Postcards from Opatija, Croatia

Hello guys!

It's been a while since I did a "postcards" blog post and I'm sorry about that because I honestly love sharing with you my fave places or new places that I visit. 

So I thought I'd bring back the "Postcards" this time I'm taking you to a wonderful little touristic town called Opatija, located in Croatia in the Kvarner region. Opatija is also a place I consider my home. It's situated very close to my hometown (sometimes it seems they're one town as they lay right next to eachother in a Kvarner bay). This is where I spent my childhood days (numerous walks by the sea with my parents), and also my high school days (I opted for touristic school that is located in Opatija). Each morning I'd travel 30 min by bus, but I loved the school and I loved spending my time in such beautiful surroundings.

We, as a family, spent a few days at our home in Croatia and so we took the opportunity to go and have a little walk by the sea! It was very warm, even in evening time (which is quite unusual for this time of the year). Opatija was filled with people, students and tourists from Japan and other distant countries. I loved the atmosphere that was in the air. I remember Opatija being much more quiet in the late '90s when I was attending the school there.

One of the symbols of Opatija is this statue of a woman with a seagull but Opatija is also very famous for its health tourism and wonderful parks with egzotic plants and trees from all over the world.

Even though in winter time, the climate here can be quite harsh, in Opatija there are some tropical plants that prosper regardless of the icy cold wind and the constant rain.

My son absolutely enjoyed this evening walk. Where we live in Italy, we have only fields, so we learned to appreciate these sights even more. And the salty sea air is much healthier!

Here we are on another walk by the sea, this location is called Skalete and it's in Rijeka, but overlooking the coast of Opatija.

We tried to make the most out of our short stay in Croatia, even though it was more of a business trip than anything else. But every minute free that we got, we tried to spend by the sea, and all together as a family. Sebastian's grandma (my Mum), also came to visit and joined us for a walk!

This time we didn't vlog much, but next time I promise to vlog for you guys, so I'll even visually be able to bring you a little taste of my home.

I'll talk to you soon,

* more fashion & beauty posts at Glam Express

#MOMMYMONDAY: MEDELA NIPPLE SHIELDS REVIEW | HOW TO BREASTFEED WITH INVERTED NIPPLES?

Hello lovelies!

In this "MommyMonday" post I'm sharing with you my video review of Medela nipple shields and telling a little bit about my experience with breastfeeding and inverted nipples.

I was recommended to get Medela nipple shields by hospital's obstetrician (where I gave birth), and they suggested the size I should get.

I didn't go on my own to buy nipple shields out of my own initiative; at that time I really had no other choice: Because of my inverted nipples, my son couldn't latch, and so it was impossible for me to breastfeed him. I wanted to stress that out, because I don't think you should get nipple shields without first consulting your obstetrician or lactation specialist. Nipple shields are a temporary solution (they were indeed, very helpful in my case, as thanks to them I was able to overcome the problem of inverted nipples); my son eventually learned how to latch properly, and now that he's 13 months I still breastfeed him (without the nipple shields).

I used them until he was 2-3 months old, and then, one day, it just happened: He was able to latch without nipple shields! It was like a little miracle, because I tried having him latch for countless of times, and it was always a struggle which resulted in him crying and hungry and me being quite stressed out. As soon as he latched without the help of nipple shields, my milk supply started to increase (as there was no more that barrier that affected my milk supply), and I was able to switch from mostly formula feeding, to exclusively breastfeeding my son.

It was definitely a hard and challenging journey, and I thought that, because of the shape of my nipples, my son would have to be formula fed and that's just how it's gonna go down, but luckily, I kept trying and I never gave up on breastfeeding him always before formula feeding...one day he was able to latch without that "plastic barrier"...

Nipple shields were indeed very helpful the first few months, but as soon as my son was able to latch, I ditched them, as I wanted to increase my milk supply and I knew, by using nipple shields this would never gonna happen. When you have direct "skin to skin" contact, the hormones are released, to affect and stimulate milk production, if there is constantly a barrier between your nipples and your baby's mouth, chances are high that your milk production won't be enough to satisfy your baby's needs.
So yes, they were helpful (in my case), but don't use them just to prevent cracking or sore nipples (there are plenty of great nipple creams and oils that can help you out with that!).
If you need to use them for a bit, because it's just way to painful to breastfeed without, then use them for some time until your nipples heal, but aim towards not using them if not necessary.

Here is the video where I talk more about this subject:

and all about my breastfeeding journey:

#throwback to february,15th.2017. My baby was 25 days old! Time indeed flies by! Our bundle of joy :-)

Please feel free to share with me your breastfeeding story!

Did you ever have to use nipple shields?

Were you able to breastfeed and for how long, or did you use formula to feed your baby?