Rough Start

I remember walking in my house and telling my husband I was going to breastfeed.  His reply, "I didn't know you were pregnant."  I wasn't.  I had just returned from visiting my cousin, Veronica, who had just had her daughter.  (You can red her story here as well.)  She was in so much pain from her c-section and from breastfeeding, yet she sat there and explained to me the importance of breastfeeding.  I knew then and there that if a woman could be in so much pain and still stand behind breastfeeding, it was something that shouled be important to me as well.

When I had my son, Jadyen, I immediately started nursing him. I was so relieved when he latched on and it didn’t hurt one bit. Then things took a turn. The day I was discharged the nurse explained to me that he hadn’t urinated yet so that must mean that he is not getting “enough” breast milk. She suggested I try alternating with formula. I started to cry, had I been starving him the first two days of his life? I went home and waited for him to pee. Nothing. I gave in I didn’t want to starve my baby. My husband fed him formula and I cried on the bathroom floor. 

I woke up the next morning so discouraged. My husband fed him formula again as I cried. My wonderful and encouraging husband knew how important breast milk was for our son so he told me that would be the last bottle he would give him. He encouraged me to call someone for advice, so I did. I called a La Leche consultant and she explained to me that my milk hadn’t come in yet and that my son was getting “enough.” She told me the most important action I could take was to continue nursing. She also explained my body would produce as much as Jayden needed. Two days later I awoke to a completely soaked t-shirt, MILK!

My son is now six months and I am still breastfeeding. I love looking down and seeing his eyes stare at me. I love when his tiny hand caresses my breast as if to say, “thank you mommy.”   My eyes water when I look down and see how healthy he looks and see the little rolls on his legs and thinking I did that. And then, just when a tear starts rolling down my face he bites down on my nipple with his strong gums and smiles. Holding my breathe in pain all I can do is smile back.

My boobs are for my son who is my whole life. I only want the best for him and because of that I choose to breastfeed. I love every minute of it and I am grateful that I have such strong women by my side to encourage me, thanks cuz, thanks tia (I bought myself “one cheapy watchcloth” and scrubbed my tetas.”) And even though my mommy didn’t breast feed me (at that time formula was big and they didn’t know all the benefits of breastfeeding – or so she says lol I'm only kidding mom I swear) thanks for supporting me now.

Martiza lives in Browns Mills, NJ with her son Jayden, her Rottweiler Brooklyn (her first baby) and wonderful husband Edward. She is a legal assistant in a law firm in NY.  She says, "I didn’t think I would love being a mom so much but I do and breastfeeding is just icing on the cake!'

Pumping Only

Being pregnant with number two everything is different. I so thought I was having a girl, because this pregnancy was so different from my first son. It's so different that I want to give him the best life I can give him. That's why I am choosing to pump.

When I had my first son at 18 years old, I knew that breastmilk was what was best for him, but I felt overwhelmed by the whole process. I wanted him to have the best life, but I was going through postpartum, I already felt like he was ruining my life, I just wasn't into the bonding thing yet. That is when I was given a pump. I didn't know ANYTHING about pumping. I wanted him on formula, but my husband wanted him on breastmilk. So I made a compromise. I said I was going to try it for 2 weeks and if I didn't like it back to formula he was going. Well I was not educated enough to know that 2 weeks is not long enough time get your milk in, or that the pain eventually goes away.


I am now more prepared. I feel more educated. I am choosing to pump only because I will be gone from him 4-6 hours a day. I also have a very active husband who really wants to be involved. Pumping gives me the best of both worlds. I give him the best milk, and he can still get a bottle so my husband can give that to him and still get his bonding time. Do I advise everyone to pump? No. If you can get the bond with your baby and he or she latches on by all means breastfeed.

If you are like me and only thinking about pumping I am across this posting for us. I think this posting really gave me the info I needed and the confidence I needed to make pumping happen. I will be in school pumping and I thought it would be awkward. I know understand that breast milk is a beautiful thing and instead of being embarrassed to pump in class I  think I am going to be proud.

Did you pump or breastfeed? Any advice for a pumping mother?

Kanesha Morrison lives in Oklahoma with her husband and one-year-old son. She loves to speak on parenting, marriage, school, but most of all MONEY. She is a full-time stay at home mom, who blogs about her journey through life. Please check her out and read her atMoneyMattersMama.com

Happy Breastfeeding

Awareness Month!!!

Yes, ladies August is National Breastfeeding Awareness Month.  Here on YUMMommy, we will be having several lovely moms guest posting about their experiences with breastfeeding/pumping and why they feel breastmilk is the best option for their children.  I hope that you all will come by and support Breastfeeding Awareness Month.  I can guarantee you that these ladies keep it real in their posts.  They give you the real skinny on what breastfeeding is like.

Also, if you are a breastfeeding mom and would like guest post feel free to drop me an email.  I still have room for more posts!!

Bright Beginnings

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of PBM Products for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.



If you've been following my blog for a while then you know that I am a breastfeeding mom.  However, when I first started off breastfeeding I have to admit that I did consider supplementing formula after a rough night in the hospital.  I recall it like it was yesterday.  It was my last night in the hospital.  My husband had gone home because we were in the transition of moving and he wanted to make sure the nursery was absolutely perfect for when we got home.

It was going to be the first full night that Moo roomed in with me.  The previous two days one of the nurses would come and get her half way through the night to allow me time to bathe and enjoy my dinner in peace.  I had the best hospital help ever!!  Anyways, earlier that day the nurse had come in and they had informed me that Moo had dropped some weight.  Nothing serious.   They said it was probably because my milk was still coming in or we were both still getting adjusted to the whole breastfeeding situation.

I felt horrible.  I hadn't been a mom for three full days yet and already I was letting my daughter starve.  Throughout that day I noticed that she was fussy but she quickly settled down when I wheeled her around the room in her little crib.  But that night it got down right ugly in there.  The fussiness from that afternoon turned into full on wailing.

I couldn't take it.  I thought surely she must be starved.  What did I do?  I gave her a bottle of formula!!  *Gasp!*  Yes, you read right.  I gave her a bottle of formula because no matter how set on breastfeeding I was, nothing was more important than my daughter's health and contentment.  I didn't want her starving because I wanted to be selfish and feel accomplished.

Of course, it was that same night that I found out she was intolerant of cow's milk too.  But thank goodness I wasn't so against formula because I had gotten some formula samples in the mail and from my OB.  And guess what I had a packet of Bright Beginnings soy-based formula on hand.  My mom came by and helped with my latch on technique.  However, I still made the pitcher of Bright Beginnings soy formula just in case.

Luckily, we only needed a half bottle and finally got into our own groove with breastfeeding.  But I found comfort in knowing that if I needed a back up, I had somewhere I could turn to.  Pregnancy and motherhood aren't perfect and things don't always go as planned.  So, that's why you need a Plan B, a Plan C and maybe a Plan D.  I encourage any mom to not close out the idea of using formula if it's in the beat interest of your child.

And since Bright Beginnings was my back up, it's only natural that they be my formula recommendation should you need them.  You can find Bright Beginnings on diapers.com. They sell both the milk-based and soy-based formulas.  For more info on all the nutritional value or to purchase yourself an emergency can you visit or  buy on diapers.com.  And don't forget to check out Bright Beginnings on Facebook.