Iris has not only passed her first birthday with flying colors, but after an initial rough start it’s been all smooth sailing, and we’ve now enjoyed the first year of successful breastfeeding. She never really took a shine to pumped bottles, and she’s all over solid food now (likewise it’s all over her), but we continue breastfeeding on-tap as much as she wants and I plan on letting her self wean.

I’d been hoping to pump some extra for a friend’s cousin who recently had twins and no milk for them. They’re not compromised, so she can’t use the milk bank, but she wanted to avoid formula and put the call out for anyone with extra. Unfortunately, after giving it several shots, I couldn’t seem to manage to get enough to warrant driving across town. I think Iris pretty much drains what’s there.

I’m happy to have crossed over into year 2. Here’s an article on the benefits of breastfeeding based on how long you continue: Breastfeeding Benefits: How They Add Up. 13 months ago

‘Just keep doing it’

I managed to do the full 2 years. It was difficult, esp. when I had my mother babysit. she would waste a lot of it, and tried to feed my son formula behind my back. But the battle was well worth it.

My sons system is super amped up, and he rarely gets sick.

So just keep at it. 18 months ago

^{This is a test of the emergency baby feeding system.}

We’ve been wanting to take a ride on the bottle train for a while now (not as a regular thing, but to at least have it as an option) – better late then never. I polished up the manual pump and then Isak had the honor of giving his sister her first bottle. It went alright, even if she found it confusing at first, and he loved finally being able to help feed her. We’ll try to give her one bottle feed every other day or so, just so it becomes familiar and we can keep this option open.

^{We now return you to our regularly scheduled boobies…}23 months ago

This couldn’t be going better. We’ve both found our perfect flow with this and dropped the supplemental feeds and finicky positions a while back. Things are smooth, she’s expanded beautifully and will now feed whenever, wherever, which makes life a million times easier. I’m exceptionally pro-breastfeeding and while I don’t wave the girls around in public just because I can, I appreciate and utilize the right to use my breasts for their intended purpose when it’s required.

Yesterday I loved being able to stop off at a nice park bench under a willow tree and top her back up to happy land instead of having to go all the way back home. Same for being off on a family adventure – I can just pop into the car with her for a bit instead of driving all the way back to the house with her hungry and screaming, and we don’t need to pump and carry around chilled mommy moo to reheat and syringe feed. It’s wonderful to have as an option, but this is obviously preferable. We’ve returned the electric pump to the hospital and have a manual kit for when someone else will be feeding her (Isak’s been asking to since the beginning).

A couple of friends with new babies have also experienced difficulties breastfeeding. One eventually worked things out with the help of her doula, one gave up after a few weeks of struggling and feels terrible about it – I’m so glad I stuck with it and managed to get on track, it’s so, so worth it. My current plan is to keep going and do child led weaning when she’s ready. The only issue remaining is a one pertaining to D-MER which I’d like to explore in a separate goal. Other than that, I’m loving it… knowing I’m doing the best thing I can for her and that way she looks up at me with such glossy love and happiness – it’s the best feeling in the world. 23 months ago

Iris has continued to improve with her latch, lock, and load… in fact lately we’re at over a dozen feeds a day right now, some for over an hour, with output following in great abundance, so it’s definitely a growth spurt rather than her not getting enough. It’s been time consuming and exhausting, but completely satisfying too.

We’re currently reserving one supplementary top-up a day for right after the late feed (just before she sleeps for a longer period), but the last 48 hours she’s been positively ravenous – feeding at length almost hourly. I spoke with our health nurse earlier, who suggested we reverse the pumping plan – I’d previously been doing the odd pump following a feed to get the hindmilk for later, and she wisely suggested pumping for a bit just before a feed so she’s getting the hindmilk right away – receiving the extra calories and feeling satisfied earlier. Why didn’t I think of that?

There’s a walk-in clinic with nurses, scales, lactation consultants, etc. every Wednesday at our library, and I planned to go yesterday, but it worked out that I could take a much needed nap before the feed before I walk to the school for pick-up, so I opted for that instead – I’ll try to plan better next week, I do want to get her current weight noted, not that I’m worried about it, she’s looking great, lots of bright eyed alert time and filling out around the edges ☺.

Apparently this frenzy should only last a day or two to stimulate greater production, but having several dozen boobs really would be helpful right now. 2 years ago