I continued to pump until my son was 6 months old, but I wasn’t making enough breast milk. A couple of months later, postpartum depression and anxiety hit me hard, and my supply tanked. I didn’t know much about it, but I joined a group on facebook dedicated to exclusive pumping, and I got started with it. Two months into trying to breastfeed my first baby, I learned about exclusive pumping and I actually had hope that this form of breastfeeding would work out. I also learned that Raynaud’s Syndrome – a blood circulation condition I have – can make it even more painful.

In fact, it hurt terribly! I saw multiple lactation consultants, got my son’s lip and tongue-tie fixed (that eventually grew back), tried every different position, cried so many tears, and still breastfeeding was hard and painful. I have heard stories of other women switching to formula, or saying about breastfeeding that they “just can’t do it anymore,” and I thought to myself that I am going to be different, because simply put, I really want to breastfeed (cringe-worthy I know)! Oh, how naive I was, not realizing how difficult it could be to breastfeed! I was in for the biggest surprise when it didn’t come easily to me. Before I had kids, I thought breastfeeding would come easily to me just because I wanted to do it, and in my mind I was going to make it work no matter what.

Medela vs spectra