Thursday, September 27, 2007

Mum Knows Breast

Hi Folks - today I have another guest blogger in the form of Kelly from Nuvo Maternity and online Mum's space Mum Knows Breast. Welcome Kelly and thanks for sharing your story...

I breastfed both my boys and found the experience to be totally different with each which surprised me a little at the time. However, both times in the first few weeks I had sore nipples and had to learn to attach properly.
I remember the first night home from the hospital with my first son Ryan was terrible. He screamed all night and I just couldn’t attach as my nipples were cracked and sore. I remember being in tears the next day when the midwife from the hospital visited. The midwife was fantastic and really got me on the right track and I was able to successfully feed him for 7 months.

I remember the first 6 weeks as being the hardest and then things really did settle down. I returned to work one day a week when Ryan was 8 weeks old and expressed while at work for 6 months. He then weaned at 7 months, as I was one of those women who lose a lot of weight while breastfeeding and was unable to maintain my supply or a healthy weight range.

Two years later son number two, William, was a whole new ball game! It was easier to get my head around breastfeeding second time but at 3 weeks I was hospitalised for a week with Mastitis. I have never been so sick in my life but continued breastfeeding with a lot of support from a fantastic nurse and lactation consultants at my local child health centre.

Breastfeeding while caring for a two year old was difficult at times as my second son was a distracted feeder who often had his best feed at night! I also fed him until 7 and 1/2 months when my increased weight loss again kicked in and I was unable to keep up my milk supply.

Even though I fed both boys for 7 months I still felt guilty when they were weaned before 12 months and it is one of the reasons I like to support other mums to do the best they can and congratulate themselves for breastfeeding for however long they are able.
I found breastfeeding a rewarding yet challenging experience and it really did change my life in the form of a career change! As a breastfeeding mum, I found it hard to find clothes to nurse in that were both fashionable, high quality and comfortable so decided to design my own range and my business Nuvo Maternity was born while on leave from primary school teaching.

To see more of the great Nuvo range got to www.NuvoMaternity.com.au.

Kelly also runs the fantastic online resource Mum Knows Breast - check it out at www.mumknowsbreast.mumspace.net

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