My son was a 29-weeker in NICU for 45 days. We were able to practice nursing twice a day as he got bigger, but I never knew how much he was getting. We worked on it more when he got home, but 2 weeks after he got home, I found out my husband had been having an affair and he asked me to fly back to my parents house 3,000 miles away. Nursing practice went by the wayside for awhile, and although when we started trying again he would latch with the help of a nipple shield, he was too impatient to wait for letdown, and we would both end the practice session in tears.

I couldn’t afford to see a LC due to my circumstances with my husband, so I have been exclusively pumping for 6 months now It’s hard, but worth it. I really, really wish I could have made nursing work!! At least now I know what I’ll do differently if I get to have another child!

I’m glad your postpartum complications resolved, and I know you had to do what was best in that moment — but isn’t it incredible how such a short span of bottle feeding can lead to so many breastfeeding problems? For us, it was one bottle that created that week of havoc we had. It can be so discouraging when, despite all your intentions to breastfeed, just a few factors can put everything out of whack.