08/31/2026
My beautiful baby boy was born in late 2019, and in March of 2020, the world effectively shut down. My journey with breast feeding, started out hard, or so I thought. I was kept in the hospital for three days due to being Strep B positive, so they were able to monitor my baby and make sure he would be ok. My milk didn’t come in for a couple of days and I was worried I would never be able to breast feed my baby. I was pumping in the hospital with a hospital borrowed pump. I didn’t know it then but the flanges were far too large. It was painful and everything was so new. While in the hospital so many different people are coming in and out, which included a lactation consultant. I felt supported in the hospital but once we got home we were on our own essentially. It feels so wild to be a brand new parent with this tiny life you are solely responsible for. My milk came in relatively quickly once I got home, but I had a lovely nurse who sent us home with some formula to supplement what I was producing then for the first couple days at home. My son was a hungry baby, and if we ever needed to calm him down, it was easy enough to just feed him a little. I was laid off in early 2020 and was able to stay home with my son for a couple of months while I searched for a new job. I was able to pump at that job and that was a wonderful benefit but also kept me doubly busy. Pumping every couple of hours and making sure to store the milk and parts properly, remembering to bring it all home with me and hoping I don’t mess up my clothes in the process felt like a job in itself. Not to mention that didn’t stop once at home or in the middle of the night if baby was sleeping. Then there was cleaning everything- so much work. My son breast feed for much longer than I believe the average child breast feeds for. Luckily, we had the assistance of WIC, which helped us so much for the years we had it. I was thankful for my ability to breast feed for so many reasons, especially after hearing the struggle some women have gone through. I think it is important to put that into perspective, while also acknowledging that it is still not easy for many women. I was also very grateful for the ability to breast feed as during COVID formula because scarce and wildly expensive and WIC helped us supplement solid foods, affordably. My son is taller than almost every kid in his class, is smart as anything, and is the sweetest boy with the biggest heart that I have ever met. I am so thankful to be his mommy.
