Hi! My names Lacy and my breastfeeding journey started 6 years ago. As soon as I got pregnant with our oldest, I knew I wanted to breastfeed. After she was born, unfortunately I had little to no support, including from the hospital. Actually, only my husband and one friend really tried to help me. Before we even left the hospital, she was on formula for too much weight loss. I was devastated to say the least. I did a ton of research to try to understand where I went wrong.
A few months before my daughter turned two, we found out we were pregnant with twins! Again, I knew I wanted to breastfeed and this time the experience was much different. The nurses were so much more supportive, even with the weight loss. They both had tongue and lip tie along with low tone and high tone which made things difficult. I called one my little piranha and the other slow poke, lol. We found a preferred provider and meet our amazing Lactation consultant! We also did chiropractic care with them. Things were okay until I went back to work. I managed to pump for them until about 6 months. I was proud of this, considering the circumstances.
When the twins were 23 months old, we welcomed our 4th baby. He too had lip and tongue tie, but this time I knew what to do. He was in the NICU for 24 hours where he was not allowed any formula, yet I was not allowed to try to nurse him either. At the 24-hour mark, I was allowed to hold him, and he immediately tried to nurse. The nurse in the room was fine with this and helped. She did try to offer him a bottle after and he refused it. That is when I knew this journey would be different. I arranged to have my lactation consultant see me at home as soon as possible, and she helped me navigate getting his ties taken care of. It made such a huge difference to have good lactation support from the very beginning.
We had our ups and downs for sure with him as well, but he is now 21 months old and still nursing! We are so blessed for all we have learned and to have four beautiful and healthy children!
