by Heather
In this week's guest post, Heather shares the dramatic story of her first few months as a mom. If you are expecting a new baby, consider exploring our new lesson series: Guide to Newborns for Expecting Parents. If your state offers this lesson series, you can find it on the Lesson Categories page of wichealth.org.
My first son, Anthony Carter, was born on September 27th. He was born weighing 9.7 pounds and 20.5 inches long in Florida (where I was living at the time).
When I was pregnant I was convinced I was going to breastfeed. I told myself there was no other way. I wanted the absolute best for my baby no matter what.
I took two breastfeeding classes and my husband tagged along as well. When my son was born I would get super overwhelmed with trying to latch him, and my husband was very supportive and helpful. The first month was the hardest, however, we had another problem. On October 10th of the year my son was born, Hurricane Michael hit our town. We evacuated to my sister's in Alabama two days prior, and boy am I glad we did! Not only did I have the stress of being a new mother, but I had to struggle alone because my husband had to travel to Panama City to work and could only come back every few days or sometimes just on the weekends.
It was a very stressful time in our lives. But, Anthony didn't know of a thing going on so I had to put a smile on and love my child through the hard times when I just wanted to cry. We ended up moving to Tennessee, where my husband has his father, sister, and grandmother around.
My point is, ladies, you are so much more powerful than you realize. You CAN do this. We are MADE to do this. I am 10.5 months strong in feeding my son and we plan to "self-wean" (let Anthony keep breastfeeding until he is ready to wean) because the milk has so many benefits and the bond is incredible to say the least! I just want to let women everywhere know it is hard but it is so worth it to breastfeed if you physically can. 💚
This blog was written by one of our guest WIC mom bloggers, Heather.
About Heather
My name is Heather. I was born in a small town called Florala, Alabama. My parents separated because my mother didn't want to be around my father's drinking anymore when I was in the 9th grade, and that is when we moved to Alabama. I met a girl through band and we became best friends. A few years later (senior year) her cousin, and now my husband, was there, and it was an instant connection. Now we are married, and both my parents have passed away, along with his mother, leaving only his father. We have both gone through struggles, but overcame it all together.
