I have three children ages 13 years, 8 years, & 3 months. I am a breastfeeding mom. I breast-fed both of my oldest until they were toddlers and I'll probably do the same with my new baby. You would think that I know all that there is to know about breastfeeding, but guess what? I learned something new this time around. Something that actually applied to all three of my children, but that I just realized this time around. What did I learn?

The first six weeks are really hard. You and your baby are actually learning to breastfeed during this time and no one really tells you that. When you leave the hospital it seems the implication is that you are on your way, and that you have all that you need to breastfeed successfully. No one says that you are still learning, and that you may run into serious problems. They give you a book and send you out the door, and each time they have sent me out the door I've been ill-equipped to nurse my baby successfully. With the first one, I left with nipples that were literally busted opened to the white meat. Don't laugh.. it's so not funny. I was in a bunch a pain, filled with questions, and I kept getting answers like, "just keep nursing her." I stayed on the nurse hotline, went to a lactation consultant, and torn through by nursing book looking for answers. Finally my mother came to town and put some aloe and lanolin on my nipples and we air dried them in between feedings. Once they healed and I practiced getting the baby to latch properly it was smooth sailing from there. 

Next came problems with my second baby. She wasn't latching on properly at the hospital, she and I fell asleep for about a four-hour spell without feeding and she ended up jaundice. Before she left the hospital she had to sleep under a ultraviolet light and bottle-feed every hour. They sent her home with the same instruction, so I pumped my milk and fed her soy formula too in the bottle. Her jaundice cleared up, but she was trained to the bottle, not the breast. She had nipple confusion. I was so sad...I cried at night because I didn't think I would be able to nurse my baby. My husband told me to still offer her the breast, and at 3 weeks old she took it. It was all smooth sailing from there. 

Now fast-forward to Oct 2009. I left the hospital with a nursing baby, woo-hoo! Well almost...about a 15 minutes before I got out the door, a Lactation Consultant came in and told me that my baby was behind in weight and was borderline jaundice. Sigh! She and I came up with a plan to nurse him and bottle feed him with a bottle that promotes breastfeeding. I was instructed to see the pediatrician within two days home. The pediatrician said nurse first and bottle-feed after. I had been bottle feeding first and nursing after. We had a bit of a dispute about it, but I followed her instruction. The result-- nipple confusion and a baby who refused the breast. I wasn't daunted because I've been through this before right? Wrong. Week three went by, still pumping and bottle feeding, week four went by, same song and dance, week five came and my husband found a public health print campaign in Canada while surfing around other ads. It gave me hope at about 3 am in the morning while I was pumping milk. It said something like  you don't expect them to learn to ride a bike right away, so why do you think they can learn to breastfeed immediately. It said that the process takes about 6 weeks. 

I talked to other moms who had the same problem,  started doing my research, changed the bottle I was using and at 7 weeks old I finally got my smooth sailing. Whew! Now he's nursing just fine. What's the moral to this story:

1) Breast is best, and we should stay with it until both mom and baby can get it right. It really is an incredible experience.

2) Despite what anybody thinks or says, it's up to mommy and baby to find their rhythm. 

3) It can take time to nurse, and we should get the word out. 

4) Eventually it  can be smooth sailing.