Welcome to The Baby Feeding Series

Hello and welcome to our brand new guest post series. I am so excited to finally be able to launch 'The Baby Feeding Series'. It's something that I have been thinking about for a while and like most things with being a mum it managed to always take a back seat, and that back seat was full. So it seems as if it's the perfect time to launch another guest post series on the blog.

Basically, this series will feature real stories from real parents who have experienced how hard and baffling feeding your baby can be. I want this series to be a place where parents can share their own experiences in the hopes that other parents who are struggling can feel less alone. Being a parent is the hardest job in the world but it's one of the most rewarding jobs too and so I want to share their stories.

So, as a starting point for this series I will share a snippet into our feeding journey...

I remember the day finding out I was pregnant like it was yesterday. It was a day that both my husband and I had longed for. After so many sad emotions and far too many negative tests. Finally those two pink lines were staring back at me and all sort of questions began mulling around in my mind. Is that right? Am I dreaming? I must have done the test wrong? I'm going to have a baby, I will need to look after an actual human being. Will I be good enough? Shall I breastfeed or bottle? I'll go all to the classes available.

Feeling all those different emotions in those few minutes was crazy. I should have been enjoying that moment, after waiting and wanting something for so long why was I questioning everything. Should  do this? Should I do that?  I took a moment to catch a breath and began relish in all good things that come with pregnancy. The glow, the luscious hair, the baby kicks and not forgetting being the centre of attention, please tell me I'm not the only one who enjoyed this? But as with most things, the bubble burst! My hair started to fall out, I had horrific acne all over my face, dreadful morning sickness, sciatic pain, the awful leg cramps during the night - they were the worst. All these go without even talking about the pressure with being a pregnant woman. The tests, the scans, the antenatal appointments and I couldn't give you an exact number of times where I've been pricked for blood! But that's for another post.

The first few weeks during pregnancy weren't the easiest, but we made it to our first scan. The second trimester was here before we knew it and my midwife was already asking about a birthing plan, breastfeeding whilst making off the cuff comments about my baby having lots of room to move, thanks love! As you can imagine that appointment sharpish with me ending up in flood of tears in the car. I honestly had no clue what I was planning, or what I wanted to do. Both my husband and I are types of people who usually go with the flow and never to make plans, as they normally go tits up. I'm sure we are not alone.

It was time for another antenatal appointment with the same midwife. I don't even think we sat down before she started going off on a tangent about what I should be doing and that I should be signing up to breastfeeding classes, which made the whole appointment difficult because I was still unsure. Even though she continued to reel off all the amazing things that come with breastfeeding, I hadn't made my mind up. I did feel a real pressure from this particular midwife to breastfeed and throughout my third trimester she kept pushing and pushing with this breastfeeding issue and it did make me feel uncomfortable. I was kind of glad that this midwife got transferred out of the district and assigned a new midwife who was so understanding and all she would say is that we would have to do what is right for me and the baby, this was one amazing midwife and one I will never forget. This midwife helped me through the later stages of my pregnancy, my birthing plan and when I went into labour I was so happy to see her and she even stayed on after her shift to see me through my labour, now that's dedication.

My birth was relatively natural with a few stitches due to a tear, but it was a long labour. I was so tired. The baby was happy and healthy, my mum fed her a bottle straightaway. Soon after we were transferred to another ward and I wasn't allowed to go home because my blood pressure was very high and they wanted to keep me in for observations. As upsetting as it was to see my husband leave the ward that night I could finally relish in a moment alone with my brand new baby and that's when I decided to try and breastfeed her. Wow, now that was painful. I wasn't expecting it to be that painful and she couldn't even latch properly, what on earth would it be like if she did. My daughter was crying so much because she was hungry and I continued to try with the breast but because I didn't want anyone to come in and see to her, I gave her a bottle. I did tried breastfeeding a few times, but it didn't seem as if it was the right thing for us. I do wish that I preserved with breastfeeding but its not for everyone and that's OK. I do feel as a bottle feeding mother there is a stigma centred around using a bottle and there really shouldn't be after all a fed baby is what is best, right? What are your thoughts on this?

If you'd like to be part of the series then please feel free to send me an email and I'd be thrilled to get back to you with more information! Please get in touch even if you don't have a blog and you would simply like to share your story.