The Breastfeeding Post I Was Afriad to Write

I am so tired of the formula vs breastfeeding discussion. It seems that the topic of breastfeeding is always in the media.  Even celebrities are weighing in with their opinions. For example, People had an article on their website about Alanis Morressite and her son. She is a mom who breastfeeds and from the article, she really looks down on women who formula feed their children. She even went as far as to say that children who are formula fed will have behavioral problems and will be in therapy. Please tell me where she got her information? The research that I read states that babies who are formula fed are just as healthy as those babies who are breastfed. It really make me mad (for the lack of a better phrase) because I formula fed my daughter. It wasn't because I did not want to breastfeed, in fact, I wanted to breastfeed my baby. The truth is that I just was not physically able to. Believe me, it's been two years, and I still feel guilty for not being able to breastfeed her. At the time, I knew formula feeding was our best and only option and to this day I still feel this way. Anyway, here is my story....... 

When I was pregnant with Baby girl I wanted to breastfeed. I knew breastfeeding was the best thing for my baby, I had read all of the research and even talked to my OB about it. Well, I'm ashamed to admit this....but it did not work out for me or my daughter. I went into labor with her 4 weeks early (35w6d), plus I had to have a c-section. When I was finally able to see her and to hold we tried to breastfeed. It did not end well. Her latch wasn't very strong and milk hadn't come in yet. I didn't even have the colostrum that I should have had. Let me just say the breastfeeding session ended with both of us in tears. I had no choice but to give her formula. We had also were told the she had jaundice as well so she needed eat and to poop so her billi levels would normalize. We tried the breastfeeding for the first two days but we always ended up giving her the formula. I pumped every two hours for two days and nothing. I was beyond frustrated, so I talked to her pediatrician and he told me that formula feeding was our only option if my milk was not coming in, so after discussing this with my husband, we decided to exclusively formula feed Baby girl.

I am happy with our decision. She has flourished and Baby girl has met all of her milestones very early. She started walking at 9 months for example. She is a fiesty 2 year old who has a mind of her own. She is a well behaved little girl, and she is "smart as a tack". She has hardly been sick (only a few colds here and there) and she is very healthy.

Yes, I still feel guilty for having to formula feed my baby but at the same time it was the best decision for both us at the time. When have Baby Vann #2 I will try to breastfeed again and if it doesn't work out then I will without hesitation formula feed again.

There's my two cents on the formula vs. breastfeeding debate. I hope I haven't offended anyone with this discussion. Thanks for reading!

~Angie