If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you will know that my breastfeeding journey was not one of peaceful feedings and great bonding between mother and child. No, it was a kicking and screaming match, with some feeding in between. My first born, Theo, struggled from day one to latch, so I had to feed him with nipple shields, and after six weeks of torture, my milk was practically none existing and he luckily decided he does not want to breastfeed anymore. With Ri, I was more determined as I also wanted this amazing experience everyone always talked about. So, I did my research before giving birth and in the hospital, I told the nurses to leave me be and let me try this on my own. The first two weeks hurt a lot, but at least Ri still enjoyed it. Then, all hell broke loose. Everytime I tried to feed her she would start crying hysterically, then I had to calm her, until she was half asleep, and try again. Sometimes she would latch and feed, most times we would start all over again. She would go for 5 or 6 hours of not feeding and this lead to more hysterical crying. I tried bottle feeding, but she refused to take it. More kicking and screaming. So, after four months of struggles, I started work again, and could luckily stop breastfeeding, or so I thought... Once I stopped, my body went into overdrive. Apart from my extremely engorged and painful breast that leaked every so often, so many things were different with my body that I even thought I might be pregnant again. I constantly had the worst pelvic and lower back pain. I was extremely tired. I cried or felt like crying about everything. I struggled to sleep. My hormonal imbalance made me gain a lot of weight (5kg in 3 weeks). Everything just went downhill. I tried looking for articles on the internet that could help me but most "Stopping breastfeeding" articles were about the baby and how to help them. I feel there is quite a big gap in this field of research, which is understandable as mothers always forget about themselves and only concentrate on how to ease baby into it or make things more comfortable for them.
But seriously, someone do something about it! Us mothers need help too!
💛
Mama Theo.Ri
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