Don't give up!

by Amie
(Manchester (England))

I found out i was pregnant when i was 18, at first i thought i wasn't going to breastfeed, i thought it would be embarrassing and frowned upon feeding my baby in pubic, after thinking about it i decided to give it a go seeing as its the best thing for my baby and i wanted to give her the best possible start in life, the first few days were hard, my boobs hurt really bad once my milk came in, my nipples were sore and cracked and it would really hurt me every time i fed my daughter (Avia) but i kept at it and didn't give up, for the first week and a half i was so tired, Avia was up every 2 hours feeding and used to 'cluster' feed in the evenings, she was 9pound 7oz at birth so a big baby and she needed a lot of feeding up! I felt like i never had any time to do anything, my hubby suggested we give her a bottle before bed to give me a break and help her sleep a bit longer, we chose the bottled ready to use milk that was especially designed for combination feeding, the first few nights she fussed with the bottle and didn't drink much, but then she started having the full bottle and sleeping through the night! which was a relief on all 3 of us. Avia is now a month old, and breastfeeding it such a nice thing for both of us, i really look forward to feeding her now, its so special knowing that your doing something thats helping your baby that only you can do, the bottle before bed had helped settle her at night and she seems to like it, i thought being a 'younger' mum that breastfeeding would be hard, i personally don't know anyone who breastfeeds who is my age, but i wouldn't do it any different, to all the young mums out there you can do it despite what you think, and if things are hard in the beginning stick at it!