(Diary) Baby Feeding is an Emotional Journey

That I was not prepared to handle

Welcome to my diary. These are entires I wrote during my own pregnancy. What you’re about to read is unfiltered, unedited, and perhaps a bit uncanny. But these are my raw feelings written in real-time. Everyone’s perspective and journey is different. This is mine.

Dear friend,

Jen Glantz here.

When I was pregnant, the only hobby I had was preparing as much as I could for the baby.

I didn’t know what I needed, so I bought everything. I won’t lie to you, I bought 2-3 of everything and stored most of it under my bed.

But one of the biggest things I didn’t prepare for ended up being one of the most difficult parts of being a new mom with a newborn.

Baby feeding.

When I was pregnant, I assumed I’d just breastfeed.

I didn’t give it much thought. I just figured it was something I’d want to do and it would be easy.

I took one class on breastfeeding. It lasted an hour. I learned nothing.

So moments after the baby entered the world, a nurse forced her onto my breast, and there I was - forced to figure out how to feed her.

It was a disaster. I wasn’t prepared for this type of disaster.

I’m sharing the full story with you here.

If I could go back in time, I’d do these things differently.

• I’d have a breast feeding back-up plan and a back-up plan for that back-up plan.

  • I’d have my breast pump fully set-up and I’d spend time learning how to use it BEFORE the baby arrived. That way, if I needed it (and I needed it) I wouldn’t have to first learn how to use it.

    • This is the pump I use 8-10x a day and I love it. I also bought the portable version to take with me on-the-go.

  • I’d also have more formula in the house in case I needed it (and I needed it). Having a can of formula saved us from having to go to the emergency room when the baby wouldn’t latch. Now, we supplement with 1/2 pumped breast milk and 1/2 formula. I use this one.

• I’d have a lactation consultant on-call to meet me at home the day I got home from the hospital. Not only that, but I’d do a prenatal visit too so that we could build a relationship and that consultant could provide breastfeeding tips before the baby arrived. I scrambled to find someone to come ASAP when we were experiencing problems and that person was….not helpful. I found a second person and she wasn’t super helpful either. I wish I had done this research before giving birth.

• Take an intensive breastfeeding class. I took one before giving birth but it wasn’t helpful. It was only an hour long. I didn’t learn anything. I wish I took a longer one where they went into depth about breastfeeding and what to do if a baby won’t latch.