Breastfeeding with Baby #2

It's amazing how things can just click the 2nd time around.

I still look at my breasts and think to myself, amen.  My son had a great latch from the very beginning.  I remember the first feeding and the nurses praising his latch.  I fumbled on how to hold him, but it was just like riding a bike and it all came back to me after that first cumbersome hold. I was determined this time around to do my best and to not stress.  I knew if it didn't work out, that I would happily switch him to formula and life would go on. I didn't want to hold on to those stressful feelings I had with Jillian, and the pressure to provide breastmilk. And I was not going to be married to my breast pump for 4 months. No way!!

In short here is why breastfeeding is working this time around:
1) My son has a great latch
2) I am calm and not freaking myself out
3) I made sure for the first two weeks, that he was feeding on each breast for at least 15 minutes.  If he was done eating, I would still leave him there to sleep on me.
4) We nursed naked!  The skin to skin contact is supposed to help and I remember that being a very important way to stimulate my production
5) I nursed on demand. Which was every 2 hours or sometimes even 90 minutes.
6) I added in one pumping session (this was in addition to Weston's normal feeding) to help production.
7) I took fennel greek, ate a ton of food and drank a lot of water.


I contribute a majority of my success to the fact that Weston had a great latch and health wise, my breasts didn't get any clogs or infections. They were definitely sore and painful, but you have to tredge on.

My breasts are currently a 34 DD, which is crazy, because pre-baby I am a solid B.

I am beyond proud that breastfeeding is working.  It's this amazing gift I can give my son, and the bond we have shared so far has succeeded every single expectation I have ever had. I keep thinking, I get it now.  I wish I could have shared this with Jillian, but if there is any advice I could pass on, or give myself when baby #3 arrives, is that you just have to stay calm and determined. We all know the first 4 weeks is the hardest, but the saving grace is that it does get easier.  You hear that phrase all the time, but the beginning IS the hardest.