our feeding journey

I recently did a Q&A on Instagram. I received a whole bunch of questions, most of which were people asking if I’m ever going back on Home & Away, second to that, were questions about being a new mum.

I’m going to circle back around and answer a few more in this space, but for now I want to elaborate on my answer about feeding little Ted.

When asked what the most difficult part about being a new mum was? I replied. Breastfeeding. I found it really difficult emotionally, mentally and physically. As it turns out, I’m far from alone. I was inundated with messages from women thanking me for sharing. Women who are, or had been, in a similar situation, who felt like failures. Women who have been judged and criticised. Two women shared that their inability to breastfeed caused post-natal depression.

So I wanted to share more of my feeding journey, because no-one should be made to feel alone, especially in such a delicate period of your life.

When Teddy was born, he latched on perfectly. I remember looking at him thinking how amazing this experience is, how primal and special breastfeeding your newborn is. After a few days my nipples were chapped, raw and bleeding. I was in so much pain. A girlfriend had said she found breastfeeding harder than labour - I had an epidural, so I wholeheartedly agreed.

The advice I received was to push through it, so I tried. It seemed to be getting worse. Every feed, I was crying.. not just cute little tears, I was sobbing. Little Ted started getting distressed and frustrated, he would cry too. I’m not sure whether it was because he wasn’t getting enough milk, or if he was picking up my energy. But either way, I decided then that he needed to go on the bottle.

After we got a breast pump & formula I felt an immediate weight lifted off my chest. Ever since, we have been expressing what we can, and formula feeding the rest. Teddy is a very happy and healthy little boy. He is a little chunky monkey, who has a smile so big and bright.

I think what we need to remember is that everyone is just trying to do their best. The unsolicited parenting advice can be more detrimental than helpful. The judgement and pressure from other people about how to parent their kids is out of this world. It makes me hesitant to share my parenting journey because I really can’t be bothered dealing with opinions that do not serve me. But I wanted to share this part of our story because I know there are people that need to hear it.

We all make mistakes. We all have days where we probably could have handled a situation better. But we are all trying our best. What works for one person, may not work for you. Every pregnancy is different, every birth is different, every baby is different. Do whatever works for you, and your family. And most importantly, please remember.. you are never alone.

If you need support or advice please check out;
PANDA - support that’s always there for you and your family
https://panda.org.au

Also, I wrote this one-handed while little ted is asleep on my chest, so I apologise in advance if there’s any spelling or grammatical errors. #multitaskingmum