Half a year already!!!

     My baby girl is 6 months old today, can you believe it??? I can't! Just yesterday she came home, struggled with breastfeeding, had her first bath, had her first diaper change and was up crying ALL THE TIME. No, it's been 6 whole months. She has grown, slept through the night, started eating REAL food, started rolling over AND is beginning to sit on her own.

     My own personal victory within these 6 months has been staying with breastfeeding. It's been a hard go with us two, getting her to latch correctly and STAY latched. I knew NOTHING about breastfeeding when I had her, I just assumed it would come easily, boy was I wrong! The nurses and lactation specialist in the hospital weren't any help, and I was sore, bleeding and bruised by the time I left. The day after she came home, my breastfeeding angel arrived!!! A lovely lady at Kaiser got her to latch on and feed correctly for the first time! I was so relieved I started crying and laughing at the same time. She fell soundly asleep and my mom and I were off to do some shopping before returning home. When it came time for her next feeding, we were back to square one! She cried and cried as I tried to latch her on. The decision was made to go buy a pump! With little to no money, Tony and I decided on a hand pump from Medela. I hand pumped for a couple days straight, every two hours! After 3 days I took Amelia back into my bedroom for some skin to skin time and decided I would casually try to latch her on. She wasn't fussy or crying, just relaxed and enjoying our bonding time. Low and behold, she latched!!! I called for my mom to come back to the bedroom so she could see what we had done. I was so proud of us both! So ever since it's still been somewhat of a struggle, even after 6 months. She has NEVER been a breastfeeding pro, so I still have to pump. Thank goodness I'm not still hand pumping. Thanks to WIC I was able to receive a double breast pump for free. This whole time I have feared having another baby just because breastfeeding has been so stressful for me. But now that I know the techniques, I think I might be able to attempt it again. Maybe if I can get it right from the first time, we can be more successful. Here's to another 6 months of breastfeeding!!!

Happy 6 months!

Amelia rolling over to get a cat that was mine when I was little