Family Photographer Seattle | Meet Andrea
Breast Feeding Awareness Month | Andrea’s Journey
[clear-line]
“I can remember growing up hearing my mother’s stories about breastfeeding me for 18 months. She always says that choosing to breastfeed for so long attributed to our close bond today. Needless to say, when I became pregnant with my daughter, breastfeeding was the one thing I looked forward to the most! My daughter was born a little over 2 weeks early after a very quick and intense 3 hours of labor. When I saw her for the first time, the love I felt was so deep, it nearly hurt. Who knew you could love a complete stranger so much? She was the most perfect, tiny little person I had ever seen. The nurses immediately told me that she would have trouble latching on because she was so small. My girl proved them wrong and latched perfectly within 1 hour of birth, and I remember feeling so very proud of her.
When we brought her home, we had both forgotten everything we learned in the hospital. At the time, we couldn’t afford the help of a lactation consultant so there was about 3 days of sore nipples, baby tears, mama tears, and a very hungry baby! I remember feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt because I couldn’t feed my own child. Then one day I decided to look up on YouTube (of all places!) proper latching techniques, ditched the Boppy pillow, and got my girl latched on correctly and we haven’t looked back since! She is nearly 1 year old and going strong. My personal goal is 2 years, but if she wants more, I won’t say no 🙂 My husband and family have been so incredibly supportive of my decision and i believe that helps tremendously.”
