Breasfeeding 101

One of the most common questions I have been asked since becoming a mommy is, "How is breastfeeding going?"

I always say that it is going great, which is the honest truth.  I have often marveled at how lucky Ava and myself are to be so natural at the whole thing.   On the day we brought Ava home from the hospital my lovely Aunt Sandy brought us some food (Thank goodness.  We wouldn't have eaten that first week if it weren't for her.  And I know she was looking for any reason to see our brand new baby girl!) and she asked me how it was going.  I casually said, "Oh you know, I've never breastfed anyone before and Ava, well she's never been breastfed before, so we are just figuring it out together."

So Ava and I figured it out together.  It did take a week or two to really get the hang of it.   But here we are almost 6 months into it and I can proudly say that I am exclusively breastfeeding!  There's some unexplainable sense of gratification that I receive in knowing that I am the only person that can give my daughter the nutrition that she needs.  But I've been lucky.  I never experienced any pain (So not looking forward to teething). I've never had a low milk supply.  I've never had problems with Ava latching properly.  I've never forgotten which side Ava last nursed (At least I don't think so!). No problems.  Nada.  

As I said before, we figured it out together.  The following list is my experience with breastfeeding.

• Using a boppy pillow never worked for me.  I could never quite get the pillow and Ava in the right position.
• Ava and I prefer the lying position.  Nice for me.
• I have to have a cloth, receiving blanket, tissue, anything that will absorb liquid, because my milk just comes out from both sides when Ava's nursing.  I have seriously considered using my hand breast pump during nursing so I don't waste a precious drop of titty milk.
• When we are in public, we refer to breast milk as "TM." Code word for titty milk.
• I have not needed a machine breast pump.  Ava will not take a bottle.  She prefers the boob.  I do have a manual hand breast pump that has come in handy when I have been engorged.  I used to freeze the milk, but it would go to waste because Ava is a titty baby.  Now that we are trying rice cereal, I use the TM instead of water or formula.  But I only pump when I need to.  It's a lot of work to pump!  
• If I am stressed, Ava will have a more difficult time latching on.  Sometimes I need to take a deep breath and calm down before I nurse.  

I am not an expert.  I've been doing this for 6 months.  I know that in the next 6 months I will face obstacles with breastfeeding.  But I'm committed to it.  As for Ava.....she's all about the TM.