Nevan was born at 4:11 pm on 9th October'13......I was completely knocked out for a couple of hours after a 29 hours long-induced labor and having a normal delivery of a big (in literal sense) baby. So my doctors did not push me for bf at night and our (mine as well as Nevan's) first attempt for breastfeed came only the next morning.
I still remember my trembling hands, taking my lil one in my arms. I was so confused on how to hold him, place him, latch him, whether the milk is there or not and more over would he be able to suck the milk. He was so small with a cute little mouth and tiny pair of lips....oh it was such an enthralling experience.
Well I am not sure how many of you will disagree with me on this, but the best thing my lactation consultant did to me was, she sent everyone out of the room. So it was just me with my baby and she with a nurse. So it took time and wasn’t right the first time or the second time or even the tenth time but once it went the right way there was no looking back.
Infact it’s hilarious but breastfeeding isn’t as simple and beautiful an experience as the advertisements or the pictures all through the internet depict. The baby may not latch properly or there would be positional issues, endless feed sessions or simply mood swings to keep an upper hand for lactating. Further on over the time when all settles well, comes the deadly “teething” and OMG.....you are in for a whole new game then!!!
Nevertheless, a new mother’s mental state plays a big part in her breastfeeding....especially in India when everyone is over enthusiastic to suggest everything but just the basics. Though a first time mom is as new in this world as the baby; but she is already overfed with so much information that she ends up being confused....so I recommend every new mom on the block to consult a good Lactation Consultant at least once.
Well the initial days are tough....be rest assured with that...so Keep Going Strong. It takes time for both the baby to latch on and the mother to feed. I was lucky to have already arranged for a support system around me so that in my initial few weeks I could concentrate only on baby & me. I still remember the endless feeding sessions....engorged breasts, sore nipples, restless days & sleepless nights....but all this passes so soon that now when my lil one is almost three, I am finding all of it amusing but missing it somewhere within me too!!!
I remember once I fed him for almost an hour and then I got a scolding from my ‘jappa’ (lady especially kept for mother and child care during the initial six weeks, post child birth) and she asked me to give it a break. But this boy wanted feed almost after every one and a half hour so I was trying to act smart by making him feed till the time he gives me a long break.
But every mother finds her own rules so try and try till you succeed and you
will understand what works best for you and your baby. In the beginning the
baby is too small so either he is taking less feed coz he gets cosy and doses
off inside your warmth or simply gets tired of sucking and take a pause. But
the sessions are so recurrent that it takes a toll on the mother. There is no sense
of anything, just a cycle which is feeding baby from one breast to the other
breast....Oh by the way I was told this too by my jappa that one has to feed
the baby equally from both breasts for the milk production to be fine and not
getting one breast over sucked and the other one overflowing.Well also breastfeeding came very very handy to me when we travelled with Nevan; it was a free of cost :) , convenient instant food which did not stop the travel bugs in me & husband. In fact it definitely saved us a few bucks before we shifted to supplements.
But apart from all the hardships a mother and child go through for or during breastfeed it is a magical connection which is between the two....this bond makes you grow fonder of the new relationship and it ends so soon that a mother misses it when its gone. 'Breastfeeding' gave me an essence of complete motherhood....this definitely does not mean that the mothers who don't or could not breastfeed due to any reason are anywhere left out but it is my feeling....that breastfeeding my child made me feel him from within, to actually relate him to being a part of me who came out of me and was in my arms.
Towards the end I would definitely like to mention that my heart aches to see this but the stigma a women has to go through if she hasn’t or isn’t able to feed the child is so unfair, especially in our country. As much as breast feeding is good for both mother and the child I still believe the decision for the same is in the hands of the mother and only her. Just don’t stop breastfeeding your child or shift to supplements because people around you say you might be milking less, trust your motherly instincts coz they are always right....No mother becomes less of a mother if she hasn’t breastfed her child!
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