My Breastfeeding Journey

I’m Joanna, the marketing manager behind Babyation. I’m here to share a little bit about my breastfeeding/pumping journey because as they say- no pumping journey is a straight line (do they say that? No, but they should!). 

When I gave birth to my first son The Pump wasn’t on the market yet. I was already working with Babyation and knew more than the average person about pumping and I still found it so overwhelming and confusing. 

From the very beginning of my journey, I promised myself that I would not put specific expectations on myself. If I’ve learned anything about motherhood- it’s never what you expect. I told myself I would try to breastfeed but if it became too difficult or impacted my mental health, I would stop. I refused to give myself a timeline for what “success” would mean in terms of how long I breastfed. I know everyone is different but this mentality helped me go with the (milk- HA) flow. 

After having an unplanned C Section, I remember being in the hospital with a “hospital-grade” breast pump, wondering what to do with it. I had daily lactation consultant visits. Every lactation consultant had a different tip or advice to share and I know this sounds counterproductive, but I actually found that reassuring. If there were so many different opinions and suggestions for breastfeeding and pumping, then that meant there wasn’t one end-all-be-all.   I ended up creating a “Frankenstein” pump- flanges from one pump, connected to the tubes of another pump. 

I consider myself extremely lucky that my son latched easily and was a good eater- not everyone gets to experience that. Another common roadblock for most women is the return to work impacting their pumping/breastfeeding journey. I worked from home most of the time so that allowed for an easier schedule. 

Right around the time when I thought that breastfeeding was getting more difficult with my schedule, Covid happened and I found myself stuck in the house with my 8 months old. The positive of that? It extended my breastfeeding time. My son weaned himself at 13 months (and we still weren’t going anywhere!) but I feel grateful that this could be done on our schedule and no one else’s. 

Now, I am gearing up to have baby boy number two and I am still trying to keep my mind open and not have any expectations. I know each kid is different and I’m trying not to assume because it went so well with my first, that this time will be the same. What I do know is that I cannot wait to actually try The Pump!

Joanna Wolff

Joanna Wolff is a creative consultant who loves weaving together a brand's story. When she's not working she enjoys spending time with her son and husband, traveling, squeezing in yoga where she can, and using any excuse to be by the ocean. She also prides herself on finding the perfect gift for kids' birthdays.