Jessica's Breastfeeding Story
When I was a teen it was discovered that I could not have any children,
so when my husband and I learned that we were pregnant it was the
happiest day of our lives. I immediately decided to breast feed, much
to the dismay of most of our closest relatives and friends, but I was
not to be dissuaded. As soon as Dorian was born I asked the doctor if I
could breast feed him and was told no. I was outraged, not realizing
that it was because the doctor had detected a breathing abnormality. He
was transferred to another hospital three hours after I gave birth. I
went into a severe depression, but still asked the LC to come and teach
me how to pump and breast feed. She was wonderful and answered all my
questions. As soon as I was released I went directly to my son. When I
saw them giving Dorian formula against my specific instructions, I was
livid!! I immediately gave them frozen milk for him, and fresh bottles
also. We tried to get him to latch on but he refused, and refused, and
refused. As a matter of fact, he was released a week later (he had a
paralyzed vocal cord), and for a month after that he still refused the
breast. I was devastated, but I continued to pump milk for him and try
to teach him how to latch on. Finally, one day I said to him, "listen,
it's now or never, buddy. This is your last chance." It seemed like he
heard that because he latched on like an old pro, and wouldn't touch a
bottle after that until he discovered juice. He still refuses bottles
of milk from me and will only take a little from someone else when I am
not there, even my husband!! My husband was my biggest supporter
through all the tears, self doubt, and frustration that came with my son
refusing the breast for so long. Most other people were telling me to
give it up, he was never going to do it, it's not for everyone, and the
usual things people say when they want you to give something up. He's
almost 10 months old now and every second of depression or anguish I
went through in the beginning was worth the joy of knowing my baby is
getting everything he needs from me. There's no feeling in the world
like it. I would just like to say that I got almost no support in my
decision to breast feed, and it was the best decision I ever made. I
know a few girls who had babies around the same time I had mine and I am
the only one who still breast feeds. One of the other girls tried it
and gave up because it was inconvenient for her. When we get together
they all kid me about showing my breasts in public, but I just laugh
because my child is the healthiest out of all of them. He's never been
ill outside of his vocal cord (because he was so big the dr. said,
9lbs), he doesn't have the over abundance of fat the formula fed babies
seem to have, and he's in the 98th percentile for growth. He also seems
to be the smartest out of the group, but I don't know if that's true or
if it's just because I'm his mother. Regardless if you're considering
breast feeding, please do!! It has been the most rewarding experience
of my life.
Go back to the Breastfeeding page.
