Breastfeeding Shoot - Nicola

This is Nicola, photographed with her mum Stella and her daughter Eve. Its so beautiful to see generations of breastfeeding. These are her words.

My breastfeeding journey began long before I ever had a baby....I grew up in a very breastfeeding positive house where my mam had fed myself and my two siblings as well as extended breastfeeding with my younger sister. My mam also ran support groups from the house so it was a given I would breastfeed my own children.
Fast forward to 2018 and with our own sleep thief due to arrive my partner and I attended a brilliant workshop with Nicola O'Byrne Lactation Consultant and all round amazing person. This really set us up for success as we both came away confident in our roles (me boobs on demand and for him everything else that was needed, i don't think i cooked for the first 3 months his support was and still is what led to our feeding success especially at the start when it's all consuming)
Eve arrived like a tornado in our sitting room on the 27th July and from day 1 was a boob pro, she thrived and fed like a champion round the clock, she was as they call it a "happy spitter" which at the start caused lots of late night worried googling but that thankfully settled after a few months.....i was extremely grateful for our tumble dryer during this time!!
I never set out to feed for a certain amount of time...i just hoped to get to 6 months, then 12 months and sure here we are now almost at the 3 year mark now. Eve still feeds 3 or more times a day depending on her mood (toddler life!!) In September last year I became pregnant and Eve continued to feed, unfortunately at Christmas i suffered a miscarriage. Following the miscarriage feeding Eve gave me a focus and all the extra cuddles from her were just what was needed and really helped my mental health during that time. I am so glad my breastfeeding journey didn't come to an abrupt end which is what I dreaded.
I love feeding Eve it's our special time...no one else can do it and it makes me so in tune with her and how she is.I love our little chats when she is at the boob and she loves to "relax on boobie" and chat about the day or what we are going to do next.
I am sure our breastfeeding journey will come to an end in time but for me it has been one of the positives about motherhood....yes its hard especially in the early days when you could be up 10 times a night to feed but those days pass quick and before you know it there is no night feed (something i don't miss!!)