Have you heard stories that breastfeeding is hard (at least at the start?). Well, I have and I can add now another story to all those out there. Nobody prepared me for this. You hear that it hurts at the start and it can be very exhausting to be a “milk factory” every three hours (as it may also be every one hour right). However nobody out there tells you everything and mainly say that everybody is different.

Well, I learnt the most in my NCT class however our breastfeeding class was interesting one on its own. The teacher was one of those who claimed everybody can breastfeed and there is no way that there are women that do not start to produce milk. I already knew back then that was rubbish as I was not breastfed from those reasons. She also said that you can eat whatever you want without having an impact on your baby and their behaviour. Now, I had to learn the hard way that it is rubbish piece of information after I ate too much cheese one day.

I cannot even describe how stressful were the first few days. I was pulled to different directions by my friends, family, internet and all. And everybody was saying different things that “will definitely work”. I had quite major baby blues and so much confusing information coming at me from all possible angles. Breastfeeding was all I talked about. I tried so many things from hot towels, hot showers, nursing teas, massaging, stimulation with breast pump, feeding less, feeding too often and it was bloody hard. It was painful, time consuming and frustrating. I wish I could sit here and say (like some women out there) how beautiful breastfeeding is and how they felt the bond with the baby. As I did not. And I do not think it makes me a bad mother. Actually, I am proud of myself that although I struggled so much I lasted and I did it and I am still doing it. It makes me a brilliant mother as I kept going although I wanted to stop every second and was tempted to go straight on formula full time.

I remember how tired I was with all the work, new baby and feeding. Even if I knew breastfeeding was not my favourite thing I sat there and after each feed I tried to stimulate the production by using a breast pump. That was one thing that at least made it easier because I cannot imagine to all this I would have to do this manually. I chose an electric pump that is widely used at hospitals here in UK and has got best reviews ever. Medela swing pump was the pump of my choice and I can just add another positive review to all those out there. It is very easy to use and will save you lot of time and stress. The buttons set up is pretty self explanatory and it really is simple to use it. You have got bottle that comes with it and also a strap that makes your expressing sessions more comfortable.

I knew full time feeding with formula would suit my lifestyle so much more. I am the type of person that is not designed to sit at home. I am running this blog, go to events, meetings with PR and I have so many other activities and social life so I need people to be able to mind my baby and if you breastfeed you are pretty much chained to your little ones. And again that does not make me cruel. You need to adapt things to your lifestyle and needs. And even after this I kept going. I was drinking my teas, using the pump, massaging and everything possible to make it happen.

Another thing was breastfeeding in public. I am not a huge fan to be honest however I got now to the point where I fed Liam on a bus, on a platform, in Starbucks, different restaurants, Tate gallery and everywhere possible. I still have got issue to feed in certain places that seem less breastfeeding friendly but it got so much better.

My point is that lot of women do not say things openly and they should. I am not ashamed to say I really had to work hard to get to this point and I am still not loving breastfeeding. There is so much pressure on women to make this work but nobody should feel like this. There are also lot of judgmental people out there including some of my friends. My message to them would be you do what you feel is right and I do what feels right for me. Everything you do should make you happy as you know what they say happy mummy means happy baby.

Uz jste asi slyseli pribehy o tom, ze kojeni je pekne narocne (alespon na zacatku). Ja se k temto pribehum s radosti pridam a podelim se o vlastni zkusenost. A budu asi pekne uprimna, protoze nedokazu tady presentovat neco co vlastne neni. Nikdo me totiz nepripravil na kojeni, tak jak jsem si myslela a ano ty informace, ktere nam vsichni davaji jako ze kojeni ze zacatku boli a take je velmi vycerpavajici jsou pravdive. Proste vase telo je “mlekarna” kazde tri hodiny (a vlastne kdyby ty tri).

