Confessions of a New Mum - Guest Post by Renee from Mummy, Wife, Me | Motherhood


This is the ninth guest post from other bloggers about their memories of being a new Mum. If you would like to write a post for this series let me know in the comments or send me an email to kylie(@)kyliepurtell(dot)com

My latest Confessions of a New Mum Guest Post come from the lovely Renee who blogs at Mummy, Wife, Me. She has kindly agreed to share some of her experience of breastfeeding the second time round, which is appropriate seeing as I am dealing with exactly that right now!

If you were to drop around unexpectedly to my house between 6pm and 7pm you would most likely find me sitting on the couch topless.

It is nothing out of the ordinary for my husband Dave to come home from work and find me with
one or both boobs hanging out ready for action. 

Not the action Dave would like I can assure you. I am sitting there like a bare breasted milkmaid, desperately trying anything and everything to get my baby to feed. 

I found breastfeeding my first daughter a dream. We both seemed to get the hang of it straight away and it was a beautiful experience. I would look down at her with adoration, her tiny perfect features mesmerizing me as she contentedly suckled away.

Before I had kids, my mum told me how much I would love breastfeeding. I was not convinced. I just couldn’t get my head around it. I know this will sound strange, but it kind of weirded me out. I promised mum I would give it a try though and when I did I loved it. 

Feed times would be one of my favourite times of the day with my first, Curly-locks. I found it so relaxing and such a special bonding experience. I especially loved the late night feeds when the house was quiet and it was just me and my baby nestled up in my arms.

When my second bub, Smiley, came along I expected the same. I was an old pro at breastfeeding. Things would surely be just as easy and beautiful.  

They weren’t.

Like Curly-locks, baby Smiley has a tongue tie. While it didn’t cause much of a problem with Curly-locks, it caused major complications for Smiley.

Every feed was excruciating for me. Her tongue tie would lacerate my poor nipples. Instead of looking down at her in adoration, I would close my eyes, grit my teeth, and yelp in pain. At the end of my tether, we tried the bottle. She couldn’t seem to get the hang of this either, so back to the boob we went.

Things got so bad that I developed a blister on one of my nipples and my expressed milk was tinged with blood. 

Because I had no problems with Curly-locks, I wasn’t really sure where to go for help. I spoke briefly to the local midwife, but ignored her urges to seek professional help. Like the stubborn person I am, I powered on convinced it would improve.

It didn’t.

It reached crisis point one mid summer’s afternoon. I bawled my eyes out on the phone to mum. I was hysterical, stressed out, and acting very unlike myself.

Mum raced over to the rescue, as she does.

As soon as she walked in the door she scolded me.

‘It’s sweltering in here,’ she said.

She opened every window and door in the house as I walked behind her protesting vehemently. I was frozen to the core.

I sat down in exhaustion as I realised I was shivering. I was overcome with nausea and had a headache. My right breast would often pain me during the day, but I realised that the pain had gone up a notch. It was hot and tender to touch. 

‘I think I have mastitis,’ I told my mum.

So off I went to the doctor, popped my boobs out once again, and came home with some anitbiotics and a cabbage.

After this, things magically looked up. My beaten up boobs mended and with a lot of time and patience Smiley and I found our rhythm. 

It is never going to be like it was with my first though. While Curly-locks would contentedly suckle, Smiley is nosy and easily distracted. 

She will take a few sucks, pull off, and look around to make sure she’s not missing out on anything. Feeding in the evening is especially bad and can take at least an hour.

We are definitely making progress though. She is getting better at the bottle and I hope that in the next couple of months before I return to work I can fully wean her off the boob.

My career as a topless milkmaid is almost at an end. I can’t wait to retire. 

You can find Renee's blog by clicking here, and you can follow her on facebook over here.


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Comments

Kylie Purtell said…
Thank you so much for letting me guest post on your awesome blog, Kylie. I hope all is going well with feeding gorgeous baby Zee and I didn't put the fear of God in you ;)
Kylie Purtell said…
Hope it's all running smoothly for you - what a good idea getting the guests posts while you're no doubt flat out!
Kylie Purtell said…
Great guest post! I had trouble with both my two BFing.. 1st time around it was hard to know where to go, everyone else I knew could do it! I ended up expressing for 3 months before getting help. The 2nd time around I knew exactly what to do, and when it didn't work I knew who to ask!
Kylie Purtell said…
Oh, breastfeeding....

