Grateful for Breastfeeding
When breastfeeding is working well, it’s easy to take it for granted but lately, I’ve come to realize just how grateful I am for it. With my first son, I was grateful for breastfeeding because it gave my baby the extra immune support and because I felt like it was the perfect nutrition formulated just for him but with my second son, it’s so much more.
To say that my second son is exclusively breastfed would be an understatement. I was lucky in that Matthew latched fairly well from the beginning; although my strong letdown and oversupply presented challenges. In the beginning, he was willing to accept a bottle of pumped milk as well but he could not seal his mouth around the bottle nipples well and much of the milk would end up dribbled all over his clothing. By month four, Matthew had decided that he would no longer accept bottles at all. If my husband tried to offer him a bottle, he would cry so hard he would hyperventilate, and then when I finally agreed to take him and breastfeed him he would attack like he had never seen food but then as soon as he was finished he would ignore me out of spite.
In addition, during this time of uncertainty and fear of the virus, the extra immunity support has been especially important to me – even more so because Matthew has extra small airways. I’ve even heard that researchers are looking at components of breastmilk to try to fight the virus! It’s hard to keep Matthew home all of the time but by breastfeeding I feel like I’m giving him a little immune support that is tailored perfectly to him! I’d like to continue to give him this support for as long as I am able.
Then came our attempt to introduce solid foods at six months; well pureed food that is… which crashed and burned. He literally refused to eat them and cried pitifully every time we tried. Afterward, he would nurse for hours and was clearly agitated and uncomfortable. After consulting with my son’s doctors we decided to wait a couple of months and then try again.
We reintroduced solids again a month ago and it’s been rough. My baby doesn’t seem to tolerate them well and none of our teams of doctors can figure out why. We keep trying but as a result, my son has stepped up his nursing game in protest – especially at night. One night last week he literally nursed all night until 4:45 am… I’m one tired mama but I try to remind myself how different our life would be without breastfeeding.
Despite the fact that I’d really love a break or even just 5 minutes to myself, I’ve started to look at breastfeeding in a whole new light. Not only is this the best thing that I can do for my son to protect him from this new world of scary germs like COVID but it’s literally his life support. Since he won’t take a bottle or solid foods, without breastfeeding my son would literally be unable to eat. Looking at it in this light I am proud of my body for keeping this tiny human alive and not just alive but thriving! My son is a chunk! Breastfeeding has been a gift and every day that I can continue to give it to my son is one that I am grateful for.
Matthew – 9 months