Lots of new mums can struggle with breastfeeding their new born so a big thank you to Amanda from all of us at the Lose Baby Weight team for sharing her story!
I always wanted to breastfeed, even before I fell pregnant. It took me a long time to fall pregnant, so when I did I was SO hoping that I would be able to do it, as a lot of people had told me it was hard and all the negative comments and horror stories people had where shared! But I was a determined thing!
Everyone always told me that my milk would come in on day 3 or day 4. And my boobs would grow SO big and be REALLY sore. I had always wanted some boobs (I don’t have much!) and even during pregnancy, they didn’t grow! Day 3 came, day 4 came, day 5 came and still no massive boobs, no sore boobs. By day 4 the midwife was hand expressing my boobs, I was breastfeeding every couple of hours and expressing afterwards as well. By the time we had to leave the hospital, Chelsea (my daughter) had lost just over 10% of her body weight, which apparently wasn’t good. The midwives were pushing formula onto me. I was so upset, I felt like a failure, cause my body wasn’t working again (I had to use IVF to get pregnant). Why didn’t I have any milk? I really wanted to breastfeed my baby. We made a deal with the hospital (it was Christmas eve) that they let us take her home and we will bring her back at 10am Christmas day to be weighed and then if she hadn’t put on weight we would readmit her. So we got to go home as a family. I was feeding all the time. I was so worried that I didn’t have enough milk, I was in tears all afternoon (stress isn’t good for breastfeeding!). In the end my husband and mum talked me into getting some formula. So they went to get some. It’s not that I am against formula or bottle feeding, it’s just that I wanted to breastfeed my baby!
Hubby then made up a bottle, I breastfed her and then topped her up with the bottle and he guzzled the whole lot. I was a mess, I had been starving my baby, she was SO hungry. So that night I would BF her, express while Hubby gave her a top up bottle. We did that at every feed. The next morning we made our way to the hospital. She vomited in the car on the way there. I was devastated, she wouldn’t have put on weight etc. Anyway, we got her weighed and she had put on 100grams, I jumped for joy! She then projectile vomited everywhere. Another change of clothes later. After waiting for her blood test results (jaundice), we were able to go home for good.
I was determined to still breastfeed my baby. I would feed her every 2-3 hours (each feed taking 1 hour), then I would express. I would get about 10-20mls each time I expressed. I would save it up and top her up with that and reduce the amount of formula I was giving her. I would do this around the clock. I was always worried that I didn’t have enough milk.
After about 8-9 days, I started to get a little bit more milk when I expressed, so stopped the formula and used EBM for top ups. I never got the massive boobs, they were never really sore and I hardly ever got that full feeling, so always stressed that I didn’t have enough. I was eating well, drinking lots of water, but the stress of not having enough milk didn’t help, I’m sure.
When Chelsea was 3 weeks, I started following save our sleep and following those feeding and expressing times. I would never get the amount of milk they were saying. I would be lucky to get 20-30mls each feed. I was no longer topping up after feeds, except for the night time bed feed, I would offer a top up of EBM.
I was expressing 2-3 times a day, right up until Chelsea was 7 months old. While pregnant, I said I would like to do 6 months. I would be happy with that. There came a time where I said to myself, I should be proud of myself, I got to 6 months. Early on, I didn’t think I would get past 3 weeks, then 3 months. I had made it to 6 months. It was time to stop expressing. And you know what, it was fine!
My daughter is 10 months old. I am still doing 3 BFs a day. She takes formula if I am working and I have to miss a feed. I still love breastfeeding and I am really glad that I persevered. It was hard work and I went through vomiting, possible reflux, really really bad wind, lactose overload, sore, cracked and bleeding nipples, blocked ducts (managed to clear them before I got mastitis), and just the overall stress, but it has been worth it.
What I have learnt…don’t expect your milk to come in on day3/4. Feed every 2-3 hours, express, express, express. Eat well, get rest (hahaha), drink lots of water and try and relax (hahaha!)
A BIG thank you to Amanda for sharing her story!

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