BREASTFEEDING JOURNEYS
Fayes Breastfeeding Journey During my pregnancy, I wasn’t sure if I would breastfeed or not. I went into the whole experience very open-mindedly. If I could, that would be great but also if it just didn’t work for us, then that would also be fine. I was happy either way. Riley was born Via emergency C-Section and I was unable to be with her for the first 45 minutes. As soon as I was able to hold her, she tried to latch on and it felt so natural for me, although she hadn’t actually latched on properly. Over the next few days in the hospital, the midwives would come in and help with latching. They helped me use a pump to stimulate my milk flow and reassured me that topping Riley up with a formula in the first few days would be fine. We had unbelievable care from the midwives at the hospital in Visp, they would come and help me latch for the next 3 days and also show Ash (my husband) how he could help. We finally left the hospital 4 days after Riley was born and on the second day at home, my milk came in (Wahoo). I found contact nipple shields made latching so much easier. So that was it! I was breastfeeding! I couldn’t believe it. I felt so privileged I was able to do it. The next few weeks were a blur, feeding on demand, my boobs getting massive, one bigger than the other and then spraying everywhere if Riley slept even slightly longer than usual! Oh and the letdown!!! Oh my gosh, the pain, but after around 6 weeks, that got better. The weeks went by and it got easy each time until what I thought was mastitis was actually just a cut in my nipple. I could not feed Riley from that nipple and would have to express. Thankfully over a week or so with the treatment of warm clothes and lots of creams, my nipple healed and I could feed again. I now started to understand more about feeding and start to really enjoy bonding with Riley. As the weeks went on I got more confident in feeding outside the house and then that’s when I realised I had to think about what I was wearing and how difficult it was just to get to my boobs. I starting thinking of the idea of what I would want to wear and how can I make this easier. I wanted to feel comfortable wearing something inside and outside the house. Nice bright colours and something I can just get my boob out discreetly when I needed to. I thought about clothes I would want and start drawing a few ideas. After a few months of thinking ‘can I actually do this’ I started Zip to Nip. It has took nearly a year to get everything to where we can launch. I am not breastfeeding anymore, however I love that I am able share my experience and hope that someone can feel comfortable in my clothing brand. Faye
Catherines Breastfeeding Journey New mommy but an old nanny. A Short Introduction to myself. I have looked after children since I was 19. I qualified as a nanny I learnt all there is to know about warming up Breast milk, feeding little ones, and keeping logs so moms knew the times of feeds and how much they had, all super important for mommies and their little ones. What I didn’t know, however, was how long it takes for your milk to come in, how your little one gets so hungry you can’t do anything to help them and you need help! And it’s ok to ask for help for the care of your baby as a mommy. I started my journey to being a mommy at 37, when, after 18 years of looking after other people’s babies and children, we decided to have our own little one. I wanted to have everything natural as possible, from a water birth, to breastfeeding, to give her the best start in life. However, my body said differently, my blood pressure went up, as we work in the hospitality industry and we were about to start a very busy winter season, we had a lot to organise from all our bookings to training my new team.  I didn’t personally choose to have my first baby in January. We ended up going into the hospital early and my baby girl was born two weeks early Via C-section on 21.12.22 and we came home 25th of December. After her birth, the nurses helped latch her onto my left side and she latched really well! I worked out quite soon that I had incredible pain when she started to feed and there was one nipple she didn’t favour. I persisted! On day three she was starving and just getting so upset. She was given formula from a cup, just 20ml. I started pumping after she had latched to encourage my milk to flow and it did, I then cried when I saw I finally produced milk. The midwife and breastfeeding specialist were all amazing and so helpful! I mentioned she had a nipple she didn’t favour and I would then feed first this side and then the other. I also found making my boob into a U shape helped her latch more and I still do this at the end of her feed when she doesn’t get as much as she has a suck that is like a hoover and even quicker with a bottle. Making the U shape helps to bring down what is left. I also found she had a big suck reflex and as my boob was empty she would get frustrated and I had to use a dummy which I didn’t want to, but man this helped to calm her down and she would then switch off and rest otherwise she would get super frustrated, this we learnt together. And I’m so glad as it calmed her down. I am enjoying the journey we are on together, I found I have a very low pain threshold but it hasn’t got in the way of feeding my baby. It was really painful at the beginning but each time I persevered it got better. And I think oxytocin plays a big part! And now the pain only happens occasionally. My midwife was amazing and the support from her and encouragement was essential in knowing I’m doing ok and that the pain was real and we are doing ok together. I haven’t pumped as much as I would like too and I hope to start a bit more so my partner can feed her too. What I would say is that ask if you are unsure, there are so many ways that can help and there are different ways for your baby to latch as well. I usually feed at night lying down with her in bed and sitting up during the day. It’s definitely team work and we have found what works for us. I hope reading this helps you know we are not alone and what works for you may not for others, but trying things definitely helps. Catherine
Katys Breastfeeding journey I cannot believe as I write this that I am coming up to 4 years of breastfeeding continuously. I had both boys quite close together and hadn't finished feeding Rohan when Saxon arrived. But let's start at the beginning. I knew I wanted to breastfeed and to be honest, I hadn't even thought about any other options, I hadn't even bought any bottles or a pump (not something I would recommend) I loved being pregnant and spent most of my pregnancy doing hypnobirthing and pregnancy yoga. I had a beautiful water birth at home and was able to breastfeed straight away. I had some help from my midwife and off we went. The next 24 hours were so hard, I wasn't sure I was doing it right and he wasn't settled, I was getting myself so uptight and stressed I didn't know what to do. My amazing midwife linked me up straight away with some support and she sent me some videos to watch. At this point, Byron ( my husband) had to step in as my brain wasn't being logical. We had seen a video where if you lie skin to skin with the baby on your chest their reflexes will mean they can crawl and find the breast. I remember lying on the bed sobbing, top off with some meditation music trying to relax, enjoy it, and actually feed my tiny baby. And you know what, it worked. From then on my feeding journey became so natural. So with my feeding pillow at the ready, I settled in for all those cluster feds and late night wakes-ups (every 2 hours) and all the delish cuddles. I could talk about this in so much more detail but will save it for the podcast. As with anything it's hard at the beginning but gets easier with practice. The second time around and it was so much easier, I was still breastfeeding Rohan (2.5 years old) so there was no waiting for my milk to come in, Saxon got the good stuff from the get-go. Again I had a gorgeous water birth at home and was able to give Saxon his first feed in the pool and we had successfully done 2 feeds in the first hour. It felt so dreamy this time, so natural and easy. Then came the challenge of tandem feeding a newborn and a toddler. I will be frank I hated it! Every time I fed them together was like everything I had, was being drained out of me, it was too much. The only way I could get through it was to close my eyes and sing songs. After a few weeks, we stopped, even though I still fed them both I just couldn't do it at the same time. This was much better but I felt like my whole life was spent feeding, and in reality, it was. Then one day out of nowhere Rohan just stopped, he had stopped in the day long before Saxon arrived. Then one night he came in, kissed, and said goodnight, that was it the end of one feeding journey. Saxon is still feeding now at 18 months and who knows when he will be ready to stop. But I will keep going till he is ready and we will see what else the journey has in store for us. ​ Katy.