<- First week: I'll get the hang of this, baby, I promise. It was good while it lasted. Really, it was. Never mind my look of torture the first few months, or the first days of teething. Never mind my nervous breakdowns when I just wanted to go to bed, but had to pump first. And never mind my almost daily baths of squirted milk. It was all worth it, for a myriad of reasons.
The first one being the health of my baby, of course. The second, right after that, was the closeness to her. After the initial pain is done, all you feel is love and wonderful oxytocin hormones. Perfect to calm my new-mom stress. And the third (or maybe the 2.5 place) was the convenience. Once I got it down, it was way easier than preparing a bottle.
I breastfed my baby for a year. Oh my gosh, I can't believe I just typed that. I thought I wouldn't last a week. A day. This thing was SO incredibly hard, and I was so incredibly sore and stressed out after giving birth that I didn't think it was possible. I remember my doctor suggesting I do it for 6 months, or maybe a year, and I thought, yeah right. My butt still hurts from pushing this baby out, you want my niples to hurt too??
But yet, here we are. Thank you, super powerful pump that I rented from the hospital and used almost exclusively for the first month. Thank you, persistent hubby who kept putting the baby on my boob, even though I'd tell you to just let me sleep. Thank you, massive breastfeeding promotion out there, 'cause even though you've alienated some distressed mothers that could be better off not breastfeeding for whatever reason, for me you caused joy. Pain and suffering at first, of course, but pure joy afterwards. The joy of bonding and knowing I can feed my child just by being me. And now, the joy to say I'm done.
6 comments:
congrats on making it a year!
With Liam we went 4 mos, but I'm really hoping to get to 1year w/ Erik
Bravo! Congratulations, that is such an accomplishment!!! The growing up, it's so bittersweet.
you are my hero! I have no idea if I will make it a year. I'll be calling you for motivation when I think I can't do it anymore!
@ Heather & Mommyfriend - thanks guys!! I'm so stoked to have you cool bloggers commenting on my blog :).
@ Shanna - awww you're awesome - and don't put too much pressure on yourself. You do what you can, and it might not even be hard at all - some people (and their babies) get the hang of it right away! But don't feel bad if you don't either, it's normal to be hard!
Sooooo proud! You did it! Most women don't make it to a full year. But than I already knew you were above average!!
Great job! I'm not setting any time table for when I try. I don't want to feel like a failure if I can't do it, but I want to try as long as possible due to all the benefits BF has.
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