Beginners Breastfeeding Story
Dear Katherine,
I am so thrilled to be able to tell you that our precious Megan Grace is finally feeding like a
little trooper!
What an emotional roller coaster the last 3 weeks have been - and it has been a journey that I would not have been able to weather without your incredible kindness and support. Thank you for your wonderful workshop, which cemented for me the importance of breast feeding and gave me the will and determination to get it right.
As a first time mom, I just assumed that breast feeding would be the most natural thing in the world and that Meg and I would take to it like ducks to water - I was certainly not prepared for the struggle and anxiety that would come. Meg would not latch. I could not get her on to the breast. She lost 10% of her birth weight in the first 3 days and I was about as emotional and anxious as a new mom can be. In the face of unsupportive hospital staff and much conflicting advice, if it had not been for your workshop and your ongoing support, we would certainly be on bottles and formula today. You gave me the information and reinforcement to know in my heart that we just had to persevere - I had to keep going.
I can't thank you enough for your late night and early morning visits to the hospital (for resolutely ignoring visiting hours!), for your extended home visits and your constant care and support over a very difficult seven days. Thank you for your patience and kindness and for putting up with all my tears, through broken nipples and mastitis and expressing and cup feeding! I am still so emotional when I think back over the last few weeks. And then the miracle happened, just as you said it would, I got the hang of it and so did our little Megs - and we are now feeding every 3 to 4 hours like clockwork. I know in my heart that I have done the best for my daughter - and what an incredibly special time it is when she is at my breast. I know that I am going to make many mistakes as a mommy, and there are going to be times when I get things horribly wrong, but this is one thing that I have got absolutely right and I am so proud to have persevered with breast feeding.
The most amazing news of all is that our little girl regained her birth weight after 2 weeks! She looks healthy and happy and absolutely gorgeous.
Thank you Kath. I wish you well with all your endeavors and know that you are going to make a positive difference in many women's' lives.
Much love,
Penny, Charles and Megan
