I got pregnant at 16, never really thought about breastfeeding. Until I found Girl-mom. Once I found it, I was hooked. The old boards REALLY changed how I viewed things. I had Alexa when I was 17, and as soon as I held her she got to nurse. It clicked instantly. Well looking back now, She was majorly tongue tied (still is) and I had constant bleeding nipples for a LONG time, We also battled thrush for what seemed like FOREVER, it was a good 6 months, until I found gentian-violet. That stuff is magic. Alexa nursed for 3 years and 2 months. At that point I was 5-6 months pregnant, and needing a break. Once Blake was born, I was ready for another 3 years of breastfeeding. He was also majorly tongue tied, and the hospital we were in had a LC come up and visit us almost daily when we were there. She gave us a nipple shield which made life for us WAY better. Blake got to eat, he was happy, and I was a happy mama since he wasn't screaming. He had his tongue tie clipped when he was about 6 weeks old. We drove ALL the way to long island to have the procedure done, but it was way worth it. Since he had been nursing with the nipple shield for those weeks leading up to having the procedure done, he was accoustom to it and couldn't nurse without it now. I went back to work full time when Blake was 12 weeks old. I was given the run-around about finding a place to pump. Finally they let me use the supervisor's office since I worked 2nd shift and noone was really in there at that time of day. They said I was the first person in YEARS to pump at work (and I work in healthcare). We used the nipple shield until Blake was 6 months old and I decided to take him to have come cranial sacral therapy done. That was all it took, he nursed right away without the shield and did so every time since then, that was magic for us. But unfortunately the combination of working full time, and a low supply due to the nipple shield made pumping enough milk for Blake difficult, so we did supplement with formula. He only got it IF he needed it when he was at daycare and only after all his breast milk was used up. In march of this year I was going through a difficult time emotionally and for the sake of my mental health, I took a trip to Nashville to visit some friends. I was gone for 5 days. By this point, Blake was nursing 3-4 times a day at most. I brought my pump with me on the trip, and pumped a total of 6oz over 5 days (talk about low supply.) By the time I got back, Blake had weaned. I was really sad about this, but for the sake of my mental health, it was something that had to be sacrificed. He was 18 months old at the time. Now he gets goat milk in his bottle, and I'm not ashamed that he gets bottles since he would totally still be nursing if I hadn't gone away. But this is my story, and I felt like sharing it since I'm done breastfeeding now....until there is a #3 (no time in the near future).
To celebrate Lactating for 5 years in a row, I went out and bought new bras that weren't nursing ones!