Nursing has not come easy for me. I believed that since nursing was natural, it would be easy and work just as all of the books I read said. Well, that didn't happen. I got off to a rough start nursing Sophie & discovered I did not make enough milk. I supplemented & eventually dried up around 7 weeks. I felt guilty & like a failure for not making milk like everyone told me I could.
So after the failure with Sophie, I researched & found new things to try for my next baby. When Maddy was suddenly born at 33 weeks, I had to encourage my milk to come in for my preemie. I had difficulties, but persevered & worked closely with a lactation consultant to eventually get some milk for Maddy. I was diagnosed with IGT (insufficient glandular tissue) & it made so much more sense why I was not making enough milk for my babies. I went on to nurse Maddy for just over 2 months before I didn't make hardly any milk and gave up. I felt better about getting to nurse her more & even had a very good friend donate some of her milk for Maddy. I was glad she got breastmilk for the first few months of her life & know it made a difference in keeping her healthy & strong.
Then I became pregnant when Maddy was just about 9 months old & I vowed to try everything in my power to nurse this new baby. I read, I researched, I found resources previously not available to me & you know what, I did it! While I have never made enough milk to feed from my breasts without a supplement afterwards, I nursed Noah until just over 3 (when he self weaned while I was pregnant) & I am still nursing Ben at just over 2 years old! I have used donor milk to supplement Noah from 7 months on and am proud to say that Ben never had a drop of formula due to finding 14 different donor moms (personal friends, family, church friends, Eats on Feets, Human Milk 4 Human Babies, LLL meetings, etc.) to help feed him. I feel successful & proud of all of that hard work to get here! My personal breastfeeding motto is "Every Drop Counts". It doesn't have to be an all or nothing with breastfeeding & I am glad to still be a milk-making mama!
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