The Best of Both Worlds

by Melissa Lavender

My first little girl came into this world 5 weeks early and with quite a bit of drama.

Due to her stressful and early delivery, my milk never came in but my depression did. After dealing with that emotional let down I was bound and determined to breastfeed my second little girl.

My second little girl was a full term baby and my milk came in full force. Unfortunately, I did not receive very good advise at the hospital and came home quite frustrated and with a quickly dwindling milk supply. At one point I even packed up all of my stuff and was planning on completely giving up and going to formula.

I talked to my daughter's pediatrician and started pumping instead. I was told that most women who pump do not provide enough milk and still have to supplement with formula.

I was determined to succeed and almost 1 year later, I am still pumping away and have not had to give my daughter one drop of formula. I believe that if I had tried to continue to breastfeed, I would not have lasted past a month.

For us, this was the best of both worlds... I returned to work after a 3 month maternity leave and continued to pump.

My little chunky monkey is doing great and has continued to thrive on breast milk.

I had a hard time finding information on this alternative. I think more women would give this a try instead of giving up completely, if they were aware of the benefits and had some support if needed.

I hope this finds its way to anyone who has found themselves at the point where I was looking for a realistic alternative to breast feeding.

Melissa Lavender, Mommy to Amber and Ashley