As a mom we are faced with a choice when we have children, will we bottle feed or will we breastfeed? I thought this was a choice we made until recently when several people asked me if I was breastfeeding and then got irritated with me about me choice not to and then proceeded to give me a lecture about not giving my children the best food out there.
Needless to say I was livid!
I made the choice to proactively provide the best for my children. My choice did not come lightly as it was also encouraged by my family doctor with the last two children. I find myself defensive when it comes to people's judgments of my choice.
When I had my oldest I breastfed her right from the start. She was placed in the NICU for for a week and during her time there instead of calling me to feed her, the nursing staff fed her formula. I still pushed through and breastfed her. I brought her home and for a month struggled. She seemed hungry all the time and was eating every hour. When I asked my doctor about this, it was suggested that I also pump and take supplements to produce more milk and to allow someone else to bottle feed her. Eventually I became so sore that I turned to pump on only while someone else bottle fed her.
After two months of still feeding her every hour and things not improving, I turned to formula feeding. She became a little more content and changed her eating habits. Things improved for awhile and then she got really sick. Eventually we moved her to a soy based formula. Turned out my daughter was lactose intolerant. Breast milk was making her ill and not holding her.
When I spoke with a specialist, while pregnant with my son, they told me not to breastfed since I had so many allergies myself. I would not be able to generate milk that was nutritious for my children and in return cause them to be hungry all the time. It was after several meetings with the specialist, my family doctor and the OB's that I made the decision to bottle feed my little guy formula. In the end he still got very sick and was put on soy formula. He ended up being allergic to milk protein and can only have goats milk.
When I found out I was having my youngest daughter, I had yet another choice to make concerning her feeding. I had to decide if I was going to start with regular formula or go straight into feeding her soy formula based on the outcome of my two oldest children. My husband and I started her off on regular formal and at a week old she was showing all the same signs as my oldest two of an allergy or intolerance to milk. We moved her to soy formula and are now finally seeing improvements at four weeks of age.
When someone asks me if I am breastfeeding and then the get defensive over how I am not providing my child with the best. I have to keep a level head and just smile and politely tell them that I am providing the best for my children because of health reasons. I even had a doctor tell me while at the hospital that the possibility of a third child having the same issues was next to impossible... well I wish she was right, but all three of my children have issues with dairy just like their momma.
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