Welcome to my first blog on my boobs. Yes I’m now baring my breasts and it’s all for this little angel in the picture above (I like to call that her “milk drunk” face).

I used to call her milk bottles my “top pot donuts” and totally didn’t think people should flop their jigglies out in public. Noticed I say “used” to. Yes now that I breastfeed, I too am one of those jiggly flopper. Actually my 5 week old baby refers to me as “the milk lady” in her goo’s and gah’s I know it.

I’ve also made leaps and bounds on being able to no longer call them my top pots, but how about titty, breast, and boob… oh I feel so grown up. So there we go, one benefit to being in titty jail with your baby… you get to call them what they are, and there is no need to hide in your vocabulary what you’re not hiding in public anymore.

A good friend suggested I write a blog about my experience breastfeeding. This was before Siena was born and I immediately said no. There was no way I was going to talk about my boobs in public. Guess who changed her mind?

So here I am, baring my breasts to the internet world with my top tit-tips to successful breastfeeding:

1) Treat it like it’s a competition – You against the boob! AND don’t let the boob win.

My sister in law had a baby a few months before I did. After 2 days her milk wouldn’t come out anymore. She was devastated, she told me it’d be hard but I had to try. This was a challenge, looking back it was the best advice I had gotten because from that conversation on I was determined I wasn’t going to let my boob win in this battle. That attitude helped me get through the first 5 days, which to me was the hardest. If I had expected it to be easy I wouldn’t have kept going because it’s not.

2) Educate yourself

You tube videos were my education. It is weird to watch another woman pulling out her top pot (oops there I go again, I mean breast) but it helps so much to have this image in your head of how to do it. I know it should be easy, boob to baby = suck. Nope it’s not that easy. I went to youtube and put “Breast feeding” into the search bar.

3) Tell your nurses that you want to breast feed your baby with confidence before you leave hospital!

I told my nurses that I wanted to try breastfeeding but had heard that it’d be hard. They took control after that, but if your nurses don’t take control, keep telling them you need help. What do I mean by control? Well the top tip the nurse told me was that you can request to stay in hospital until you have breast feeding down. I did that and stayed an extra night. It was well worth it. My baby didn’t know how to suck, every hour the nurse would come in and put her finger in the babies mouth and train her tongue. I believe I would not be breastfeeding now if those nurses didn’t take control and help train the baby.

4) Get a boobie coach

This is my favorite tip. They’re called lactation nurse (but boobie coach is so cute). I had heard you could get someone to come to your house after you’ve had a baby and teach you the ropes but I never really knew how it all works. Well it’s easy and I suggest every new mother trying to breastfeed do it. Ask your doctor for a recommendation, that’s how I found  Tracy. It was $175 for a 2 hour initial visit (Tracy then bills this to your insurance for your reimbursement, I’m still waiting to see how much they pay but I’ll let you know). The best part is you get to have your coaches phone number and call her from that point on whenever you have a question. I had so many questions for Tracy that she ended up coming out to my house 2 more times. Another tip, if you buy your breast feeding supplies through your lactation nurse, this also goes through your insurance and you can use your flex spending account for the purchases.  This is really good if you’re thinking of investing in a breast pump as they can be quite expensive. UPDATE: The insurance is a unique service through Tracy’s company so call her to be your boobie coach if you want to use your flex spending (206) 763-2733 or email tracy@optimumwellnessllc.com

5) Buy some nursing bra’s, make sure they’re sexy AND solid!

You’ll need a nursing bra from day one, actually you’ll need 3-5 at the least. You live in these things so you better like them. I’ve bought and tried quite a few types but the best brand I’ve found are from Bravado designs. They have the two qualities which I need. They look sexy but have no lumps and are solid so they hide my nursing pads (things you put in your bra incase you leak a little). My favorite of all time is the Bravado tank top, it’s a must buy. It covers your stomach if you want to lift up your top to feed your baby rather than pulling down your top and you can wear it around the house without feeling naked. I wore it at the hospital and didn’t need to cover up when visitors came.

There you go my top 5 tit-tips revealed. I almost forgot, tip #6 is if you can’t breast feed don’t feel bad, it’s not easy. Just know we’re all here for you to help you try and win the battle of the boob and sometimes the boob just wins (like it has for a lot of my friends). I’d love to hear what you think of my tips and any tips you have too. Go team boobies!!!

xoxo