I am Kay Poelen, mother of four sweet kids. My heart lies with natural parenting, but in my own stubborn way, with two strong feet on the ground and a dose of humor. My passion is breastfeeding and babywearing. I have my own business in slings and baby carriers. I not only carry my slogan Carry On, I live it.
In this blog, I share a bit more about my own experiences with breastfeeding. This blog was previously published on Breastfeeding.com, breastfeeding knowledge center. Breastfeeding and slings, a way of life.
When my oldest daughter Nouk was born, I wanted to breastfeed. Unfortunately, I received poor guidance in the hospital. I was very disappointed, I wanted it so badly but hardly any attention was paid to it. Once I was allowed to go home, I received -fortunately- Mother & Child care. The maternity nurse, Antoinette, asked me, "What do you want?" and I said, "Breastfeeding." "Then we will arrange that!" she replied firmly. I was so happy about that! She gave me the guidance I needed.
I had set myself the goal of breastfeeding for at least three months. Those first three months were incredibly tough and I was constantly counting down to the moment when I finally "allowed" myself to stop. It was very painful on my nipples and really not pleasant. Until at one point I realized to my surprise that by now I had been breastfeeding for more than three months straight.
I had stopped counting down; it was costing me less and less effort. I didn't like the idea of having to get out of bed at night to bottle-feed. So I just kept going. Eventually I fed for thirteen years in a row, much of it in tandem (two children of different ages at the breast). How glad I am that I persevered!
Many people ask if I don't miss breastfeeding tremendously after those thirteen years. But I don't. The whole process of breastfeeding went very naturally. Both the start, especially after those first three months, and the winding down. We didn't have a "goodbye" moment; it stopped gradually.
The youngest started drinking less and less until at some point it was done. It just ran like that, we actually kind of forgot about it. It suddenly dawned on me after a while that she had stopped drinking at all. No drama, no tears. It was fine.
- Kay