I'm now breastfeeding my third, but still remember like it was yesterday the 'blood, sweat & tears' (literally) trying to feed my first. So important for people to share their experiences, so new mums can know that it's not always smooth sailing and as simple as its made out to be.
Kylie Purtell said…
I, too, had a brilliant and incredibly easy BFing journey with my {little} Big Girl. I haven't really even entertained the thought that I might not be like that a second time 'round. Gulp. I'm glad to hear things are getting better for you, Renee. And Kyles, as always, thinking of you and adorable Baby Zee. I can almost smell the newborn-ness from here.... eeep! X
Kylie Purtell said…
Mastitis is just awful awful awful! I had it once before and it hurt so bad :/ luckily things got better in the end Renee! Hope bf-ing Baby#2 will go smoothly for you Kylie!

Ai @ Sakura Haruka
Kylie Purtell said…
Oh you poor thing. BF can be such a rollercoaster. Thankfully my ride was pretty good, but apart from the lovely bonding, I can't say I loved it though. Best. x
Kylie Purtell said…
LOL! Yes! Every breastfeeding story is different! Very different! I am breastfeeding my 6th child now and it took a good 2 months to get it right together. I had shocking cracked nipples (I invented a cure and they healed magically in hours - if anyone needs it contact me)! I persisted and it paid off. She is still a busy little breast feeder 7 months later. I fed number 5 like a dream - perfect from day one until he weaned himself at 16 months. Then there were various successes and failures between children 1-4. I have been thinking of blogging about breastfeeding for a while now as after 6 I have done the rounds!
Thanks for sharing!
Kylie Purtell said…
Renee, I'm remembering that pain as I read this! Thank goodness for our wonderful mums :)
Kylie, this is an excellent series, hope it's all going well for you and bub x
Kylie Purtell said…
I bottle fed Mr 4 and I used to love sitting curled up on the couch with him while he fed. I could never understand the need to teach babies to hold their own bottle. I loved the time we spent together while he was drinking his bottle.
Kylie Purtell said…
I haven't had issues with feeding either of my children and I don't understand the pressure we put on ourselves when feeding doesn't go to plan but as mums we know breast is best and we want what is best for our children. Thank you for sharing your story. I'm pro bf or formula feeding as long as mum and bub are happy. Easily said than done though.
Kylie Purtell said…
I had so many problems breastfeeding and it so crushed my confidence. I found it was so hard to know where to go for help, who to listen to and after spending weeks crying through every feed, at 4 weeks I finally weaned my baby, and felt like a failure.
Thanks for being so honest, Renee. It helps to know that we are not alone in this journey!
Kylie Purtell said…
That must have been hard. I never had a drama with breastfeeding thank goodness, though I did have mastitis so many times I really should have won an award I feel.
Kylie Purtell said…
I had a horrific time with my first, chronic reflux and so was on and off every few seconds/minutes, tears dramas - AHHH. But no.2 was easy and loved boob until about 16 months! I think I had it the easy way around :) Except for lots of mastitis esp with No.3 xx x
Kylie Purtell said…
People think because breastfeeding is natural, that it's easy. Um, NO!!!! Good on you for persevering though. I'll never forget the pain of my milk coming in with Baby #2. I never had that experience with Baby #1 even though he was fully breastfed until 4 months old. Not surprisingly he wasn't gaining weight and failed to thrive so we put him on the bottle and next thing I knew my little Ethiopian baby had transformed into a buddha baby! Poor little thing must have been starving - but when I sought help from Nursing Mums they told me that because he slept through the night he was "fine". I now realise it's all about the "attachment". Feeding with #2 went much more smoothly thankfully ...
Kylie Purtell said…
Breast feeding my first was a dream, but I didn't enjoy it one bit. I was fortunate he was an efficient drinking machine and it was over with each time quickly . I would have been horrified if he fed for longer :) I could never understand why people call it something they enjoy ;)

Hello Tom #teamIBOT
Kylie Purtell said…
You poor thing- my toes curled thinking about the expressed milk tinged with blood. Hope the transition to the bottle goes well for you x
Kylie Purtell said…
Ouch, ouch ouch! I couldn't breastfeed try as I might. Wretched inverted nipples, and Pumpkin just gave up. Great story though!

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