My four month old is officially asleep for the night. That is an accomplishment today because I officially nursed ALL DAY. I did not feed her a single bottle.
It only took four months. On my second child.
Explanation: I’ve been pumping and feeding her a bottle for most of her short time here on earth. Breastfeeding is freaking hard, man. At least, it is in the beginning. And I’ve never really made it past the beginning. Engorgement, bleeding nipples, blocked ducts, and I’m out. I’ll happily lock myself in a room to pump a few times a day. I’ve always had good luck with pumping, and can build up my supply to feed her and stock the freezer.
And for the most part, I’m happy with the bottles. I like being able to see how much she is eating.
But there’s a few times where bottles don’t rock. Like when you’re going out of town overnight to a wedding. Like we are tomorrow. Or anywhere else for that matter. Hauling the pump and the bottles and sterilizer and figuring out how to keep milk cold and then figuring out how to warm it. UG. It’s way easier just to pull out a boob.
Plus I’ve always watched those people who are just good at nursing. You know? And somewhere deep down, I wanted to be one of them.
So I decided this morning to give it a shot. To see if I could nourish the baby for an entire day, no bottles, no pumping. I wasn’t sure how she would do, having only nursed sporadically, or how I would do, or how the transition from pumping only a few times a day to regular nursing would go.
But I did it.