The Begining

My nursing journey began twenty-seven months ago when my daughter was born.

I did not start out a woman with a passion for breast feeding babies. I had not even given it much thought until my sister in law brought up the topic during our pregnancies. I had grown up around and known only formula feeders. I never paid attention to the rare breast feeding mom I would come across. I think that I just assumed that babies drank formula from bottles, and that breastfeeding was not an option because moms just used formula instead. Convenience maybe? I really just had not thought about it. I suppose it is just one of those things you don't give much thought until you are put into the trenches of pregnancy and motherhood.

Once deciding that I would breastfeed I gave myself goals to reach. First I said I would breastfeed until I had to return to work, the first three months of my daughter's life. I would then switch to formula. Then I decided I would pump and go for at least six months. By this time I had sworn to not use formula. I was given a copy of Nursing Your Baby by Karen Pryor and this changed my whole outlook. I changed my mind yet again, and was resolved to breastfeed for the first year...then for two years...currently I have set my limit to three years, though I do not think Emy is going to agree with this.

Nursing my daughter had its challenges. She would not latch on at first. I attribute this to two things: (1) I had a drug assisted child birth, a deviation from nature, and (2) I think as a result of the drugs she was unable to clear her lungs during the birthing process naturally so immediately upon arrival she was taken to have a tube shoved down her newborn throat to suction out an enormous amount of fluid, which resulted in her not wanting anything in her mouth for some time after birth. She took five days to show an interest in nursing. At one point I succumbed to the insecurities a new mother has in her natural ability to nourish her child, despite the knowledge I had acquired telling me not to panic and resort to other methods thereby undermining what my body and child would figure out together, and I actually tried to administer formula, but thankfully she refused. I smelled the stuff and could not blame her. I ended up pumping and feeding her from a cup a couple of times before she latched on and decided that she wasn't going to give up the boob so easily.

We conceived our son when DD was fifteen months old. I had told my former OB of our decision to try for another just after DDs first birthday. That OB told me to wean her. I smiled and thanked her for the advice and quickly found myself a new OB.

I had no trouble nursing during my pregnancy. Although my milk changed flavor sometime during my fifth or sixth month my daughter did not seem to mind. At one point, I am sure, she was only getting colostrum. It made for some nasty diaper changes, but again, she did not mind.

I purchased a copy of Adventures in Tandem Nursing: Breastfeeding During Pregnancy and Beyond by Hilary Flower sometime during the last weeks of my pregnancy. I was certain that a new baby was not going to disco urge Emy from her love of the boob. I needed to prepare in some way. My body could do its own preparations. Making milk is natural for mothers and the female body knows how to do it, for one baby or multiple babies. I needed to prepare myself mentally and emotionally for the task of tandem nursing.

I have the full support of my husband, the father of my children. Without the support of this man I do not know how successful I would be. For a breastfeeding mother to be successful she must have all the support she can find. I also have the support, though sometimes I feel it is reluctant, of other family members. If they are not supportive of my decision to tandem nurse, and in particular to practice extended nursing, then they are at least not pushy about weaning...even though a few comments have been tossed out here and there.

I hopped on the mommy social networking sites and discovered just how uncommon tandem nursing is. It is virtually unheard of if you compare it to the mothers who use formula. I mean, on those boards it is quick to see that many women are ignorant and misinformed about breastfeeding one baby, forget breastfeeding two! And never mind if one of the children is a toddler! The few women I did find who had tandem nursed advised me to get a copy of Adventures in Tandem Nursing.

It is a very helpful resource and I recommend it for any pregnant and nursing mom, especially if you are really interested in child lead weaning, which is typically why you would end up tandem nursing a toddler and an infant, or if you just want to understand tandem nursing better. There is not much out there on the subject. Like I said, few women seem embark on the journey that is tandem nursing.

I have currently been breastfeeding for two years, three months, two weeks and five days. Of that time, I have been a tandem mama for three months, four weeks, and two days.

DS, latched on immediately. He was a natural child birth. I absolutely believe that it made all the difference, and not just with his ability to nurse effortlessly, but with his alertness and personality from the moment he entered the outside world.

So about a month ago I began to ponder the idea of creating a blog to capture my thoughts and musings on the topic of tandem nursing. I had created this account earlier than that, but was unsure how I would use it. I did not want another blog that was just me rambling on about random things in my life. I wanted a blog with a purpose. Now, I think I may have one.
I will do my best to get down as much as I can, as much as time and life affords me. It seems like a nice thing to do in the coming new year.