Sherry's Diary Entries Diary Navigation: Choose A Diary Entry -------------------- Latest Entry: 9/9/01 -------------------- 9/6/01 9/4/01 8/1/01 7/16/01 7/2/01 -------------------- Sherry's Introduction

A full-time working mother balances work and breastfeeding

November 30, 1999

I am happy to be sharing my breastfeeding journey with you. My diary is beginning well into our breastfeeding experience. As I update my diary I will fill you in on some of the problems I had early on.

Let me begin with a little bit about my family. I am a first time working mother sharing parenting with my wonderfully supportive DH Joe. We are both 33 years old. We live in the hot Arizona desert.

Lily was born October 5th 2000, 15 days past her due date. She is the center of our world. We have had her in daycare since she was 6 weeks old. It is a heart-wrenching decision that all parents must face. But we are pleased with the quality of care she is receiving and she is thriving.

I knew I wanted to breastfeed before Lily was born, but I did not expect it to be all smooth sailing. I did attend a breastfeeding class at the hospital prior to Lily’s birth. Also, one of my childhood friends is also very active in La Leche League. Unfortunately she lives very far away, so she is long distant support.

Since I waited until my 30’s to have a child I have had the opportunity to see the joys and struggles my friends have had when breastfeeding and raising their children.

One thing I learned early on was to take breastfeeding one day at a time. I struggled with having too much milk. At one point I was producing at least 12 ounces too much milk a day. Most people would say “I wish I had that problem, I never seemed to have enough milk.” But I had to deal with clogged milk ducts, breast infections and hyperactive letdown.

It has been smooth sailing since Lily was 5 months. But there were many times in the first few months that I never thought I would still be breastfeeding. But talking it one day at a time worked for me.

I must say felt a lot of pride when I reached the 6-month mark and was still breastfeeding. It is probably because I read somewhere that less than 13% of moms who work outside the home exclusively breastfeed after 6 months.

Thank you for letting me share my journey with you.