“Breastfeeding was never a question in my mind. Since I was a little girl I knew it was what I was going to do. About 3 months before I had my daughter I realized I had inverted nipples – something I never knew existed until then – and started doubting the ability to breastfeed. When my daughter was born she had a tongue tie but I was told in the hospital it wasn’t bad enough to clip. 5 weeks, a colicky baby, severely damaged nipples, and many tears later I finally contacted a lactation consultant. She helped me with positioning and gave me exercises to help my daughter with latching and suggested we clip her tie. It took 10 weeks after getting the tie clipped before I could nurse her comfortably. When I had my son I knew to expect more of the same issues due to both of out anatomical abnormalities. His tie was clipped right after birth and then again at 2 weeks. I had hoped my healing process would be shorter but sadly it took 20 weeks to get it right. Through both beginnings I held strong and never gave in. I wanted to breastfeed, so I did even though the pain was unbearable at times.”