Before I ever got pregnant, I wasn't sure that I'd breastfeed children at all. I didn't even really have a desire to try. Then I got a job that required me to give workshops to military families and part of one workshop was presented by WIC on the benefits of breastfeeding. So when I got pregnant, I decided I'd try to breastfeed, but when asked for how long I always answered "6 months or until he gets his first teeth."
Then Liam was born on August 20, 2007 at 10:38pm. It wasn't until the early hours of August 21st that he even knew he was alive and that he was going to survive. Until about 1am, we had no status and only knew he was rushed out of the room unable to breathe and Dave was not allowed to go with him. I refused to call family that Liam had arrived because I wasn't even sure what I'd tell them. I hadn't seen him myself and no one would tell us if he was going to be alright. Around 1am, we finally got an update that they were trying to stabilize Liam for transfer to a hospital with a NICU.
About 3 or 4am, the two loves of my life left me all alone. I remember sitting alone in my hospital bed crying and a nurse came in and quietly said "You really should get some rest, but in the meantime, do you want to try pumping?" I spent my time in the hospital pumping as much as I could, which in those first days in just small amounts of colustrum. I felt defeated when Dave came to get the the milk I pumped, but the NICU nurses assured him that I was giving Liam "liquid gold." I remember thinking Liam would never latch on since I was missing this pivotal first days with him.
Finally, I was released. This picture was taking when I put him into my arms for the first time, right before I nursed him for the first ever time.
In the photo, you can see the feeding tube they had down his nose. That is how he started off eating. I was incredibly blessed and lucky that Liam was a natural at nursing. While we had some struggles with getting a good latch on my right breast, we really had an easy time. It took 5 days for my milk to come in and i never had painful engorgement. Liam was a slow nurser, nursing for 60-90 minutes every 90 to 120 minutes for the first 4 months. I once calculated that I spent 14-16 hours a day nursing for 4 months. I loved mostly every second of it.
The fact that Liam nursed so often and the fact that he wouldn't take a bottle meant we HAD to nurse in public. I never wanted to be someone nursing with my boobs hanging out, so I bought a cover....but like the bottle, Liam hated the cover too.
Liam was nursed everywhere from the Sandringham garden (summer house to British royalty) to all over the military base to airplanes flying between England and Germany and England and the US to train and subway rides to German cafes to English pubs to parks in London....and even once in line at Heathrow, without the people next to me even knowing. Dave didn't even know; he asked me if Liam was sleeping.
Liam was a high needs baby, but nursing was one thing that settled him. As it happened, it was also the single parenting/mothering thing that came perfectly natural to me. Then in July 2008 when Liam was 11 months old, we moved from England to the US. The day after landing, Liam refused to nurse. I started pumping....I LOATHE pumping. I contacted the Le Leche League in our new town. I consulted with the lactation consultant at the local hospital. In the meantime, we found out that Liam had a double ear infection. Before his antibiotic course finished, I took a pregnancy test and found out I was pregnant. With a new pregnancy and an almost 1 year old refusing to nurse, I made the decision to switch to formula (as Liam wasn't eating much solids yet). This meant though that I was still pumping when I got pregnant.
As of today, I have been continually pregnant or breastfeeding since December 1, 2006. I know people have a longer stretch but for me who never expected to nurse, that is pretty long. When I tell people, they act shocked and ask me how many children I have and then seem even more shocked that the answer is only 2 children.
No comments:
Post a Comment