I just want to start by saying how much I love to nurse my babies. While I was pregnant I took a nursing class that was included in my birthing class. I wanted to make sure that I did and knew everything in my power to be able to nurse my baby. I felt like with the right knowledge and support team I could do it. And I was right. If I didn't have the support team that I had I probably would have given up. I encourage every nursing mom to have some kind of support group that you can talk to about nursing. You always have this feeling of not knowing how much milk your baby is getting. They say as long as they have the wet/poop diapers your baby is getting enough. In Nebraska there was this little shop that sold just about any baby item you would want, but they also had lactation consultants there to help you out for free. They had support groups and special classes that you could go to for free. I went to one class called nursing while going back to work. It gave me such confidence in knowing that I would still be able to work and supply my baby with only with breast milk (that was my goal to only breastfeed for the first year w/ using formula). I don't know why but I just had a really strong feeling that it was something I wanted to do. I hadn't been around too many mothers that nursed. I worked in childcare so I saw a lot of children that were just on bottles. Which is fine for some people. Some people don't like to nurse and some people just can't produce enough and that's ok. Every little bit matters. If you have the desire to nurse don't give up until you have tried everything and then you know that you did all you could. Anyways so I ended up nursing my daughter until she was one. I thought about doing it a little longer but I got pregnant when Annabelle was 11 months old. But I am proud to say that I continued to nurse her until she was able to start whole milk.
Now I am on my second nursing baby. He is 6 months old and I can't believe it. It was still hard at first and painful. The latch was good and I felt comfortable with how it looked. You know what to expect the second time around. I knew with the second one that I wanted to nurse him until he was one also. It was still hard and part of me still wanted to give up, but knowing I did it once really helped me to stay strong. Both kids are so different. When Annabelle was little she would nurse for a good 30 minutes and I never really new if she was done or no.t I would just switch sides after 15-20 minutes. She nursed on both sides until she was about 6 months old and then she cut back to only nursing for about 10 min on one side. Weston was completely different. I nursed him on both sides for about the first week and then he just wouldn't eat on the other side. I was nervous I would get mastitis or something so I would pump on the side he didn't eat on. It all worked out!! I never got an infection and he still continues to eat on one side (I alternate each feeding) for about 5 minutes. I hope I am able to nurse Weston for the first year and I am pretty confident that I will :).
Stay strong mommas!!! It's hard but it gets easier. The bonding time is amazing. They are only little for so long I can't help but watch my sweet boy eat..
