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Home › Articles › Essays/Opinion › Breastfeeding My Way

Breastfeeding My Way

A New Mom's Experience

By Kathy Berry Irvin

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If someone had told me five years ago that I would be breastfeeding my baby for more than a year, I would have thought they were crazy.

First of all, I have always been very career oriented and assumed that breastfeeding would probably cramp my executive style. While I always thought that breastfeeding was best for Baby, I figured that I would do it for a "reasonable" period of time and then revert to formula. I didn't consider myself the "earth mother" type who would nurse wherever and whenever the baby desired and for however long the baby wanted. The image of having a child who could ask for the breast by name was at the same time hilarious and horrifying.

I also remembered all too vividly my sister-in-law's experience. Breastfeeding was rife with difficulties for her. When she said that they had brought in a "lactation specialist" to help them, I almost chuckled. I thought that a lactation specialist was probably some ridiculously obscure professional with a ridiculous title. It just goes to show that I had no clue.

After several weeks of trying to make breastfeeding work, my sister-in-law finally decided to throw in the towel. At her OB/GYN's advice, she stopped cold turkey and suffered terrible pain from engorged breasts. I was visiting at the time and witnessed that painful chapter. I remember watching her in agony as she tried to manually pump exceedingly engorged breasts. It was awful.

The Preparation
When I got pregnant, I started to read about every aspect of birthing a child. I decided that I really wanted to give nursing my best shot. My husband and I had decided that I was going to be a full-time mom, and I was pretty excited about dedicating myself to this new little life. I figured that nursing would work well with the full-time mommy role.

I bought several books on the subject and signed up for a breastfeeding class through the hospital. I tend to be an experiential learner, and the class was a great way to get focused on this one aspect of having a baby. My husband thought that it was odd that I asked him to join me for the class, but he was pleasantly surprised that most of the pregnant women showed up with partners. As I later discovered, having a supportive partner is critical to nursing success.

I can still remember quite clearly the concerns that I had during pregnancy:

  • The one that was just too embarrassing to talk about in public was: How can having another living being sucking on your breast not be sexual?
  • I also wondered if my nipples were going to function as they were intended to. Not to get too graphic, but my nipples had never been very prominent, and I wondered if they would be acceptable to my child.
  • After witnessing my sister-in-law's experience, I was also really concerned about avoiding engorgement.
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