what I've learned about breastfeeding...

1. A lot of people, surprisingly even women, find breastfeeding offensive and gross. I remember one day having lunch with a friend and reaching for a bottle of pumped breast milk for my son to drink. She asked me if it was breast milk. (Yes, it's white just like milk but has the consistency of skim milk, really! It's not some odd orange colored concoction. Looks like milk.) I told her it was. Her reply? "Gross." How did it make me feel? Sad that the idea of the very fluid perfectly and miraculously created by God by my body (if He created me, right?) was gross or offensive. I thought about the comment for a long time spending a lot of time reminiscing about the first four months of Lucas' life where he didn't have the ability to suck very well (NICU babies sometimes have this issue as the sucking reflex is one of the last things (along with their lungs) to develop) and how I'm so glad I didn't find it gross giving him the very best I could.
2. Not everyone's experience with breast feeding is the same as the next mother's. Some mothers have no issues at all with it. Some experience engorgement. I never experienced engorgement but I'm told that it felt like her breasts would explode with so much heaviness and milk, and she even said she felt it in the rest of her body. Some women don't produce enough milk for various reasons. There are positive and negative experiences just like with everything else. Breast feeding is certainly not as natural in terms of how to do it properly as to not damage your nipples! I also don't like to hear either side of the spectrum -- the extreme opinions about it. The staunch formula moms who discredit the breastfeeding moms and the breastfeeding moms that view formula as if it were poision. I try to remain in the middle. Do the best you can for what you can. If that means doing what I did, I can certainly encourage you. If you decide to wean because of WHATEVER reason, I will support you. More with #3.
   
3. Breastfeeding moms, at times, can feel that they are providing the best for their babies compared to their formula feeding moms. Sometimes, this can translate to a sort of, "How could you not give your baby the best?" You have to remember, however, that #2 is true. Just because you have had no problem nursing your child, the very mother that you are judging had reason to stop nursing. It's her choice, after all, just like it will be her choice on becoming a stay-at-home mom, continuing to work while placing her child in daycare, and on and on in life. A formula fed baby can become just as smart as a breastfed baby, I'm positive... I wasn't breastfed, and I certainly don't feel shorted or that mom didn't love me less. It's quite common in the first child for breastfeeding to fail. Just having a child is a huge change in life. Adding breastfeeding with problems can really complicate things. Believe me on that one! I wish mothers didn't judge one another but supported one another. There's nothing worse than reading some post from someone or hearing someone go on and on about how great a mother they are because they are breastfeeding or not. I don't really think breastfeeding is the only thing that can make a great mother!
   
4. Mastitis and yeast are horrible. I had mastitis twice, and would never want it again. Your temperature can go above 103F very quickly, and the treatment can cause another problem... yeast infection in your breasts. It sounds gross, but just imagine feeling glass shards inside your breasts. That's how it feels. Just reminiscing about it makes me cringe. I learned to love diflucan tablets, gentian violet tincture, and vinegar. I will say because I was exclusively pumping the first four months of Lucas' life, these two problems were exacerbated. Oh yeah, the baby can get yeast infection, too. Lucas had a yeast rash that cleared up rather quickly, but the baby CAN get the candida infection in his/her mouth as well.
5. If you really really want to breastfeed exclusively, you have to remember that the baby will eat more often while nursing. Even today, Lucas probably nurses 4-5 times daily vs babies his same age that are on bottles are down to 2-3 a day of whole milk. The baby will use your breast for not only the nutrition but for comfort. There IS quite a bond and it is difficult to take time away from the baby while he/she is still nursing. Lucas and I have still not been apart for more than 3-4 hours really.
6. And my biggest advice of all, this time goes by quickly. We're toward the end of this breastfeeding journey, and I have learned quite a bit from it. I'm also ready to get to a twice daily (morning and night) schedule with him. Ironically, after all the trouble we had in the first four months is as if Lucas has decided that he wants to make up for those four months and doesn't have it in HIS plans to wean anytime soon. Lord help! (laugh)