Wonder Boobies!

This may go on a bit, so forgive me...

When Luke was born, breastfeeding was more of a chore than anything else. I didn't know it at the time, but I had a pretty nasty case of thrush which made my nips feel like his mouth was full of razor blades. Instead of finding the time while he was feeding calming and bonding, I held my breath for much of it, watching the clock and praying he'd be finished soon. In the course of two months I cracked, I bled and I gave up. I was young, inexperienced and exhausted, and just didn't have the heart or the drive at the time to do what it took to right the problem and keep on breastfeeding. Though I know it didn't affect our bonding, I think the switch may have impacted his health and for that I will always feel a little guilty. It seemed like he was sick ALL the time when he was a baby. It was like a constant revolving round of croup, ear infections, colds and colic. My poor baby...

It's probably the largest reason I was so determined to breastfeed Miss Brooklyn. I actually got thrush again this time, but after a round of anti-fungal medication (that sounds fun huh?!)we were back up and running again. She's been a champ through the entire learning process and gave me the breastfeeding experience I was hoping to have. That said, I'm going to do my damnedest to give her breast milk for at least a year. I'm not sure if we'll be able to do the actual breastfeeding thing for that long (my pump and I are going to be the beast of friends), but I'm determined to express enough to keep it as the staple of her diet until her first birthday. I've got about 300 ounces chillin' in the deep freeze and if I can double that in the next few months, I may be able to stop feeding/pumping a few months early and still be able to finish out my 1 year commitment. By the way, I've been sneaking breastmilk into the Duke's cereal every once in a while, to help his tummy since he just finished a round of antibiotics for the latest ear infection. Maybe it can help him fight off getting sick... We'll see!