Disclaimer: Everyone’s experiences are different and wonderful/ awful in different ways. This is my experience and I am definitely not qualified to be talking on behalf of anyone but myself.
Sometimes it does come easy. People always talk about how their baby struggled to latch but for us it was second nature, Arthur was sucking on everything before I’d even come round from Surgery.
There is inevitably pain. A few weeks into our breastfeeding journey my nipples were cracked and bloody, so much so that I began contemplating giving up and turning to the bottle (ha). For days I couldn’t feed him on one side and had to turn to pumping in an attempt to give my body time to heal. This worked, but I did fill a couple of bottles that were Scarlett red with blood.
Nipples change colour. Frequently.
I had my nipples pierced previously, and milk did in fact come out of those holes at the beginning. Apparently you can breastfeed with piercings but I didn’t fancy losing my nipples in the niplash.
Niplash; the joy of having your nipple torn from your boob when baby decides to look around whilst nursing.
If you’re fortunate enough to have a baby that sleeps through the night like me, you’ll inevitably wake up in a puddle of sticky milk. It’s exactly as gross as it sounds.
Some days your bra is too loose, the next it’s too tight. Fluctuating boob size is a norm and to be honest, the least of your concerns with a newborn.
Your baby will be clingier than others, that’s reality. Sometimes it’s cute, sometimes it’s bloody annoying.
Breastfeeding causes saggy boobs, massively. I think mine graze my knees these days.
If your baby gets thrush in their mouth you get thrush on your nipples (yes really)
You will inevitably forget that you were feeding and have a conversation with your tit out, shit happens.
People are obsessed with knowing when you’re going to stop because apparently your boobs are a major concern of theirs. The notion that you may actually continue past 6 months seems so distressing that you’d think they were the ones with a baby hanging from them.