My breastfeeding journey

As I mentioned earlier I was totally blank about breastfeeding until she was born. So the struggle started from day 1. She was taking feed for more than an hour, and the interval between two feeds was also very minimum i.e 30-45mins. I was totally exhausted to sit and feed that much time with sleepless nights after delivery. Luckily a nurse noticed and found my breast engorged. She said, “Baby is sucking but she is not getting milk as your breasts are this hard. She is getting tired, sleeping, and crying again out of hunger and this is repeating". With her assistance, pumped out some milk and fed the baby, and then she slept peacefully. But the problem did not end there.

Nipple cracks developed within two days of the hospital stay itself. Too much pain during the initial latch. I tolerated and fed, but because of continuous sucking, it got worse every day. The doctor suggested nip care ointment, few of my friends suggested coconut oil, butter, ghee, and all. Unfortunately, nothing helped me. I was crying during each and every feed, but I don't know what kept me going through that discomfort. Perhaps it was the strength of motherhood. My husband and mom were consoling me that everything will be fine in a month. A month passed, nothing had been resolved and cracks started to become a hole, lost all my confidence. I was praying and longing to experience at least one happy feeding. Then I came to know about "Lansinoh" cream from a casual conversation with one of my friends. She said to try that, it will heal you within a max time, and it gave some hope. To my surprise, the hole healed at the end of the week. Actually, I have no words to thank her. Finally fed my baby without pain after 2months of struggles.

So thought of a smooth journey here afterward, but then the next issue started to arise. As the baby grows and enters the third month, I started to hear "Pal Pathathu" (Milk won't be sufficient) from my family members. For six months, the doctor suggested exclusive breastfeeding. I was really confused. Again, I started to cry as I worried about my milk supply, unaware that the stress would only cause the supply to drop at that time. But I am not sure how my husband confronted me saying it is sufficient don't think like that, which is the only thing that motivated me at that time to continue feeding. He never allowed anyone to give water/cow's milk to the baby. The two words "Pal pathala" hurt me a lot. Whenever the baby sucks for a long time, asks for frequent feeds, cries, or whatever she does, I will hear only "Pal pathala" from my immediate family members. I have to thank god, because of covid, we did not allow any visitors for about three months. Could not even imagine the same comments from them also and some advice to start purees like that.

On Instagram gradually I began to follow a few moms who are sharing their experiences and a few LC's pages which really helped me to get over the term "Pal pathala" and made me ignore those words and educate myself about the reasons behind the baby's actions which made me stay strong. There is really no count of how many times I have heard those two words. After these learnings, I did not get hurt, when they say "Pal pathala" and clearly understood that my mom/MIL are saying this without knowing the actual facts. 

Stayed too adamant and completed six months of exclusive breastfeeding. It may be a normal thing but it makes me feel proud because of the journey I have gone through. It happened only because of my family member's assistance. Sometimes they suggested offering formula to help me from sleepless nights and cluster feedings. When I refused, they supported me in every possible way from offering nutritious food to taking care of the baby so that I will have some rest all day. Literally, I never held the baby for about two months except for the feeding time. My mom was an angel in disguise. She took care of all the household chores herself and also woke up each and every time when the baby woke up, She will take the baby from the hammock when I was wearing a feeding pillow, and once I finish again she will keep her back till now. When someone says certain food will help in increasing milk supply, she will prepare and give despite all the odds. My younger sister was helping me in handling the baby whenever she can, even in her busy work schedule. My MIL understood my situation and allowed me to stay at mom's place until I was ready. Whenever I go there, she did everything like my mom. A close friend of mine, who was also a new mother was always available to hear me out. Each and every one in my family had their part in my successful completion of exclusive bf.

I would like to share the following with all the new moms from my experience. Please educate yourself about breastfeeding, or else the people around will confuse you. Ask for support whenever you need it. Relax, everything will settle in its own time. Please be patient. This too shall pass. Don't have guilt for anything. Believe yourself. You are doing great.

Shared the answers to the questions I got during my journey
https://nurturingthelittleones.blogspot.com/2022/10/breastfeeding.html