It’s time for another breastfeeding journey story. This share comes from @zoelizabeth1993 on Instagram
Thank you for sharing your journey Zoe, and also for feeding in public so confidently! #normalisebreastfeeding
“I have a beautiful son, Teddy, who shocked us all by arriving when I was 32 weeks pregnant, weighing 4lb 8.5oz. He had a difficult start to life but he is now 10.5 months old, still breastfeeding and he is absolutely thriving.
I always knew I wanted to breastfeed and I was so excited to begin our journey but it wasn’t possible at first as Teddy was too small and had to be fed through a feeding tube. The night I gave birth I had to stay on the maternity unit without Teddy. A lovely midwife showed me how to hand express and I managed to express a tiny amount of colostrum to give to him. It was such a small amount but I was so proud of myself and so happy that he would be getting this magic elixir!
Breastfeeding did not happen straightaway. I was told by the nurses that Teddy wouldn’t develop the ability to breastfeed until at least 35-36 weeks. He didn’t pay any attention to that though. He kept trying and trying, the persistent little thing that he is!
However, he just couldn’t latch. So I carried on expressing. Every 3 hours. Day and night. It was exhausting. He still kept trying and was constantly sucking the very ends of my nipples but just couldn’t latch on fully. It was painful, heartbreaking and frustrating. I then started to wonder if he had a tongue tie. Consultant confirmed it - he had a severe tongue tie which was dealt with there and then. He latched pretty soon after and has been boobing ever since!
He has breastfed in restaurants, bars, on the beach, on hikes, in the swimming pool, in the gym, in between workouts when I did a gym competition and many more places! He’s currently feeding now as I write this!
I adore breastfeeding. It has been hard at times with his failure to latch, tongue tie and several bouts of mastitis… however, it is more special than I ever could have imagined and has helped our 4lb 8.5oz prem baby grow into an almost 20lb little chonk.”
🤍
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