I’ve got so many friends and family who have recently had babies or are expecting soon, and they are either currently breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. I wanted to compile a brief list of lessons I’ve learned along the way. I just celebrated my 3-year anniversary of CONSECUTIVE nursing: my sweet Claire weaned herself with some gentle coaching from me on New Year’s Eve. Together we chanted “new year, new you!” She had nursed for 33 months by that point. When she was 33 hours old, I wondered if I was going to make it to 6 weeks, let alone 6 months (my initial goal)…

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Thrush! Ah, that pesky devil. Thrush is also known as a yeast overgrowth on the nipples, or the baby’s mouth, in the ducts, or all of the above. This annoying breastfeeding problem can be uncomfortable but is easily solved. Read on for what worked for me, along with some recommendations I learned from my lactation consultants, breastfeeding support groups, and other nursing mothers.

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I had never heard of APNO, or All-Purpose Nipple Ointment before I started breastfeeding in 2015. It’s also called Newman’s APNO, Newman’s Nipple Ointment, or some variation of that. It’s named after Dr. Jack Newman, a breastfeeding advocate and specialist in Canada.

I struggled a lot with breastfeeding in the beginning, and since I was too ashamed to ask for help, I found myself searching online for help and answers to my questions. One of the things I came across was the magical elixir of unicorn blood that is Newman’s APNO, and it’s supreme healing powers for sore nipples.

One of the aspects of pregnancy that lots of people talk about is creating a birth plan, but it gets put off until the very end for so many women. I was only able to find one sample birth plan that I liked. I wished my OB had provided some samples for me to work off of, but they didn’t talk about it with me at all. The one I based mine off of I ended up finding in the back of a book at one of the hospital classes we attended toward the end of our pregnancy with Claire.

When I made mine and showed it to my doctor, she said “Sure we can add that to your chart,” which I took to mean no one was going to read it and look it over to see what I might’ve missed, let alone help me stick to it. I took that opportunity to do tons more research, memorize my plan, talk it over with and share it with my husband, so that we could let nurses know what we wanted.