My Saga of Nursing

Nursing, Breastfeed, whatever you want to call it, I do it. Its the only I've ever wanted to do with my babies. I consider it a privilege to provide this for my baby. Was it easy? Pardon my french, but holy heck, NO! But it was the one thing I could do for my children that no one else on this planet could do for them. Heres how it went with Baby # 1: My beautiful blue eyed Ben!
   He latched on really well right from the start. I was probably one of the first things I did when I held him, I wanted him too learn how to do this pretty quickly. he wasn't a big eater ans one of the nurses was a little concern. I now know that right after babies are born, they are probably still full from being CONSTANTLY nourished, so they might not eat as much, at first. We did have problems with that later.. going back to the story....

   Its hurt like the dickens the first 2 weeks we nursed. I even cried for a few days every single time he latched. It was not pretty. I tried many different positions and that helped to. I probably didn't help that I got bronchitis too. I wasn't a happy camper. Anyways, I stuck it out and he turned out to be a fantastic nurser. We breastfeed until 10 months when he started going down to about 2 feedings but they were only 2 minutes long. Not ok. So, that was a positive experience, for the most part.
Now, here is the hard part of my story. My next two babies were preemies. My twins were born 4 month too early. We didn't get to hold them until they were a month old, so nursing them was out of the question. I had to pump.  Yuck. If I never have to pump again, it would be alright in my book. I pumped for 4 months, til the day they got home. Anyways, after I pumped, I nursed them. Was it easy? Heck no! it was the worst experience of my life. I started helping them latch when they were about 32 weeks. They didn't actually nurse until a few weeks later, but it wasn't easy to get them to stay on. I got very frustrated very quickly. At least their tiny little latches didn't hurt. Anyways, I talked with a nursing counselor and she suggested a shield. It did help the latch and actually get some kind of nourishment, however it was super frustrating using it. They finally got off of those about 2 months after they got home. Then I nursed the to a full year. I stopped nursing them on their birthday because they weren't nursing for very long anymore, but I was determined to do a full year.
Want to know why I nursed? Because it was the only thing that I could do for my babies that no one else could do. Having my babies in the hospital was really hard on me because I couldn't take care of them like I should of been. Dr.s and Nurses got that job, but I could nurse them. It was so important that they get the breast milk for their health. Honestly, some people don't think nursing is that great, that formula might actually be better for them. There is nothing wrong with babies drinking formula, my girls were also on that for a year, but there are certain benefits to nursing that some people don't know. Did you know that when you nurse, your baby get antibodies from you and it helps them to not get sick. or when they are sick, it helps them to get over it faster, its like medicine designed especially for them. It also has special fats to help them grow and develop their eyes and brains. These are just a few of the benefits.
Have you ever heard that nursing was the most beautiful thing and that it would bond you instantly and it wasn't going to hurt and that you baby would know how to nurse instinctively? Well, these are all lies. Well, nursing is beautiful.. when you now frustrated out of you mind and the baby cooperates. Yes, it hurt like crap, and babies certainly don't come out knowing how to nurse. The only thing they do know is how to cry, poop and pee and even those are a struggle sometimes. I heard it put this way from a friend, who heard it from her dr. "Nursing is gonna hurt. We, as people baby ourselves, unlike wild animal who let "them" drag on the ground and are already used to the abuse. Its a process. Babies have to learn how to latch properly and mothers have to suffer until their "girls" become "calloused"." Yep, that was certainly my experience. I hope this helps someone. At least it helps me get this down on "paper".