What I Wish Someone Had Mentioned...

Ok, in honour of a friend of mine new to breast feeding and the annual Hooter Hoedown happening in Ayr this evening to raise funds for breast cancer research, I am going to talk boobs here for a minute. If this makes you uncomfortable...you may want to skip down to the lower portion of this post...

Before Madelyn was born, I made the decision that I was going to breastfeed her. Since the beginning of time women have nursed their babies, not to mention every other mammal in the animal kingdom, and of course, all of the research says breastfeeding is the way to go. There are SO many good things about it! Besides, as the daughter of a dairy farmer, I felt I knew the inner workings of lactation, so why not right? How hard could it be? Off I went to my pre-natal breastfeeding classes where I was a star pupil...A+ for me...I knew all about oxytocin, milk letdown, colostrum and the dreaded mastitis! I, along with the other mommys-to-be, watched videos, listened to speakers, looked at pictures and diagrams and received copious amounts of literature on the topic. I was PREPARED!!

WRONG!

My sweet little baby was born ready to rock and roll with the whole eating thing, so away we go and HOLY HELL!!! I have a newfound sympathy for first-calf heifers that kick the milkers off.

What my classes, other mommies, midwives, lactation consultants and the cows in the dairy barn failed to mention is that in the beginning breastfeeding really SUCKS and is often painful. I have concluded that people who are real hardcore advocates for breastfeeding leave out these important details about the process in favour of puppies and kittens if you know what I mean. If someone tells you something sucks, but then asks you to do it anyways, would you do it? Probably not. So, instead, they only tell you about how wonderful it is and what a joy it is to nurse your baby. In pictures you only ever see smiling women and roly-poly babies happily nursing away...many of these photos are also taken in a hospital room where the mother has presumably just given birth to her baby. My question is where are the pictures of that first-time mom cringing, with tears running down her face while she tries to nurse her newborn babe as it chomps away like a little barracuda? Or how about the one of the poor mom with boob all the way up to her eyeballs as her milk comes in and poor baby can’t keep up? Nothing is mentioned about the later two scenarios, yet every mother I have talked to has had experiences similar to these. Another annoying omission? All of my books also imply that mastitis is something incredibly rare, or as you other dairy girls out there know, something cows get...well apparently it is far more common than the literature lets on and since my bout with the nasty bug, I have met a number of women who say, “Oooh!! I know how that feels!”.....WTF? So much for rare! Nursing mommies beware!

On top of everything, these same puppy and kitten people also seem to equate formula feeding baby to feeding her bleach. A little intimidating for those mommies who choose to formula feed. I absolutely believe that breastfeeding my baby is the #1 way to go, and I have stuck it out for almost 4 months now. For me the advantages far outweigh the negative, but I can honestly say that I haven’t “enjoyed” it and if it weren’t for people encouraging me to stick with it, I would have given up long ago. My intention with this post is not to persuade anyone one way or the other, but rather to paint a more realistic picture for all the mommies-to-be out there (and there are LOTS of you this year!!).

If you choose to breastfeed: good for you!! While you're sitting there cursing under your breath, just know that it might be tough but it's normal....anyone that tries to convince you otherwise is full of crap! (Cows really do kick the milker off for a reason) Hang in there and just know that you are not alone! One final tip: Purchase the nipple cream before the little one arrives and pack it in your hospital bag...you will need it!

Totally unrelated to the above, this weekend officially marks the start of the summer wedding craziness around here! We have four weddings this year, which really isn't that many, but Carm is in one and I am in two...so we have a summer/fall full of showers, bachelor and bachelorette parties, buck 'n does and rehearsal dinners on top of the actual weddings...so we are busy, busy, busy! Maddie and I went out shopping for shower gifts today for two upcoming showers. In case either of the brides-to-be happen to read this, I won't say what we bought, but I will say that both gifts are pretty sweet and I am pretty impressed with my pretty awesome wrap jobs! Check them out....being a perfectionist pays off sometimes!