warm bath which really helped.   I also would have placed a warm facecloth on my breast before feeding at that time which eased the discomfort.

“I’ve been very lucky to have great support from everybody around me, from the health professionals in hospital and my community midwife to my husband and family.  I knew everybody supported my decision to breastfeed and nobody ever suggested that I should stop or give her a bottle.  My community midwife was great at the start when I was having trouble getting Riley latched on properly and my husband was brilliant, helping me to get her settled after a feed and taking over so that I could rest when I wasn’t feeding! I really believe you need that support and also encouragement that you’re doing OK.  I also found it helpful to just take one day at a time; I never really thought about giving up breastfeeding but there were tough times!  The hardest day I had was at the end of the second or third week, a Friday, when Riley must have been going through a growth spurt.  I don’t think I left my rocking chair for any length of time, she fed constantly the whole day.  I remember feeling SO SO tired but I also remember thinking ‘it can’t be like this tomorrow as well’ – and it wasn’t!

“One of the hardest things I found about breastfeeding wasn’t that it hurt or even the lack of sleep – in fact Riley has slept through from 11pm-6am more or less since she was born – it was finding something to wear!  Before I was pregnant I was used to being able to wear whatever I wanted so I was looking forward to wearing all my old favourite clothes again – except that hardly any of them had any access for breastfeeding.  I really struggled to find things that looked nice and trendy but were practical for feeding when we were out and about – in fact I still do.  I find myself wearing lots of vest tops and t-shirts with little cardigans – and funky scarves!

“The thing I love most about breastfeeding is the closeness I feel with Riley when I am feeding her, there is nothing else like it and it makes any discomfort I experienced at the start totally worthwhile.  It’s really satisfying watching her grow and gain weight, and knowing that it’s all down to me.  It’s also really handy when we are out and about – I can feed her at a moment’s notice so there’s never any screeching while she waits for me to make up a feed.  I’d definitely do it again if we ever had another baby.

“For mums who are thinking abut breastfeeding I would say do not stress about it beforehand, give it a go if you want to and talk to other breastfeeding mums. They are a wealth of information. I joined a breast-feeding group when Riley was 5 weeks old and it was fantastic, I met some great people and we still go! Oh, and Lansinoh for cracked nipples of course!”