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I read the blog of Katie Allison Granju. She recently had a baby after the sudden death of her older son from a drug-deal-gone-bad. A self-proclaimed breastfeeding lactivist, Granju hasn't been able to nurse her littlest baby.

She writes about how she's embarrassed to use formula in public because she's been so hard-core breastfeeding for her other children.

But sometimes, it doesn't work out. It's not meant to be an embarrassing thing.

You can read what the NY Times wrote about her in A Breast Feeding Guru Who Uses Formula.

Early Trouble

As I have mentioned many, many times, both of my children have rough nursing starts, but the thought of the cost of formula encouraged me to keep trying no matter what.

The first had latch issues.

The second seems to have inherited her sisters inability to latch, but more than that, she just wouldn't suck. I started asking for a lactation consultant in the delivery room. A pediatric nurse helped me so much until I got to my recovery room. After a good night's sleep, we tried to get the baby to latch and nurse the next morning with very little luck. I had a very demanding, rude nurse so I immediately started asking for the lactation consultant again.

The nurse kept saying "they are sleepy for the first 24 hours so let's just keep trying." I knew things weren't right. I'd nursed a baby before and I was really worried about making sure my milk came in and my supply was established.

Finally, the lactation consultant came in to check, saw my problems and tried to help me fix it. We sat with the baby and watched "Jon and Kate Plus 8" while coaxing her to eat. She finally brought in a pump and a finger-feeder. I pumped and she fed the baby with the finger-feeder. She did okay.

Every so often, I'd try to nurse, pump and then finger-feed. I was really avoiding trying to use a bottle, but she told me after three days, I'd have to give up the finger-feeding if she hadn't gotten nursing yet.

I was set to be discharged when the baby was just 36 hours old, mostly because I just couldn't take the awful nurse anymore and I wanted to go home. The baby was already getting yellow so I was told to wake her up every two hours to feed her. The lactation consultant stopped by before I left and handed me a nipple shield. I told her that's how I got my first to nurse. She said she felt I knew how to use it in combination with pumping.

I kept pumping and finger-feeding, we introduced a bottle, we let her practice sucking on a pacifier, we woke her every two hours to try to nurse. I was exhausted. But then one nursing session, she latched. She was using the nipple shield but it happened. It really happened.

All of my pumping led to an amazing supply, too.

She was good with the nipple shield. We had a good relationship. Then right before Christmas, I lost the nipple shield and was force to try without it. Guess what? She latched and did great! We continued on until she was 11 months when my giant supply took over and covered her for another six weeks.

Rough starts or not, my kids and I stuck with it and made it work for us.

Fortunate soul

I’ve been lucky. I’ve had two jobs in the span of time that I’ve had my two children and both jobs have been supportive of my pumping situation.

At the first job, I had my own office and could shut and lock the door for privacy as often as I needed it. I did put a piece of tape over the lock that said “Do Not Disturb” just to be clear that people should not enter the room. I really never had to tell anyone what I was doing or how often I was doing it. It wasn’t a big deal.

The second time around, I wasn’t working in a private office so it was apparent when I was coming and going. I also pumped in a room that had a semi-public bathroom and a fridge and coffee maker in it. I undoubtedly always interrupted someone’s trip to retrieve their Diet Coke. But my boss was accommodating and would even help me out if something was schedule around my designated pumping times.

I can’t imagine being unable to pump at work or being faced with such a challenging work schedule that you can’t get away. What if you wanted to nurse but couldn’t because of your job? It’s just mind-blowing.

I was so happy to see this article this morning: 5 Things Employers Should Know About Breastfeeding. It appears the new health care bill is going to lay some groundwork for right for nursing mothers and I’m thrilled. Now if we could only do something about the awful maternity leave rules, I’d be elated.

Nutrition

When my first daughter was born, I made my dad bring a sandwich to the hospital with actual deli meat. The kind they tell you to avoid when you are pregnant. When we got home from the hospital, my husband and I ordered from Jets (our local favorite). Part of a pizza, a Jet Boat, pop and a salad later, I was finally full. It had been so long since my stomach could actually fit more than a package of M&Ms in it and I was so excited to have food back-I wanted to eat everything in sight.

This is also due in part to the hormones and the breastfeeding as well.

The second time around was no different. The minute I gave birth I began clamoring for food. While hospital food is no good, the second you finally have some room for a meal, you will take it. However, as a nursing mom, I can respect the desire to eat everything in sight, you have to realize that you are still eating for two. While the diet isn’t a strict, it’s important to keep it well balanced.

One of my favorite breakfasts when I was nursing was oatmeal.

While there is no scientific evidence to support the claim, many nursing mothers, including myself, claim that oatmeal can help increase milk supply. Plus, it’s a good nutricious breakfast to start the day. It’s high in iron and oat bran, which are healthy in and of themselves. Women who use oatmeal to boost their supply say any form of oatmeal and even oatmeal cookies do the job.

For more information on this, you can visit Kellymom.com and search for oatmeal.

Underestimation

I underestimated how much a one-year-old takes in apparently. That or her solid food consumption is up. A week after my little one turned one, we still have breastmilk left in the freezer! I’m working on getting her on to whole milk so I’ve been mixing the two, which is making it last even longer than I planned.

I’m so proud of us. I never ever imagined that I would have issues coming from such a rocky start with both of my children. Despite the fact that formula feeding is often faster, easier and can be passed off to someone else, I’m happy for what has come of it for me and my baby. I’m glad I was able to come so far.

She’s growing and developing and thriving and it makes me feel good to know that I gave her that for the first year of her life.

Teach the children

While I am married and work full-time, I am the mom. I am the one they look to for food, bedtime stories and clean diapers. My two-year-old does what mommy does. Mommy never gave her sister a bottle. Mommy always nursed. And sometimes, Mommy pumped. I'd hear from my daughter, "Mom, you pumpin'?" Yes, yes, I am.

So it would seem only natural that my daughter thinks all mommies nurse. Her mommy did. So I'm saddened that people would be so offended by another four-year-old nursing their baby as is written in Four-Year-Old Breastfeeds Her Doll in a Restaurant.

This is exactly what I would want my daughter to do. There is certainly no shame in it. It's her body. That's what it's for! I covered up myself and my baby for other people but I stopped caring. I was feeding my baby. It's natural. The way some people eat at restaurants is not.

Kudos to the moms out there who are examples to their kids in nursing!