In honor of World Breastfeeding Week I thought I’d share my journey. Believe it or not, it has been going on since I had my first child, over 21 years ago!
March 22, 1999 I gave birth to my first baby, a girl. Because I had a c-section, I was in the hospital for 3 days. I delivered her in Virginia and it was so different there than when I moved to Canada. They wouldn’t let me get up, I had to be on a liquid diet. It wasn’t nice. And I struggled with learning to breastfeed. I did have a great nurse who helped me. After we figured it out, it went well! She wasn’t a big baby and was probably a pretty typical nurser.
When she was 14 months old, I found out we were expected our 2nd baby. I was still going to my OB in Virginia, despite living in Ontario. I went with my husband in his truck to visit my family and would see my doctor. I knew it wouldn’t last. They told me I should wean my daughter. I didn’t know any better. So at 16 months old, she was done. It wasn’t hard and she didn’t seem to mind. I will always wish I didn’t listen to them though.
In March 2001, I had our second daughter. Oh she was a hard one!! We struggled with thrush and my nipples bled. I would put ice cubes on them to numb them enough so it didn’t hurt when she latched on. I finally had a lactation consultant come to my house and she helped me. It made so much of a difference. But we fought the thrush for a long time. She had a reaction to the medication my doctor prescribed so we used gentian violet. The poor thing went around with purple lips so often. In April, 2003 she decided one night she wanted Daddy to put her to bed. She never breastfed again. It was bittersweet. I was 8 months pregnant with our third, but I wasn’t prepared for such an abrupt stop!
May 2003 was the birth of our first son. His birth was great but the recovery was not. I ended up having spinal headaches from the spinal during the c-section. The nurses didn’t listen to me for 3 days. I was in so much pain. Finally I got an epidural blood patch and started feeling better. Able to go home at 5 days. Thankfully, he was an amazing baby for the first 3 weeks! He latched on like neither of my girls had done. It was amazing! I ended up breastfeeding him for 3 years and 7 months. I always say there is nothing like nursing an older child. When you have a baby, it’s all about nutrition. You feel like a milk machine. But as he got older, and he was a very verbal child from a young age. Extremely intelligent and could have conversations from very young. When he would climb on my lap to nurse he would tell me, “thank you for mommy milk” or “I love mommy milk”. It was such sweet moments. And even though that little boy is now 17, I will never forget that special bond we had. A lot of people look down on extended breastfeeding. Let me tell you, it’s not just about the nutritional side.
Before I weaned my son, I got pregnant with our forth child. He was born in June 2007. He was my most difficult. He was born very small, just over 6 lbs. He was so tiny, we could see through his ears. My dr wouldn’t listen to me on my ovulation dates and went by me period, but I knew he wasn’t as far as they thought. He was born at 37 weeks(my dates). I had been having higher blood pressure and they didn’t want to risk it.
He ended up having a dairy allergy, that I self diagnosed at 3 weeks old. My husband had one as a child. My son would scream and scream. He would have a rock hard stomach and arch his back. Every time I nursed him it would take hours. It was like he forgot how and I had to reteach him with each time. By the time he was done, we would have to start over. This went on for his first two and a half months. He was a tiny baby, and even now at 13 is small. When he was 3 weeks old, I noticed how he’d cry harder when I ate dairy. I brought it up to my family doctor and he completely dismissed me. But I knew. My husband had been allergic until he was 12, so there was family history. I started learning about eliminating dairy from my diet. He was so much better. Still not like we would hope, but better. He had allergy testing at 12 months, which confirmed his allergy. He just last year at 12, finally tested negative and is now able to eat dairy. It was a long 12 years! But he nursed for 2 1/2 years and I was dairy free the whole time. And yes, by that time, I was expecting another baby!
Our 5th baby came on Groundhog’s day 2010. He was 10 lb 1/2 oz and he was a hungry boy! He grew bigger than any baby I have had and most I have seen. He was a great eater. He ate no solids until he was 9-10 months old. He had some health problems that we had to deal with. He had a massive abscess on his neck caused by a staph infection. Because of that, we delayed solids. We didn’t know he had been fighting staph for awhile, we almost lost him. He was the life of the hospital though. His surgeon went on and on how adorable his chubby legs were and she couldn’t believe he was only breastfeeding. A friend called him my sumo wrestler.
He breastfed until one week before our 6th baby came, a month before he turned 3. January 2013 I had another boy. I knew right away he was a different child. He needed physical contact all the time. As he got older it got more and more. He was very attached to nursing and as a toddler wouldn’t let me sit without wanting to climb on my lap wanting mommy milk. He had a speech delay but he could communicate with us. When I would not nurse him all night long, he’d get mad at me and hit me. When I would nurse him to sleep, he would twist his arms and legs in my sleep. Or rub the tag on his shirt or pants. I discovered he was a sensory seeker from all these little things. He wasn’t the easiest to nurse because he acted out and was physically hard on me. I don’t want to say abusive because he was only a child, but sometimes I felt that way. Last August, at 6 years old, we found out he has autism. It was a shock to me. But I knew long ago there was something different, I just didn’t know what it was. Our breastfeeding relationship went on for 4 years and a month. I was shocked he stopped. The last time I nursed him was not expected to be our last. The next day, I went to my 38 week doctor appointment for baby #7. I was developing pre-eclampsia and my doctor wanted to deliver the baby a week early. I was sad it ended that way. But he was 100% ok with it. Even coming to see me at the hospital, he announced “Mommy milk is for the baby!” There was no jealousy and no sadness from him and I knew I had done my job.
We are now at almost 3 1/2 years of nursing my 7th baby. He was a pretty easy baby to get going and has been overall. He is a little difficult at times and for awhile wanted to nurse all night long, this was at 3 yrs old. LOL. So I have him down to mornings, nap(when he takes one) and bedtime. He does still wake up at night wanting mommy milk. And I tell him, not till morning. He is the only baby that we have co-slept from birth. I think my husband is done with that. But it’s not so bad. Seeing his sweet face when I fall asleep at night. Having him scoot over to me so he can snuggle. I hope we can continue until he’s ready to be done. Whenever that is. He also was a very verbal little boy. It’s funny, at first he didn’t make a sound. I think he was soaking everything up. Then he exploded at around a year old. Sentences that shocked everyone. No one could believe he was so young. And he tells me, “I love mommy milk.” And no matter how many times I hear that, it will never cease to melt my heart. These special moments that will be gone before long. I will cherish each of them.
I have been pregnant, breastfeeding, or both since June 1998 21 1/2 years. Minus one week when #5 stopped a week before #6, I have been nursing straight 10 years. It’s an amazing thing. Something I will never regret.
A Mom of Many 