It's official. I have a second spouse. In the form of a big yellow breast pump. Good times.
Where have I been? Well, Wesley and I struggled with breastfeeding from day 1. It was obvious to me from the very beginning that it wasn't a comfortable thing for him. Very squirmy and agitated every time it came time to feed. We made many, many trips to the breastfeeding centre and saw lots of different lactation consultants, a speech therapist, etc. etc. Long story short, Wesley has a high palate, which makes latching difficult, and he also has a very poor sucking ability. I have a low milk supply because of my own hormonal issues and lack of proper stimulation. So ... trouble on both of our ends. Now to each their own, but I feel strongly about the benefits of breastmilk, so I was willing to do whatever it took to make things work out. But after 3 months of Wesley and I fighting each other, both of us in tears at each nursing session, I knew something needed to change. I toyed with the idea of 'exclusive pumping' which basically means pumping your milk all the time and feeding it to your baby in a bottle. A LOT of work, but it still allows your baby to get your milk if nursing is just not working out.
So, I decided the right thing to do was dive right in to this pumping world. Am I crazy? Maybe. BUT, there are many reasons why I am doing this ... and one of the major reasons is that it is proven that babies fed breastmilk have a lower incidence of developing type 1 diabetes. Most of you know that hubby is in fact a type 1 diabetic, so both of our children are at risk of inheriting this condition. I know that Graham (and I) would be completely heartbroken if this happened, and I feel obliged to give my kids the best start possible. Bring on the pump. F you diabetes.
The past month and a half have been busy. I pump 6 times a day, and Wesley gets my milk in a bottle. It's no simple task, but I've developed a bit of a routine, so it's going ok. My short term goal - to make it to Wesley's 6 month b-day. Long term goal - to 9+ months. We'll see.
Wesley is SOOOO much happier. We both are. No more anxiety. But, It's hard to do anything. And it does take time away from my kids. I bought this handy dandy pumping bra (it was on Dragon's Den at some point) and I can hook myself up to the pump and then have my hands free to tickle, play, etc, so it's not too bad. Tough to leave the house though. Trying to work around my pumping schedule and naps & feeds isn't easy. But we're working on it.
It's all worth it when I look at Wesley's cute little smiling face and I know that I'm doing my best for him. It's amazing what you'll do for your own children. ♥
