My Journey

             In 2016, I gave birth to my first-born son. His delivery was very difficult and almost resulted in an emergency cesarean. Because of the stressful delivery, him and I both spiked a high fever, and they were concerned of infection. Needless to say, things were a little crazy for a bit and I did not get the skin-to-skin opportunity immediately after. There were things that needed to be tended to for the both of us and the initial latch got delayed. That was the first thing that set us off to a bad start with breastfeeding. 

            The next two days in the hospital, I spent many hours, many painful hours, trying to get him to latch. He was born face up and had a huge bruise on his forehead from being stuck in my pelvis for hours. The poor guy had a rough entrance, and we could not figure the whole breastfeeding thing out. I ended up having to hand express and spoon feed him my colostrum for the first 48 or so hours. We finally managed to get a latch (ish) at home, but it was so very painful! I would cringe and cry each time he touched me to nurse for 4 months straight! My nipples were cracked, bruised, and bleeding the majority of the time. I think my body knew there was something wrong and tried to kick things into overdrive. I ended up having hyperlactation disorder and my doctor said I had enough milk to feed triplets! Seems like a blessing, but it was it also a curse, in its own way. There was so much milk that it would soak both him and I each time! I battled constant engorgement, clogged ducts and mastitis. (Found out later that there were some underlying hormonal issues that had not been discovered yet). We couldn’t breastfeed in public, it was too much of a mess and he would just scream and cry and still couldn’t latch well, which made me want to scream and cry right along with him! It was a huge mess, physically and emotionally. 

            I then just happened to meet a Lactation Consultant and she was an Angel sent from above. Her assistance with me and my then 4-month-old son, literally changed my life. I knew in that moment that I wanted to do this for other mothers one day. I enrolled in the program to be an IBCLC just 4 years later! My son went on to happily nurse for 15 months. We just needed some education and support. It was a huge accomplishment for me, given our rough start. 

            Having learned so much from the Lactation Consultant, I then felt empowered, successful, accomplished, and passionate about breastfeeding. I had gone through so much pain, frustrations, confusion and depression that was unnecessary. I simply was not prepared with the knowledge and skills needed to nurse my infant. I always heard that “breastfeeding was natural”. Yes, our bodies naturally make breastmilk for our babies, but the act of breastfeeding itself is not “natural”. It is something that needs to be learned, for both the mother and the baby. Learned and taught. Before Lactation Consultants were a thing, mothers learned how to breastfeed from their friends, their aunts, mothers, grandmas, and the people around them. Ever hear the phrase “it takes a village”? That could not be more true when it comes to breastfeeding. It is a collective effort, full of support, love, patience, and education. 

            Education is the key that many women are missing as they bring their babies to the breast for the first time. When I got pregnant with my second, I did as much research as I could about breastfeeding. I was determined to make this next experience better than my first time around. I learned so much between my first and second child and it set me up for success. My daughter, born in 2019, latched beautifully the first time she came to my breast! It was an amazing experience and I felt so empowered as a mother. I knew this time would be different, and it was! We had a beautiful, flawless experience overall. Now this doesn’t mean things were perfect 100% the time. I still had my fair share of engorgement, clogged milk ducts, mastitis, postpartum depression etc. Every baby is different, and every nursing journey will be different. My daughter is lip tied as well, yet we managed to survive 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding, until we introduced her to Baby Led Weaning for solid foods and she continued to nurse until her first birthday. 

            I am very grateful for the two experiences that I had with breastfeeding my babies. They were drastically different, but they paved the way for my life now as an IBCLC. Leaving me with a huge passion to help mothers and babies on their breastfeeding journeys.