December 11th 2014 my water broke at 2:30 am. After my water breaking (I heard and felt a POP) my contractions started about 30 minutes later. We left for the hospital at 5:30am, arriving at 6:10am. At 8:53am I was 3 centimeters dilated and 90% effaced. By 9:25 am I asked to be checked because I felt like my cervix was opening. I was now at 4 centimeters and still at 90%. I sat on a birthing ball and walked the halls of the Labor and Delivery Unit. By 11:35am, I was between 8 and 9 centimeters dilated!! By 12:03pm I was now 10 centimeters dilated and completely thinned out. My first child, a beautiful daughter was born at 12:24pm, Thursday the 11th of December 2014. My daughter was 7lbs and 2.2oz, 19 in a half inches long, with a full head of hair. I had a natural vaginal birth, with no kinds of pain meds and no epidural. I did however need a few stitches for natural tearing. That’s perfectly fine by me.
A week after she was born I noticed something was wrong. We went to the emergency room to find out her clavicle was broken. Before she was two weeks old, she had already had 3 X-rays. By the time she was 6 weeks old, she had 6. Her clavicle healed wonderfully. On top of being sick for 2 weeks at this time, in and out of the ER 3 to 4 times already. My husband wasn’t able to make it in time for our daughter’s birth, since she came four days shy of the due date. I gave birth in our home state, while he was in another state. My friend and my parents were my support team, and they did a great job. They and the staff, my family and friends, were very proud and supportive of me, that I was able to experience that I always wanted and always talked about. In recovery from birth, my daughter and I were having a rough time getting the first latch down. My lactation consultant showed me how to hand express my milk onto a spoon and give it to my baby that way and also showed me how to express it into my baby’s mouth. It took 7 in a half hours to finally latch. My daughter still wasn’t able to latch onto one side because I have an inverted flat nipple. I sure felt horrible. I decided that I was going to continue to nurse my daughter on the side that’s she able to latch on. Well because of that, the other side literally dried up as some say. I didn’t know what to do at this point. I turned to just pumping on that side only storing whatever I could. From hardly an ounce to 6 ounces. Every chance I got I was pumping my not so good side, while nursing my daughter on the other. Cutting the pumping sessions short, five minutes here, 15 minutes there. Finally close to about 8 weeks, we were finally able to latch on my not so good side. I was overcome with joy. We had success. After all the thoughts that I wasn’t going to be able to breastfeed my child, to telling myself this is for my child, you can do this. Now we are five months strong of breastfeeding and I am so proud of myself. I am proud of my daughter. She is my courage. She has made me stronger, and she has made me more confident. Stronger and confident in myself for myself, and for her, to breastfeeding and even in public. To tend to her no matter what. I am who I am because of her. She loves me for who I am, and that will never change. The bond between Mother and Child is so amazing.