Lara Quigaman admitted she almost quit breastfeeding her second son Tobias.
A few days after giving birth last September 17, nursing her baby had become painful.
In her latest blog entry, she began, "I consider exclusively breastfeeding my second baby for almost six weeks now one of my greatest achievements in life!"
Lara revealed that she mix-fed her first son Noah, so this was not about "which is better: breastfeeding vs formula" post.
It was simply celebrating her feat of being able to nurse Tobias exclusively despite facing some struggles.
She thought she had it in the bag after successfully nursing her newborn son while still in the hospital, but five days into it, she started dreading their feeding sessions.
"My toes would curl from the pain, and I would cry while Tobias nursed.
"My nipples started to crack, and it was so painful," she said, adding that it was more painful than childbirth.
"During one of those nights, I almost asked my husband Marco to buy formula."
But she didn't—instead, she manually pumped the affected breast while "unwantingly" nursing Tobias from the other.
Then Lara decided to get help from a lactation expert, who taught her how to massage engorged breasts, and corrected how her baby latched.
"It really is very important to be truly informed and educated about breastfeeding even before you give birth," Lara wrote.
She revealed attending one before giving birth and learned a lot from it. But it's "still very different learning from the actual experience."
Lara shared some tips to fellow breastfeeding moms based on her own experience, such as applying lanolin cream before giving birth (she only did so when her nipples cracked), using cold compress for engorged breasts but applying warm compress before each nursing session, and seeking help.
"Don't suffer in silence, breastfeeding should not be painful," Lara said.
She also underscored the importance of having a support system—in her case, her doctors, friends, and her husband, who she says even went out in the middle of the night once to buy lanolin cream for her.
Five weeks ago, Lara thought she wouldn't survive another feeding session, but she did.
Her advice: "Mamas, the first two weeks are the hardest. After that, it just gets easier, so hang on.
"You are not alone. You can do this one day at a time."
This story originally appeared on SmartParenting.com.ph.
* Minor edits have been made by the PEP.ph editors.