Snuggly feeding, looking into her eyes and feeling the oxytocin rush through my body.
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 Lotte's turn. Will you read along?
Lotte's NurtureGoods experience (Instagram @theyoganomad.co.uk)
My daughters and I (and my love-hate relationship with the breast pump)
The birth story of Spring Child Lizzey
On April 30, 2023, I gave birth to my second baby daughter. At 02.15 in the morning - after a day of subtle contractions - I was 'only' 4 cm dilated. The midwife left us alone for a while and in half an hour I shot through to 10 cm and broken waters. Another 15 minutes later, Lizzey Lee came to earth in all fours at 02:59. She was 50 cm long, weighed 3695 grams and cried out. Wow, what a privilege to experience this one more time. Lizzey made me mama of two daughters, can anyone pinch me?
Two years earlier
With my first daughter Abbey Grace, who is exactly 2 years and 1 week older than Lizzey, I had breastfed until 9 months. Of this, she drank two from the breast and I pumped everything for the other 7 months. This was not a romantic task but hard work, planning and regulating frustration. The breast pump I bought new at the time had problems. For no apparent reason, the adapter of the breast pump would sometimes stop working and on two occasions I had a panic moment on Sunday. This caused stress and made it even harder.
Preferred bottle
It felt like an important task for me to feed my little girl with my own milk for as long as possible. Unfortunately then, I had to use the bottle. However when breastfeeding started to decline around 9 months I decided enough was enough. I could no longer tolerate the pumping sound of the breast pump and was so relieved when I finally felt okay with switching to powdered milk. I was proud that I had stuck with it for so long but more importantly, dead tired. This was going to be a new chapter!
A second chance
My second pregnancy I had the ambition to take a different approach. Not turning on the breast pump right away. Not offering the bottle until much later so Lizzey would be completely happy and content with my breast. Nice and cozy feeding, looking into her eyes and feeling the oxytocin rush through my body. I was absolutely thrilled to have a chance to experience this wonderful, natural process one more time.
Orienting on buying a new breast pump
In preparation for her arrival, my thoughts turned to a breast pump. I had thrown the previous pump in the trash after all the faltering. I did some research but got lost among the ads and information about (generally) overpriced and complex breast pumps. I postponed making a choice and guess what? Two days later I had a message from Nurture Goods In my Insta inbox. Whether I wanted to try their breast pump in exchange for a blog and some stories. Well, that was supposed to be! I agreed, provided I was not obligated to share positive feedback if I had a negative experience with the breast pump. They were totally fine with this and it created a lot of trust.
How it played out
Although I was happy to have the breast pump in the house, I did not expect to have to use it as early as my maternity week. The fact that I had to really felt like a big disappointment. Lizzey nibbled at my breast but did not continue to drink, resulting in no satisfaction and not getting to sleep.
With the maternity nurse I investigated what was going on and when I pumped milk after feeding it turned out there was a lot more milk coming out. I was sad that things were not going as hoped but very happy that I was able to get her satisfied by "topping her off" with a few more sips from the bottle after feeding. That way Lizzey went to sleep contentedly.
We find our way
We are now 7 weeks along and Lizzey and I are finding our way. During the day she drinks well from the breast but in the evening she is more restless and my production is lower. After the morning feed I pump a bottle and then give her extra in the evening. It is not ideal but it works for us and I am at peace with it. I am extremely happy that she takes both my breast and the bottle and I hope it stays that way! The breast pump is coming in handy again.
Happy User
I can honestly say that I am mega happy with the Smart 3.0 breast pump from Nurture Goods. It's beautiful, rechargeable (time a weekend away I don't have to bring an adapter!) and the non-slip bottom is nice. This way when I'm in the bath I can even place it safely on the bathtub edge for an extra relaxing pumping session. I also love that the Philips Avent bottles fit on it. That way I didn't have to buy everything from scratch. Last but not least I think the price is very reasonable! Very honestly, I would have rather bought it than take the pledge to write a blog during the first weeks of new motherhood ☺.
Nurture Goods thank you! I hope you will make many moms happy with this fine product.
Much love, Lotte & Lizzey
Would you like to know more about Lotte? Then follow her on Instagram @theyoganomad.co.uk