It took me a while to build confidence to post this. But then i had to remind myself that i shouldnt be ashamed, i should be proud because camden and i have come such a long way in our brestfeeding journey.

It started off all butterflies and rainbows. After a little guidance at the hospital, camden was a pro. (Hey this is easy!) THEN. my milk came in and her latch went all wrong. I would literaly cry every time she needed to eat. Every feeding session was filled with tears and screaming (coming from both of us. It was not a fun time). I literally wanted to throw puppies at the wall and slap my husband for encouraging me to keep trying. (Poor guy. Hes so patient with me.)

I gave up. I started pumping. It made me so sad that i couldnt feed her the way i wanted to. (Yes she was still getting breast milk. Blah blah blah.) It felt so unfair. "Keep trying, the pain is normal at first." UHM NO. not this pain. I would have rather gone through labor naturally 10 times over before having to endure this pain again. (Not kidding guys, it was awful)

When camden was 4 weeks old, the power went out in our apartment for about 6 hours. (Yet another reason i hate virginia) How was I supposed to pump? How was i gonna warm the bottle?? So after many (MANY) deep breaths and mentally preparing myself, we tried nursing again.

SHE DID GREAT. It was effortless. I cried with joy and texted my mom with my daughter still attached. (Actually i do that a lot now...)

Slowly i started to reintroduce nursing. At 2 months old, camden is almost exclusively breastfed (she takes a bottle at bedtime). While its still a bumpy road sometimes, my heart is so full knowing i am able to feed my baby the way i have always pictured. I am still building the confidence to nurse in public, but its becoming easier each time knowing that we have overcome so much in order to be able to do this (i am also building an arsenal of smart comebacks should anyone feel the need to tell me to cover up).

I dont know what the future holds for our breastfeeding relationship, but right now i just know that nursing sessions are my favorite part of the day and i am so proud of both of us.

Happy #BreastfeedingAwarenessMonth and #NationalBreastfeedingWeek friends. And thanks for reading 😄😄