Hi! My name is Hannah, and I am a new mum.

I have been a mum for nearly 12 weeks now. And as you probably already know, these first weeks of motherhood are filled with lots of ‘firsts’. There’s the firsts for the baby…the first nappy change, bath, smile, the first baby noises (my baby does these a lot now, cute!), the first over 2 hour car journey (stuck in traffic-not an experience I want to remember) and of course the first injections (these made me cry, also not an experience I want to remember).

And then there’s the firsts for the mum… the first “will I ever walk again?” (yes you will, as much as it doesn’t feel like it when you’re sitting in the hospital bed after labour), the first  shower, the first toilet trip which feels like you are giving birth all over again, the first (and very much deserved!) alcoholic beverage, and the very first time your baby breastfeeds. Obviously they don’t all happen in that order.

Breastfeeding. The only thing that will stop you seeing them two things attached to your chest as an attractive addition to your body; instead they are now a very important and a very much needed and appreciated feeding device. Something you will quickly discover when you become a new mum, is that you are now a walking and talking, on demand, milk machine.

A lot changes between the first few times you breastfeed your baby compared to the 100th. “Is your milk in yet?” they asked, as if when it was, it would be brought to you ready squeezed. And waiting for your milk to come in seems like forever when you’re convinced your tiny newborn baby is starving! And when your milk does come in… you know about it. You better say goodbye to those pretty lacy bras with cute matching pants and get ready to embrace the not-so-sexy nursing bras. You suddenly realise you should have cherished your pre-breastfeeding days when you could sleep without a bra on, shower without fear of sprinkling the mirror and swim in the sea during a rare 35 degree summer without having to worry about your babies salt intake next time you feed her (this was my dilemma for the past 12 weeks!)

Does anyone else carefully time it so that their baby is fed just before you leave the house to go somewhere? We do! And then you realise they’re having another growth spurt so that idea no longer works. How many growth spurts do they have? And when your baby is hungry you can feel your boobs leaking like they’ve got a sixth sense (remember Mean Girls?!). Then there’s the first sleep through to 6am which is so good until reality kicks in and you wake up feeling like you’ve got rock solid coconuts attached to your front (so painful), then you stick the baby on as fast as you can breathing a sigh of relief as your coconuts nearly explode all over your baby. My life saver in times like these is my electric breast pump, if you don’t have one, get one! They will honestly save your life.

Anyway, breastfeeding is a journey. From the first time, holding your baby on so gently, frightened you might hurt her whilst you’re wincing in pain (Lansinoh gel is the only friend you need at this point), compared to months later when your balancing her on the teat whilst hoovering and eating your lunch all at the same time (can anyone actually do that?) And then you are nervous about getting changed in the same room as her in case she sees something she wants and decides she’s hungry. But then it becomes second nature and suddenly you don’t even think twice about feeding in the coffee shop anymore, because when she’s hungry… you know about it. And so does everyone else. And let’s face it, no matter how many dirty looks they give, everyone prefers a feeding baby to a screaming baby.

But Despite the slightly painful times and the inconvenient places, breastfeeding is an amazing bond between you and your baby. And I love it

Thanks for reading, happy feeding!

Written by Hannah Budhi, blogger at Life Of Mummy Hannah.

Follow her on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube!