I want to start by saying choose to feed your baby how you want. Breastfeeding is only good for the baby if it is also good for the mother. With that being said though, I truly believe breast is the best for me and my girls. It does not work out for all mommies. I have been blessed with two babies that latch on immediately and do well with breastfeeding. Even with that, breastfeeding is hard work. It makes it even harder with the lack of support, the lack of openess, and the lack of information out there. I have made it a point since the birth of Ella to find my own support through other breastfeeding mamas as well as local lactation consultants in both the community and at my pediatricians office. I also have educated myself on breastfeeding. I wish more people talked about breastfeeding and made it a big deal.
Why has something so natural been made to be so unnatural and hush hush? Millions of babies are born each day and they need to eat. A mother's body comes prepared for exactly what the baby needs to eat. Not even twenty minutes after my baby was born, she knew exactly what she needed and set out to find it. Our bodies nourished our baby for nine months in the womb and is built to continue nourishing the baby outside of the womb. That's pretty damn amazing to me.
Even with two babies that took quickly to breastfeeding it is still hard work. With both babies I have had awful milk blisters on my nipples. It literally makes you want to scream in pain (and many times I have) and go through the roof. With Ella it last for at least a few weeks. It made me want to give up but I pushed through. Luckily with Claire the pain subsided after around a week. This time the blisters weren't as mentally and physcially challenging for me because I knew the pain would go away. There's also the issue of as a breastfeeding mother that more than likely means that you will be the only one up every night feeding your baby. Even if I was bottle feeding, I want to be the one up with my baby. I look at it as a bonding opportunity and a time that you will never get back. There's also the fact that the baby needs to eat every two, maybe three hours which doesn't leave much time to run out and do something, really to do anything at all. Also, if you work that means finding at least two to three times a day in your work schedule to pump so that your baby can have food. Many other mother's have low milk supply, babies often have latch issues etc. So I can see why mom's give up, especially with a lack of support and not too many places to turn.
It needs to become a big deal so that mothers can feed their infants and feel empowered to do what their bodies were built to do in whatever environment they would like.
And it needs to become a big deal so that everyone else will let them, encourage them, and honor them as they do so.
I also wish there were more "normal" mom's out there to push, support, and talk about the issue rather than just the lactivists.
I want to normalize this and be a good role model for Ella. Even she has been super supportive of my breastfeeding relationship with the baby. She is very curious and asks lots of questions. It makes me proud.
With Ella my goal started out at six months. Once I made it to that point I knew I wanted to keep going til at least 12 months but ended up making it to just under fifteen. This time with Claire my goal is at least fifteen months.
Breastfeeding can be difficult, inconvenient, and even painful yet you will be hard pressed to find any nursing mom say that they regret doing it. I will never regret it. In fact I treasure my breastfeeding journey with Ella and already know I will feel the same with Claire.
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