Today I'm happy to share some thoughts from Motherwear model Glynnis on her breastfeeding experience. Everyone at Motherwear fell in love with her baby Nikolas. They say he was in a happy mood throughout the shoot, and even woke up from a nap with a smile!
What has your breastfeeding experience been like?
Truly an amazing
experience. One that I was not expecting, actually...I only planned to
do it for 6 months but ended up going a whole year.
What is your favorite thing about nursing?
There were so many things, Tanya, that I can't just tell you one... I loved the special bond that it gave me and my little one. Also, just knowing that I was doing something really beneficial for my baby gave me such a sense of accomplishment and pride. Providing him all the natural immunizations and antibodies for his little body made me feel great. For me breastfeeding is the most natural thing and I wa s so blessed to have been able to do it from the very first day. What could be better than nourishing and loving him at the same time?? Not to mention, I was able to shed twenty pounds in a week and 1/2!! It really does help to shrink your uterus and get everything back to normal pre-pregnancy size.
How do you make breastfeeding work given your work schedule?
That was a challenge, but I was up for it. I went back to work 3 months
after Nikolas was born. I had two shoots in two different cities. To
prepare for the trip, I pumped religiously; labeled and stored the milk
in the freezer in advance. Also, we began giving him breast milk from
the bottle right away so that my husband could participate in the
feedings. I'm sure introducing him to it early helped a lot because
Nikolas got accustomed to drinking from the bottle when I was away. Of
course I always pack my deluxe electric pump for every trip. The
hotels are always very accommodating and don't mind freezing my ice
pack.That way I can pump and store the milk for easy and safe transit
home to baby...
Who were your sources of support for breastfeeding?
Mostly friends and family, and other mothers on a mommy group on babyfit.com
Is there any advice you can offer other mothers based on your experience?
Every woman is different so don't beat your self up if you are unwilling or not able to do it...but
I say that you should always TRY to breastfeed as it is the most
natural thing for a mother to do. Sure at first it does take some
getting used to and some women leak and find it messy or painful. I
know it sounds crazy but I used cabbage leaves in between feedings and
frozen cranberries in ziplocks on each breast for the first two weeks.
It really helped with the soreness and then one day it just stopped
hurting and became a really great bonding experience for me and my
son...
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