Nejvice jsem se o kojeni asi naucila v nasich NCT hodinach, coz je kurz, ktery je organizovany tady v Britanii pro budouci rodice, kde se ucite o porodu, jak se starat o miminko a jak kojit. Nebudu vam lhat. Nase lektorka na kojeni byla trosku jako prisna ucitelka s pravitkem a presne ten typ, ktery tvrdi, ze kazdy muze kojit a ze muzete jist uplne vse aniz by to melo dopad na dite a jeho chovani. Oboji je bohuzel jedna pekna lez. Za prve ja jsem nikdy kojena nebyla, protoze moji mamce nikdy mleko nenastoupilo a za druhe jsem se bohuzel musela jednoho dne pekne zakusit, kdyz maly plakal, protoze jsem den pred tim snedla hodne syru.

Nejak ani nedokazu popsat prvnich par dnu a zacatky, protoze to bylo silene. Opravdu nic pro me a to, ze vam to sdelim uprimne neznamena, ze jsem spatna matka, ale kojeni neni vubec muj salek caje. Rada bych tady sedela a napsala, ze jsem citila spojeni s miminkem a jak krasny pocit to je, ale to bych vam lhala. Na zacatku jsem prozivala docela silne “baby blues” a do toho se snazila, aby mi nastoupilo mleko. Ze vsech stran se valily jine informace a ja masirovala, davala teple obklady, pila kojici caje, kojila casto a pak zase kazde tri hodiny, mazala bolava prsa, sprchovala teplou vodou a hlavne jsem nedokazala mluvit o nicem jinem. A prave proto si myslim, ze jsem dobra matka. Dokazala jsem se pres tento sileny zacatek prenest a vydrzela to a kojim doposud. 

Jako odsavacku jsem si vybrala tuhle Medela Swing, protoze jsem slysela, ze je nejlepsi. V Britanii je to odsavacka, ktera se ve velkem pouziva v nemocnicich a vubec ma nejlepsi recenze. Ja k tomu muzu dodat, ze jsem ji opravdu pouzila jenom zpocatku na stimulaci, aby mi nastoupilo mleko. Po kojeni jsem ji pouzila na dalsich 10-15 minut. A uz to samo bylo narocne. Kazdopadne je hrozne jednoducha na pouzivani, takze pokud chcete usetrit trochu prace a nechcete pouzivat tu manualni, jdete do Medely. Nedovedu si predstavit, ze do toho vseho bych se tady jeste trapila s manualni odsavackou na mleko. 

Bohuzel clovek je obklopeny lidma, kteri neustale soudi. Soudi vas sestry, lekari, kamaradi a vsichni. Pritom kazdy by si mel delat co chce. Ano kojeni je dobre pro dite, ale k cemu to je, kdyz to matku frustruje a pak stres prenasi na dite. Ja stale kojim, ale na zacatku jsem kazdy den chtela nasadit umelou vyzivu. A pro ty co kojily mesice ci roky tohle bude znit asi divne, ale ja jsem pysna, ze jsem to vydrzela doposud. Nejsem ten clovek, ktery citil pri kojeni nejake spojeni s miminkem a byla to opravdu drina a presto jsem to vydrzela. 

Dalsi veci se kterou bojuji (ted uz snad mene) je kojeni na verejnosti. To je jeden z duvodu, kdy vim, ze umela vyziva by pro me byla jednodussi. Muj zivotni styl je uspechany a diky blogu vlastne nejsem ani na materske. Mam porad spoustu prace, schuzek, akci a fakt, ze jsem pripoutana k miminku to jenom stezuje. Jsem porad v terenu. A tak ho beru sebou kam se da. Kojeni na verejnosti mi ale neni dvakrat prijemne. Pomalu se to zlepsuje a uz jsem krmila na zastavce, v autobuse, v galerii Tate modern, Starbucksu, restauracich a vsude mozne. 

V Londyne jsou ale stale mista, kde mam pocit, ze kojeni neni moc vitane a nebo pro me nejsou ani moc pohodlna. Ale snad prekonam i to a nakonec mi to nebude vadit. 

Moje rada vsem budoucim maminkam je takova, ze nemusi delat neco, co nechteji. Nikoho neposlouchete a ridte se vlastnim instinktem. Ono je to na zacatku tezke, protoze vam vsichni a take hormony opravdu zatemni mozek, ale udelejte to. Spokojena maminka totiz znamena spokojene miminko. 

Love Glamazon xoxo