My little guy
It's been a little over 6 months now. I've never thought I'd be able to still nurse this long. Truth is, breastfeeding is not for the faint of heart. It's been a bittersweet time for me this far as I enjoy my time with my second child, yet sometimes I grieve a little for the times I could have spent with my first born. With my first born, she was supplementing and direct latching before she decided that she didn't want the breast anymore once she started solids at 6 months.
My little girl
It's crazy how we as mothers beat ourselves up so much for the things we can't control, I remember crying a lot because I felt like an utter failure for not being able to fully nurse my daughter. As a young parent there was so much shame whenever people asked me if she was breastfed. What's crazier was the fact that no matter what you do there will always be people judging you by your actions while they judge themselves kindly by their intentions.
Since then, I've learnt to let people talk to my hand.
Time and time again my husband and I would remind each other that we are not going to feed on people's expectations at the expense of our children's health and well-being just because it doesn't fit into their definition of child-rearing. Our babies are happy and healthy, and that's what matters. And we don't say this out of spite or ignorance.
Being a parent is hard enough, so instead of adding misery into the menu, I'd rather we add more cheese.
Now that my little guy has started his solids journey, I have also started supplementing him with a bottle or two. I would pump when I can, but because he nurses on demand, I don't get much chance to do so. I'm just glad that I have gotten myself the Hakka silicone pump, it has saved quite a bit of let downs the past many months.
My little guy isn't big in size, and even after trying my hands on supplementing him a couple of bottles of formula milk in an attempt to up his weigh the past month, which by the way was suggested by the doctor, his weight was still consistently low. Usually babies would go up in weight approximately 1KG per month, but he has only been going up half a KG a month for the past two months continuously. The only part that was on normal percentile was his head circumference. To make up for my shaken heart, I joked with the doctor saying that all the milk must have gone to his head.
Whatever it is, as long as he's healthy, happy and well fed, we are not too worried. Now that he loves food, I have some new problems. What to feed him, and what to make him poop.
O the wonders of parenthood!
To all parents young and old, bless you knowing that you have what it takes to parent your child. May God grant you peace and wisdom, as well as daily grace and ever growing love. Cheers to you, remember that you are never alone in this lovely journey. It is tough being a parent, but it is also an honor to steward such precious lives. Much love to all.
art and flair courtesy of @PegasusPhysics
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Very true, there is always someone to judge parenting. Realizing that makes it not so bad though - knowing it's impossible takes away the need to try to make everyone happy.
Nursing is a special time. Enjoy.
Heyyy @ginnyannette, lovely seeing you here. Hope you're well! Come drop by and say hi at @steemitmamas sometime, xx
Yes I should. As I'm sure you know with little kids, time management is always a challenge :)
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STOPI love this post! You are so right, so many people have advice to give, so much it can make your head spin. Love your pictures, baby is beautiful.
That is a really cool concept, the tree with the roots. Well done, and artfully executed!
I love how you implemented the tree picture in the photo! So cool! First of all you are a wonderful momma :) and yeah there will always be judging from other people.. but stick to what you want and feel is good.. then you're always good..
People should not judge others about the choices they make (bottle/breast etc) because you said it so well: parenting is hard enough, let's not add misery to that .. (love that!)
I feel you on the pumping part by the way... I could barely pump any milk with my youngest as she was nursed on demand too.. so when I had to leave for almost a whole day my boyfriend had to give her formula..
Good luck with all the choices that are there to be made.. ;)
The first one I was very nervous especially since she wasn't reading the baby books I had read!! She didn't know she had a timetable to follow and she needed to up her milk over time. gahhhhh
And by the time the boys started coming, back to back, I just didn't have time to panic and I went with the flow.
You dear @alimamasstory are too good to do anything but the best plus plus for your kids 😊
I ♥ this post. :D
Breastfeeding seems like it would be the simplest and most natural thing in the world, but in reality, it is a learned skill, and it is not always easy.
Keep on keeping on! Do what you feel is best for your baby and yourself, and everything will work out wonderfully. ♥
awww so sweet! <3
I bf my boy till he was 17 months cos he WOULD NOT let go! :P it was hard work for sure!! He had tongue tie and even though it was cut he would only feed a particular way!!
haha.. hes still a very clingy boy and he wants my "boom" still
The mantra we have over here is "Fed is best" no matter which way you do it.
What you wrote here is true for every parent. I breast fed till my son was 3 months old. I wasn't producing enough for his hunger.
My 2nd child, first daughter, I lasted maybe 3 days. It was so painful. So very painful. I was crying and I had the nurses check to make sure everything was right and it was. She had such a suction and thirst. I tried to deal with it as much as I could. My toes curling in pain, my body was tensing. Nothing like my first child. I was almost yelling out in pain. But I still felt bad that I couldn't even last the 3 months I did for my son.
For my 3rd child, it wasn't as bad. I lasted 2 months I think it was. It just became difficult and once again I couldn't produce enough. Very frustrating.
But all in all, the kids are healthy. They grew, they crawled, they ran, they learned. Most of all, they loved. It was beautiful and it still is.
As you end your post with blessing us, I wish you the same blessings along with the strength to carry on. It really is hard being a parent. <3
The wonders of parenthood seem to amaze me every single day
Being a parent has been the hardest journey of my life! And all children are different, so there is no complete guide to follow, even though we are continuously fed with how we aught to be parents and how much our babies aught to put on in weight and what to eat and so on. It's a fine balance finding the very special needs and circumstances for our special child and motherhood while finding help and support from outside too! It's a journey that only you can experience and travel and learn from, though at the same time we are all connected and learning from each other :)
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STOPYour child, your say. :) Glad you both manage to come to terms with not giving in to society's expectations.
Don't worry about the weight. For me as long as they are active, are fed, pee and poo as usual then they are fine. My second was almost 4kg at birth but she was only around 7-8kg at 1 year old. Healthier than her brother who was heavier at that age, and grew so fast we couldn't catch up.