06/06/2022
When I breastfed my first baby, it was a major struggle. Now, I'm exclusively breastfeeding my second baby and we are both thriving.
Over the coming weeks, I'm going to share some of the things I've done differently that have helped me go from an extremely stressful breastfeeding journey to a successful & fulfilling one.
One major thing I've done differently this time is to enter into postpartum life with realistic expectations. This is something that Lex, IBCLC, talks about in Mighty Milk's classes and it.is. everything.
I like to compare it to going to a music festival. Imagine you show up to the festival knowing nothing except which bands are playing.
Now, imagine that before the festival, you do a little research. You check the weather, so you know what to wear and whether to bring a sweater or raincoat. You also learn there aren't many vendors so you bring snacks, as well as extra 🧻 for the porta potties.
When you have context for what the music festival is going to look like as opposed to bare minimum details, you'll be much better prepared and have a much better time. Setting realistic expectations for postpartum life is a similar idea.
With my second baby, understanding what to expect has made all the difference. Some examples of what I knew to expect:
🔸 That my baby will nurse very frequently (see: Mighty Milk's classes). I'm nursing 15-20 times a day for short periods of time.
🔸That my baby will sleep best on my body. I know this is biologically normal and that by wanting to stay close to me, my baby is being a smart baby 🧠
🔸That my baby will be different from other babies, so I don't feel the temptation to make comparisons or worry myself unnecessarily.
✨Setting realistic expectations has improved absolutely everything about my transition to the "fourth trimester."
In Mighty Milk's Breastfeeding Your Baby class, for parents of babies 0-12 weeks, Lex has an amazing chapter on this topic. It is worth the entire class and is perfect for any first time (or any time) parent. Link in bio.
