March 5, 2013

Reaching Personal Goals...



I'm not one to pat myself on the back, or really even be proud of myself.  It's just not my nature.  But here I am, ready to toot my own horn!  I'm just so pleased with my accomplishment that I actually want to ingrain it my memory and the best way for me to be able to do this is by saying it out loud ~  I've successfully breastfed my rainbow for her first 10 months!!

7 months full of breast milk goodness!!  
(* Rainbow diaper from http://www.greengenesdiapers.com)





You see, even before conceiving Stella I knew I wanted to breastfeed my children and offer them the very best possible nutrition for as long as possible.  But knowing myself and how life always seems to throw me obstacles I worried I wouldn't be able to properly feed my baby(ies), so I immediately broke it all down in to smaller, hopefully more manageable, time frames that I could still feel good about.  For some reason 15 months popped in my head and seemed like my ultimate goal, so I worked back from there:
12 months = Great Goal
9 months = Ideal
6 months = My Basic
3 months = A Must for Me Personally

Of course all these ideals were developed before I actually got a chance to breastfeed a baby, since Stella's life was tragically cut so short.  Once I finally was blessed with a healthy baby I quickly learned no one had prepared me for all the challenges of breastfeeding!  There were several breastfeeding bumps in the road in the beginning, but none were as significant as the horrible ordeal we endured when Iza was just 2 months old.  During those weeks I cried for so many different reasons … Iza's lack of nutrition, pain, missing my daughters, feelings of inadequacy as a mother, but also because I couldn't imagine how I would ever reach these important goals I had set for myself.  Most importantly, for my daughter's well-being and healthy foundation. Thankfully Iza and I had some wonderful people come to our rescue and helped us over the hump!

I've since read a mother describe breastfeeding like a dance.  The mother and child are partners who must get to know each other and the choreography of each dance.  This takes a lot of patience, time and practice.  Iza and I have tangoed our way through my 9 month goal and we are smoothly waltzing our way to 12 months. Over coming these trials has only made my success that much sweeter!   So yeah, I'm pretty damn proud of my resolve!   Chalk one up for being stubborn!  :)

Supplemental breast milk donated by a generous soul (on the left) and my reward from pumping every 4 hours to increase supply after my ordeal   






























































































*** Now I'm crossing my fingers and hoping all this boasting hasn't jinxed me!!! ***