Formula

Yesterday we started Charlie on formula. It has been an emotional roller coaster with breast feeding from day one. It has never been easy for us. So many people tried to comfort me and say it would get better, but for us it never has. I have tried everything, I truly know I have gone to every effort to make it work. But the last two times I have had Charlie weighed he has not been gaining the weight that he should be. He is gaining, but not as much as he needs and this week he dropped in percentile for weight. So, I am going through basically constant pain and he is not even benefiting from it. We made a family decision that it was best to start Charlie on formula. He has been so cranky this past week, and I knew it was down to hunger. He just wasn't getting enough out of every feed whether I expressed or breast fed him. After his first formula bottle yesterday he was SOOO happy. Charlie is a very happy baby normally, but he has been in the best mood since I started giving him bigger bottles with formula. He has obviously been deprived of the right nutrition lately, and he has not stopped smiling since he has been fed the right amounts. It reinforces that it was the right decision for us. I felt a lot of guilt about not breast feeding, I let myself cry twice about it. But in the end I think Charlie, me, Justin and my marriage will all benefit from him being well fed and me not suffering. We gave it a good 4 months.

I read on another blog a quote that has really made me feel better.
"Remember formula won't kill your baby, and breast milk won't make them fly."
Charlie thriving is what is most important, however that may be!

And Charlie didn't even notice the difference with formula, what do you think? This is him right after his first formula bottle!