Breastfeeding - hardwork but well worth the reward!

Us brit’s have mixed opinions about breast feeding, although it is becoming more popular than it has been in recent years.

From the moment I found out I was pregnant I was determined to give my little one the best possible start in live and have had friends who breastfed and talked about the great benefits. I always said I would like to do at least two months feeding, but obviously this depended on circumstances as well as how I got on with it.

I first fed Brodie an hour after he was born and at the time I though “oh this is easy” but I was wrong. After 24 hours I had sore nipples, had no sleep and was advised to stay in hospital until both Brodie and I had the technique down to a T. After a difficult first night at home, I begin to understand why so many people give up in the first few days.

On our second day at home we had our first home visit with the midwife and I was so relieved to see her. She showed us new positions to feed and gave me more confidence and since then I haven’t look back. Yes I get tired as I’m the only one who can get up in the night to feed, and yes my boobs leak and get sore…but the benefits for Brodie outweigh any problems I might be having and to me what’s a few less hours sleep compared to Brodies getting the best start in life?

Mind you, in a few weeks time I will be taking advantage of the option to express so daddy can do some night feeds!

My biggest fear about feeding, especially while I can’t express and still have to work on getting Brodie latched on, was feeding in public. But I was so surprised at the facilities available for mum’s who feed. Cabot Circus the new shopping centre in Bristol have purpose build private Family Rooms for changing and feeding. I was well impressed and this made the shopping trip so much easier and I was pleasantly surprised! I guess this goes to show the increasing demand for this kind of facilities and the growing popularly of breast feeding.

Two weeks old today!

and Brodie is getting stronger and stronger as each day passes.

We had our final midwife visit on Monday and he was weighted at 8.9lb, so I predict he’s over 9lb now which is pretty impressive. I believe the weight gain is from me feeding him, you know what they say “breast is best” and this little one certainly loves the booby!

Health visitor will start her visits tomorrow.