Monday, April 9, 2012
Blessed Is She Who Breastfeeds
If the title wasn't indicator enough, this post is going to be for the ladies. For the mommies, the mommies to be, and the ladies who just want a reason to fear becoming a mother.
Yes, fear.
Ok, not really fear. More like, dread.
Ok, not dread.. More like.. I don't know. Something between dread and fear and happiness. What's in between there?
I'm exaggerating of course. And before I even begin, let me say that breastfeeding Baby G has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I feel so blessed that I can do this for my little boy, even though it's quite literally sucking the life[-giving nourishment.. hehe] out of me.
Somebody once told me that breastfeeding her children was the laziest thing she ever did. It was just so incredibly easy to pop a boob in a baby's mouth! She didn't have to get off the couch to fix a bottle, she didn't have to clean anything afterwards, et cetera, et cetera, blah, blah, blah. And while those things are definitely true, I would absolutely not call breastfeeding lazy! On the other hand, this is most certainly WORK!
When KB was born so early and never latched, I exclusively pumped for her to still get breastmilk. I did that craziness for three months, and then I couldn't do it anymore for a bunch of reasons. She became a formula baby, and I felt a little bit guilty, but it was ok. Now that I've breastfed G for a full month, I can honestly say that I don't blame women who choose to formula feed ONE BIT.
In fact, here's a little illustration for how much work this is. There's a tiny little scene in "Legally Blonde" (random enough for you?) where someone says "You never know how awful something is until you experience it yourself." Then Elle's older friend, you know, the one who played Stiffler's Mom, says "Yeah, like breastfeeding." I never noticed that line until after G was born!
Now I know how hard it is... How much it hurts, how stressful it can be when you're not sure things are working the way they should, how tired I am because Honey can't feed G at 3 am and give me a little break.
Sigh. I'm not giving up or anything.. I will continue to breastfeed as long as I can, which I assume will be months. I know it's the best thing I can do for Baby G, so I'm doing it. I just wish I had known that there was a much more realistic, less butterflies and unicorns version of breastfeeding from the get-go. I wasn't prepared!
So, yes, blessed is she who breastfeeds. Because she's tired. And sore. And emotional.
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I tried. I couldn't handle the pain. Rubbing a brick wall pain. But, I will say that I am a very firm believer in the benefits of breast milk. I have pumped exclusively since Tanner was 5 days old. He has never had an ounce of formula. And I have never been so proud of myself. Our body isn't truly ours. I needed to read this. Thanks! Much love and we need a play date when you move back!
ReplyDeleteYep. I've blogged about this issue many times. I must be defective because I've never ever thought "this is a wonderful experience" in the combined 11 months I've breastfed my kids. The first few months are hard, but then you have other "experiences"-biting with new teeth, having to feed in a dark room because silly baby is distracted by everything, the list goes on.
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