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Feeding her while lying almost completely on my back was something we got to try.

Linda

Every other week we ask a Real Mom if they would like the NurtureGoods experience. These moms use a breast pump from NurtureGoods in order to describe and share their experiences. In this way, we hope to raise awareness of the NurtureGoods experience and help you make a choice. This week it's mom Linda's turn. Will you read along?

Linda's NurtureGoods experience (Instagram @cottage.doesburg)

The ups and downs of a mother finding her way between love, pumping and enjoyment

How does everyone do it anyway? Breastfeeding for a long time, enjoying a glass of wine and just occasionally going out for a whole day without your baby. I think it's just clever. During my pregnancy, I made a conscious decision to try to breastfeed. I was realistic, of course. What doesn't work, doesn't work. But trying was really my goal anyway.

When our baby girl was born, I also wanted to give her time to find her own way. Docking and showing her the way, I wanted to leave it for a while first. I had learned this during the course and the explanations I was given seemed very natural.

But the first hours and days after my delivery went just a little differently than expected. The searching didn't go quite right but eventually she had found my nipple, I thought. When she was tired of clinging and sucking on my breast I found out that she had been sitting all crooked. A very big kind of hickey on my breast as a result. How do you know exactly how something works if you haven't done it before? For both of us it was the first time and I was super proud of us though. Unfortunately, my breastfeeding adventure went a little less smoothly than I expected.


Our baby girl lost a lot of weight the first few days after she was born. She was soon at 8% and we found out that she was not getting enough nutrition. We had to feed her in different ways. In the end, we chose to switch to the bottle anyway. I pumped the formula and our daughter got formula that way with the bottle. This soon went very well. In the meantime, we had contacted a lactation consultant. I didn't give up hope of feeding live anyway.

Her visit helped tremendously. Our daughter could not vacuum enough so she was not getting enough milk out of my breast. Feeding her while lying almost completely on my back was something we got to try. And guess what? After her visit, live feeding suddenly went much better! From then on, I have been breastfeeding completely live.

Now almost 10 months on, our daughter is still being breastfed. And I am very proud of that! But I still find it difficult to go away for a day. The pumping holds me back enormously. Last week my husband and I went out for the first time. We went out to dinner together and I was able to have a drink again since the beginning of my pregnancy. But how hard I found it to throw away the milk after pumping. But after such a long time, I felt it was okay to have a drink. Our little girl was out of the house and once home, of course, I began to miss her immensely.

 

I think it's so clever how other moms do it. I find it really a hassle sometimes. I prefer to go out more often to take some time for myself. But sometimes I find pumping difficult. At work, I pump once or twice a day, so on the days I'm at home, I still do very well! But I still find pumping during a day out annoying. I am very happy with the Nurture Goods pump. It's so nice that pumping is a lot easier. A good pump does make a difference. We are working on it! And as long as we are enjoying our breastfeeding adventure together, I'm not thinking about quitting just yet.

Top 3 tips that help me make my breastfeeding adventure as easy as possible:
1. Pump while watching a video or pictures of your baby. This helps tremendously to get the pumping going well. I was once given this tip myself and it helped me a lot. 
2. Letting your baby drink sitting up against you. Our girl really enjoys sitting upright while she drinks. With this position, she does not have to suck as much vacuum, so she has managed to drink from the breast. 
3. When you are on your way towards your baby tune in and let them know you are on your way. This way you can discuss together whether your baby can wait a very short time to drink or if pumping is a necessity. For us, tuning in helps prevent our little girl from just drinking before I get home. This often saves me time when I still have to pump at home. 

How long were you able to feed live? And what was it like for you to pump when you are away from home for a while? And what golden tips did you get while you were on your breastfeeding adventure?

Lots of love, Linda
Would you like to know more about Linda? Then follow her on Instagram @cottage.doesburg