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!!
|
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!!! ***
