After my experience with baby number 1 I just hoped things would go differently. I had a traumatic delivery with my first so we did things differently with number 2. We hired an independent midwife and it was seriously one of the best things I have ever done.
She supported me throughout my pregnancy so I got to know her. I trusted her so when it came to delivery day, I was relaxed at home and had the homebirth we had all planned. As a result, my baby was calm, fed well and we all got off to a good start.
She was an efficient feeder, settled after feeds and cried when hungry. I realised that this is what it should be like! Although I enjoyed parts of my first breastfeeding journey, it was hard work. This was easy in comparison and I fell in love with the power of breastfeeding even more.
I think this experience led me to where I am today. The fact that I had private, independent support during pregnancy and birth gave me confidence and calmness. We did things differently which I am sure affected our breastfeeding journey.
I breastfed our daughter for 20 months, extending our journey just so I could breastfeed her on flights. My family all thought I had stopped feeding at 12 months but I secretly carried on. Why was I so secret about this? In our family it was not common to breastfeed over 1yr, if they were weaned the expectation was you stopped.
However, with the increased knowledge I now have I wish I had breastfed her for longer. To see her through those early days at nursery, to be able to nourish her when unwell, comfort her when she needed me.
Sadly, though as you will read in a future blog, we have now discovered this not so little baby of ours (now 11) has an undiagnosed tongue tie. This is now causing huge problems for her. It never affected our breastfeeding journey like with baby number 1. But I am beginning to realise the need to assess every baby even if it doesn’t affect their feeding, in order to prevent future problems like we are seeing.
