For Me Mixed Feeding was the answer for Little Bub and I.

My son is now almost four-months-old, (July 17th, 2015 was the day he brightened our lives with his presence). Where the time has gone I don’t know! Sleepless nights I know have played a big part and I wouldn’t change any moment or single second. For now, I am a very proud mum and one who strives to achieve to be the best mum that I can possibly be, each and every day.

After having two losses prior to being blessed with Ollie and after a closely monitored pregnancy – having being diagnosed with a small uterus fibroid, gestational diabetes and hypertension, as well as placenta previa (a low-lying placenta), I hoped that breastfeeding would come naturally. Imagined how special and natural it would be for bub and I. After having a c-section at 37 weeks and 2 days, Ollie and I had skin to skin and he breastfeed colostrum straight away which was very special indeed and such a wonderful bonding experience. The days that followed though at the wonderful Mater Mother’s Maternity hospital were certainly challenging. Learning how to breastfeed and for Ollie to latch on. Lots of midwives gave us tips and hints and when my milk came in I decided to express. (I loved the hospital-grade Medela breast pump! They’re so awesome we even hired one for 3 months at home from Hire for Baby, found online here: – www.hireforbaby.com)
At home we engaged the services of a lactation consultant, after all, Ollie had only needed one small formula at hospital on day three and we didn’t think we needed to exclusively give him either formula or breast-milk, we decided to “exclusively mix-feed” as that was what worked for us.
Pumping became a full-time job and I even cried over spilt milk when my expressed milk in the fridge, over 150mls of it got accidentally thrown down the drain, oh the hormones didn’t help as you can imagine! And the same week my granddad passed away, with all of the stress my milk supply started to dry up. I went off to the doctors to get some milk supply increase tablets, after being also accidentally prescribed the wrong tablets (for morning sickness and not milk supply), we eventually were on our way. These tablets helped for about a month but when I ran out and the hire time ran out for the pump, I felt that my body was telling me it was time to wean. I wasn’t pumping enough milk and I don’t believe that Ollie was getting enough when we could successfully breastfeed (which wasn’t too often by this stage).
And so now, we just have formula. We find the A2 formula for infants is perfect. Despite having some mild reflux, Ollie loves it and it works for us. My husband and family love to feed Ollie too and it sure is a big help for me. I am happy with our choice.
At my first Mother’s Group, I worried if I would be the only one who was now bottle feeding. When you get speaking to different mothers though, you don’t feel alone. Breast might be know as being “best”, but it’s not for every mum and bub and not always for the World Health Organisation recommended time of six months.
My best advice to new mums is don’t put too much pressure on yourselves. Do what is right for you and your bub and your mind, body and soul! As long as bub is thriving that’s all that matters. I do hope that if we are blessed with baby number two then I will hopefully be able to breastfeed a little longer but I feel that I did give our son the best possible start in life. He had the nutrients he needed and he passed both his 6-week and three month check-ups with flying colours. Everyone comments how well he is growing and in my mind, him being a happy, healthy baby is all that matters, no matter how he gets his “milk”. Stay tuned for Ollie trying solids soon, we can’t wait!

Rachael, proud Mummy of beautiful baby boy Ollie. Couldn’t love him anymore if I tried. xoxoxoxox

“Breastfeeding support for me was the assistance of expressing! Thank you Medela for helping make my life easier. Bub and I were more than happy to express in addition to breastfeeding and topping up with formula feeding.”