I always knew breastfeeding was something that I wanted to
do, but I didn't know anyone who had really been successful. All my friends either didn't want to or quit
pretty soon. When I became pregnant with
my son I was working in Denver, CO and was traveling back and forth between
Denver and Dallas. My son, Connor, was
born at Rose Medical Center in Denver in February 2013. They had an AMAZING staff who were all very
knowledgeable and helpful with breastfeeding!
I bought this cute little outfit for my little man so everyone would
know my plans for nursing! Everything
was great! He gained weight like a pro
and we moved home to Dallas when he was just two weeks old! By the time he was 3 months old he had been
nursed in 5 different states, in 2 different airports, on a plane, in many
different restaurants, pretty much everywhere!
I thought I was a PRO! Then, I
started working again... I tried to
follow his eating schedule with my pumping schedule at work. My supply stayed up fairly well for the first
2 months or so, but then one day it was just gone! I was frustrated because I was stressing
about supply issues and I was NOT losing the baby weight (it did not melt off
like everyone said it would!!!). So after about a month of struggling with what
I should do, I decided to stop breastfeeding my son at about 6 months. It was the hardest decision I have made to
date about him!! I cried for about 2
weeks!
Fast forward about 1 month and I found out I was pregnant
with my daughter! We were
ecstatic!! One thing I knew with the
little one was I wanted to nurse for at least a year. Brooklyn was born May 2014 at Texas Health
Harris Methodist in Bedford. The
lactation consultants there were even more amazing than my experiences in
Denver! We had a "slight"
latching issue that was sorted out in the hospital! Once we got her on point, she was a pro just
like her big brother, and she gained weight fast! As a distance runner, who ran throughout my
entire pregnancy, I started back to running when she was about 3 weeks
old. I was nervous about it affecting my
supply, but have had no issues. I run
about 25-40 miles per week and with proper nutrition and water intake, it’s
been an awesome experience. I will
complete my first marathon when she is 8 1/2 months old! I will say, nursing has been so much easier
this time, and I believe my previous experience and just the fact that I am
more knowledgeable about it has helped tremendously!
Through nursing, I've learned that a strong support system
is the most important thing you can have!
I believe that if I would have had more people to guide and help me to
figure out my supply issues with my son, I would have been able to make it to
the one year mark with him. I've learned
the first 6 weeks are by far the hardest.
I've learned to embrace my body and to not focus on "baby
weight," but rather enjoy the miraculous things it can do while providing
nutrition for my baby!! I've also
learned that as a full time working mommy of two, nursing gives me the time
with my new baby that I probably otherwise would not set aside! I cannot wait to see what the future
holds! We plan to grow our family in the
future, and I hope and pray that with each my experience is as amazing as the
last!!!
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