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Hey, expectant mama, this one's for you. Or maybe you're the mom who is in beginning stages of learning to breastfeed your new baby. If you're like me, you just assumed you would breastfeed without too much thought or preparation in place to boost it's potential for success. You have probably also heard all the horror stories. It seems like everyone has one, right?
Well. I'm here to tell you that it can work. It can work beautifully.
I know there are so many variables at play contributing to whether or not a mom will be able to breastfeed at all, much less long-term. Many of them are out of our control completely, so please don't be too hard on yourself if it doesn't work out as easily (or at all) like you had hoped. I encourage you to be patient with yourself and your baby. Nursing is a lot of work and much more complicated (at first) than I had ever guessed. But after that initial learning period, it becomes your new normal. Not to mention - it costs zero dollars! One of my favorite things about nursing. FOR SURE.
My ultimate goal was to make it one year. Shockingly, we did it! And even went past a year, right to the 13 month mark. I am just overwhelmingly grateful and thankful that it worked out for us. Toward the end I was ready to be done, I'll admit, but still so appreciative that we got through it together.
Here is an overview of what I feel contributed the most to our successful nursing journey, along with some things I would have done differently:
