Gimme those boobies!

So if you read my birth story and you thought that was an ordeal, breastfeeding is an even tougher road to begin on. I, like any new mother thought breastfeeding can't be THAT tough, when we were going through lessons on breastfeeding, it was the driest part and I really felt like dozing off but I should have been more attentive! The birthing process only last till baby comes out and that is it. Breastfeeding on the other hand last all the way till you decide to wean baby off. Generally it is recommended to breastfeed up to at least 6 months.

I always thought mothers would instinctively know how to breastfeed and baby would come out knowing how to latch. WRONG. Both mummy and baby will be learning. There are also a thousand and one things to know about breastfeeding so if you are preparing for the birth of your baby, please read up about breastfeeding. Join this group on fb "Breastfeeding mums", mums facing all sorts of problems post to get advice and support. Its a great way to learn from other people's experiences as well as feel motivated to get through the first month of breastfeeding, which is total hell as a brand new mum. I did not have any friends to talk to when I was pregnant and during my first month of breastfeeding so I was really just on my own. Tough would be an understatement.

I struggled with latching in the hospital. We had to get the nurses to help us for every feed. I just did not know if I was doing it right, if baby was getting the colostrum. Latch baby as often as you can in the hospital and get the nurses to help you so you can build up your confidence. NUH was fantastic, all the nurses encouraged and were knowledgeable about breastfeeding, which is very important since you will be breastfeeding about 9 to 12 times a day initially. If the nurses do not know how to help you, I doubt it would be possible to call the lactation consultant for every feed. NUH is a baby-friendly accredited hospital, supporting natural,drug-free delivery, delayed cord clamping, water birth, immediate skin to skin and breastfeeding. If these are what you aim for, going to NUH is definitely the right choice. If you have a gynea that has the same goals with you, chances are you will get the delivery you want, the breastfeeding journey you want. To ensure you are have a good start for breastfeeding, you should try to avoid drug intervention so that baby is the most alert right after birth. They would have higher chance of latching within the first hour.

Aiden was unable to latch in the delivery suite as mentioned and did not stay latched on very well. I hand expressed colostrum and fed him via syringe to ensure he got all my 'liquid gold'. Every time I latched him, he was learning how to latch properly and I was learning how to latch him on the right way. We were discharged when he was 3 days old and I had sorta gotten a hang of it, so I thought. Breastfeeding at home was totally different. Without the nurses around, I did not feel as confident and started doubting myself. When he kept crying it just got me so flustered, making latching him so much harder. With the constant latching, my nipples started to feel the effects. Nipples started feeling sore and sensitive. Latching him would hurt, but I just persisted on. We had EMMA care home visit to check his weight and jaundice on his 5th day and that was when he had a slight fever which did not go away even after a bath. That was when Kelly, my midwife, said maybe my supply has not kicked in and asked me to pump to see how much I was producing. All along I had only direct latched him. When i pumped for the first time, I realized my supply had yet to kick in. We had to supplement him with formula milk as he has lost more than 10% of his birth weight. In the initial days it is way easier to just give fomula. You get your beauty sleep and do not have to latch/pump for 30-45mins every 2 hourly. DO NOT fall into this formula milk trap. For every feed you give formula instead of breastmilk, and you do not pump out, your body will think that baby does not need the milk and produce lesser milk.

There is also an article "What fomula makers won't tell you" that new mothers should definitely read so that you will persist in giving the best to your baby. Family support is exceptionally important as well. If you do stay with parents or in laws who do not support breastfeeding, I suggest you just lock yourself in the room bulk of the time and treat it like a breastfeeding vacation. The negativity will add unnecessary stress which in turn lowers milk supply as well as your confidence in your new found superpower *breastfeeding*. You can try to educated other family members by bringing them for breastfeeding classes, explaining to them the immense benefits over fomula feeding or simply just save up the money you would have spend on formula milk and show them how much it would cost in a month. It is definitely better to win them over before the baby's arrival as it gets extremely stressful with the baby crying, not able to latch properly,being insanely tired, sore nipples, people constantly telling you baby is still hungry, your milk cannot keep baby full so on and so forth. I thought i would be able to block out all negativity but maybe because of the hormonal imbalance, I just cannot help but get affected by every comment.

When he regained his weight and my milk supply started to kick in, we stopped formula feeding except when I could not be woken up. I was just so worn out. When M and my mum try to wake me up for feed, I would snap back at them unconsciously. When I finally wake up 10-15mins later, and I find out they had just fed him formula and I was rock hard, I would feel super betrayed. LIKE WHY YOU ALL SABOTAGING ME?! M and my mum would go on about how tough it was trying to wake me up. Heh.

First 2 weeks was the hardest. My nipples literally felt like it was going to drop off. I would not have survived if M did not buy anything and everything in sight for my nipples when he went out to buy formula for baby. When he come home lugging a huge shopping bag, in my mind I was certain half of the items we wouldn't need it. I WAS WRONG. He saved my nipples! Shall elaborate in the next post.

If your body is able to breastfeed, do it! The bonding is so intense and rewarding. It just makes you feel so happy when you see their milk drunk face.

Enjoy the moment while it last because they just grow so fast! Besides you will never know when they might suddenly wean themselves off / go on milk strike. It is also WAYYYYYY more convenient than bottle feeding. Don't even need to lug big bag around or look for hot water. However if you intend to return back to work, please introduce bottle by the 6th week. I did not and now he rejects bottle So he is extremely sticky to me and it's difficult to tell how much he drinks hence very hard to do scheduled feeding.

It works for me and him though so I am happy:)

My little bald Buddha♥