Rachel's story:
When my daughter Sorcha was born, I planned on breastfeeding. All my friends had breastfed their children and it looked easy. I'd read all the books and watched the videos; no problem I thought. It started off well but once I left the hospital things started to fall apart. When she first came home from the hospital, she slept all day and was awake all night. I left her on the breast to try and get some sleep. My nipples became very cracked and sore and started to bleed. It was excruciating and I began to panic when it was time to feed her. I rang the hospital and they suggested I express. I tried that for awhile but I wasn't producing enough milk so I had to give her formula. In the end, I breastfed her for 6 months along with her bottle. I hated giving up but she preferred the bottle.
My second daughter Niamh was born nearly five months ago. I did all my research again and was determined to succeed. The hospital was brilliant. I explained about my previous problem (different hospital) and the nurses and midwives were eager to help. I still got cracked nipples but not as bad although it made some of the nurses cringe. I spent time getting Niamh to latch on and if it didn't feel right I tried until it did. Niamh is now five months old and we have no problems. In fact she is 90% on her growth charts.
Success is very sweet the second time round.
