I just wanted to share a victory my baby and I had today: at 18 days old today was the first time he was able to get all the milk he needed for a feed from breastfeeding alone, without topping up with syringes of breastmilk! 😁 It’s been hard for us getting to this point, due to birth trauma for both of us from an unplanned cesarean and baby having a tense neck. We got our three golden hours after the birth, and continued doing skin-to-skin as much as possible every day to encourage breastfeeding. But for the first few weeks he wouldn’t suck hard enough to draw in the nipple fully in and would get very distressed at the breast, so we did syringe feeding to give him my pumped breastmilk and donor milk while I was building supply. I kept offering the breast and doing skin-to-skin, and eventually he started to latch for short periods of time, starting with just a minute or two. It was very disheartening for me not feeling like I could feed my baby on my own, and at times I felt rejected when he refused the breast. Last week he finally stayed latched for 10 minutes. Although his neck was gradually improving in the weeks after his birth, we got him in to see a pediatric chiropractor on Tuesday and saw a noticeable improvement with breastfeeding after his adjustment. There were times when I felt hopeless with breastfeeding, since I couldn’t figure out what why he wasn’t latching despite good positioning and face-to-breast symmetry, but I’m so glad I kept trying. Earlier this week he had his first time feeding from both breasts during the same feeding session, but he still needed a syringe or two beforehand to be calm enough to breastfeed and sometimes a few syringes afterward due to my supply. And now we’re to the point where he’s sometimes latching on by himself without my husband or me having to hold the breast for him, and where we’re not having to give him a syringe to calm him before he can breastfeed anymore because he knows what to do now. Today he had two full feeding sessions completely from breastfeeding with no syringes, and he has not refused the breast at all the last two days. I’m so thankful for Dr. Robyn, we could not have gotten to this point without the helpful information from the Thompson Method Course and the posts in the Facebook group! There’s still times when he needs some coaxing to get started, but overall it’s so much easier now than it was. It’s especially meaningful to me because my mom wasn’t able to breastfeed me, the lactation consultant said I was “lazy at the breast” and she couldn’t get me to latch no matter what she tried, so she pumped for me instead. Pumping hasn’t been easy for me either between trying to find the right size flanges to troubleshooting other pump issues. Now when he’s nursing, it feels so peaceful, like everything is right in our lives 😌 I’m so thankful that we’re able to have this connection 💗