World Breastfeeding Week

{Shark Week is so overrated}

August 1-7 is World Breastfeeding Week - a week created by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding to promote awareness of global breastfeeding concerns. This year, the theme of World Breastfeeding Week is communicating and sharing breastfeeding experiences.
Here's a little of my story.

Before I got pregnant with Noelle, and even during pregnancy, I wasn't sure about breastfeeding. No one really talked to me about it and since I was the first of my close friends to get pregnant, I didn't have a good support group.

After researching breastfeeding I decided that I would at least give it a try and luckily Noelle was a natural. She latched on right away in the hospital and only gave me a few problems - by deciding that she would only take one side - but she grew out of it. I nursed her for 10 months and loved every minute.

Noah was challenging. Right from the start. I was able to get him to latch on for a minute or two after he was born but just like his sister, he was a lefty. He refused my right breast and by his second day of life he refused the left as well. In the hospital I cried in frustration, and cried and cried. I tried all of the tricks I learned with Noelle but nothing worked.

Mr. G was my rock. He stood by me every hour while I worked at getting Noah to latch on. He encouraged me with his words and even held Noah's head for me when my neck was too weak to look down at him any more. Eventually Noah latched on (with the help of a nipple shield) and I've been exclusively breastfeeding him since. It wasn't easy but I knew I wasn't going to quit.

The past 6 months of nursing Noah haven't been uneventful. I get a clogged duct almost every week. I've had cracked and very painful nipples. A tear and a blister. Worth it? Absolutely. I'm telling you this not to scare you, but to encourage you to not give up. I plan on breastfeeding him for at least 12 months.

There are tons of sites out there with tips on how to be successful at breastfeeding - here are the ones that helped me the most and that I share with moms-to-be.

• Don't give up. You can do it. 
• Remember - "Belly to belly. Nipple to nose." This was the position I used for both of my kids when they were seconds old.
• Have a support group or at least someone you can talk to who successfully nursed. 
• You're going to think you're not producing enough milk. You are! 
• To build a frozen milk supply, start off by pumping once a day - usually after your first or last feeding of the day. Read about my milk-sharing experience HERE.
• Sometimes things are out of your control and it just doesn't work out. That's okay too. 

You can go to the World Breastfeeding Week homepage HERE