Off the Beaten Path

Today I wanted to chat about my breastfeeding journey as breastfeeding has been a hot topic lately!

I first want to start off by saying that whether you breastfeed or formula feed, it doesn’t make you a better or worst parent as I am sure everyone is doing what is best for them! But I will be sharing my honest opinion and thoughts as always.

Taking it back to before having my baby boy, I knew that I wanted to breastfeed. Now I did not know the ins and outs. I actually thought it’d be a fairly easy process haha. I mean how hard could it be to pop the boob in and out? Oh how I was in for a rude awakening when I found out it was not so simple.

So shortly after having him, I had the sweetest nurse as my after care nurse. She moved from China 5 years ago because she married an American and actually told me she does home births for herself because for her, she did not agree with some of the medical practices they do during labor. I couldn’t blame her but I did wonder why she worked in a hospital instead of a birthing center. I did not ask because I was really grateful for the knowledge she said and her honesty. She also stated that she bed shares with her two little one which is not recommended here, which I thought was interesting but that’s another topic!

Now back to the story. Now if you have ever given birth in a hospital then you know someone comes in every 5 minutes (just kidding although that’s what it feels like) to weigh the baby, take the temperature, check your blood pressure, so on and so forth. So again I got lucky that not only did she do check ups but she also showed me how to properly get him to latch on and after many tries, he finally latched and I found a lot of success with the football method!

It felt like he stayed on the boob so when they said he was losing weight, I did not really understand. Until I was told it was totally normal for babies to lose weight after being born due to them being born with extra fluid and dropping it a few days after birth. They are supposed to gain it back within two weeks, so really the weight loss isn’t a problem. What can become a problem is if they lose TOO much weight.

Now since I was completely breastfeeding and not pumping I could not see how much he was getting. All I had to go off of was his weight. So when the pediatrician came in and told me he had lost 8oz and that she would recommend formula, my heart sank. I did not want to give him formula. I have heard so many things about different formulas being recalled and having so many seed oils that cause problems that I did not want to start my baby’s life off with it unless it was absolutely necessary! It’s actually funny because they say, “oh the formulas that are harmful are recalled and pulled from the shelf”, but any wise person knows that there was a time when those same exact formulas were once on the shelves being sold as healthy. There is no telling how many other formulas will get recalled in the future but any who! The hospital I delivered in said that they normally really recommend giving formula if the baby loses 10oz or more within the first 3 days and since I was cutting it close she told me to supplement until my mature breast milk comes in.

“Huh, mature breast milk?” I did not know there was a such thing! I thought there was only one kind of breast milk. I was wrong. There is Colostrum aka liquid gold, your first milk that comes in after birth and last for about 2-4 days. Transitional milk which comes in after 4 days and last up to 2 weeks and then there is mature breast milk, which comes in around 2 weeks and last until you are finished nursing.

If I had known this I would have been more prepared because I believe it was fear that made me start thinking about giving my baby formula because he was losing weight. Not knowing that every phase of breast milk gives your baby exactly what it needs in terms of nutrients. No, you may not produce as much colostrum as you do mature milk in terms of the amount but I believe we don’t need to because although it may be less in quantity it packs a mean punch! It’s called liquid gold for a reason and not only because of the thick, creamy, gold color(although sometimes it can be clear). Colostrum is very beneficial to our babies. It is packed with nutrients and antibodies to protect our babies from different infections. So I did not know at the time that my body was getting everything he needed from the colostrum my body was producing at that point even though he lost weight. But hindsight is always 20/20 isn’t it?

Fast forward to discharge day, as I stated, the pediatrician recommended I supplement formula. She said that I could look into donor milk since I was against shelf formula that women who produce a great amount donate. I was going to go with that until I talked to my husband and we ultimately decided against it.

We went home and I did not supplement. Instead I prayed and continued to feed my breastfeed my baby. I waited to speak to my pediatrician that I saw two days later. When I met her, we just clicked. I told her I did not want to supplement and she said “how about this, we will weigh him on Monday(it was Thursday at the time) and if he loses any more weight we will supplement. If his weight remains the same we won’t”. “Great” I said “that gives me more time to see if my milk comes in” and guess what…IT DID! I prayed so hard and Saturday I felt the fullness of the breast that she mentioned would happen and boy oh boy did it hurt! But I was so happy to feel the pain because I knew that my baby boy was getting what he needed! When we showed up on Monday, we got his weight and she said “well done guys he is up 2oz. Keep doing what you’re doing”!! We were so happy to hear the news! So I kept doing what I was doing. Drinking my mothers milk tea, eating enough nutritionally dense food, and taking sunflower lecithin for my breast!

After that I pretty much have been breastfeeding non stop with the occasional pumped bottle! Speaking of the bottle, I introduced his first bottle around 2 months and I was scared because I thought he would start to prefer the bottle over my breast but nope! He still prefers the boobs hahah and to be honest I do too! Pumping is a headache for me. I like knowing that he is getting what he needs, at the right temperature and it is easier for me to just whip out the boobs! So if you are curious about introducing the bottle to your little one, I say go for it and try it out. I did and I can safely say he and I both prefer boobs over bottle so that’s what I do 99% of the time.

For those curious about formula vs breastfeeding and how it benefits not only the child but also the mother, here is a chart my hospital gave me.

As always, do what is best for you and your household! What works for one family may not work for the next.

Thank you for taking time out to read my story! Id love for you to share it! If you have any thoughts or questions in regards to breastfeeding, drop it down below!