Theme Thursday topic: BREASTFEEDING

BREASTFEEDING.  Yes you've heard me talk about this topic before.  Usually I'm enraged about some idiotic tweet that insults breastfeeding mothers.  The comments are almost always the same:

"Ew... breastfeeding is disgusting"
"Breastfeeding should never be done in public"

Check out my previous blog posts if you don't believe me.  The most recent ignorant comment I read yesterday came from a 20 year old woman, and I quote:

"I don't think anything in this world grosses me out more than breastfeeding in public".

Oh, you don't believe a 20 year old woman could say such a ridiculous thing? Here is the proof:

Really?  She can't think of ANYTHING on this planet earth that disgusts her more than breastfeeding in public? I cannot conceive of such a human being.  I cannot believe that people THINK this way.  This makes me so angry I cannot type.  But it also makes me sad.  Depressed in fact. 

But you know what? Breastfeeding rant over.  Today's post will not be negative.  It will be simple and uncomplicated. 

And so I begin.

BREASTFEEDING

Excuse the random dude on the right, it's the most recent picture I had of me and my girls

I am a mother of two girls.  One is 2 1/2 and no longer breastfeeding.  She breastfed until she was just shy of a year old.  She weaned herself because I was pregnant and pretty much out of milk.  My current baby turns one tomorrow and is still breastfeeding.  Since I'm not pregnant (nor will I be in the near future) I plan to breastfeed her for quite some time more. 

I want to tell you about how amazing and simple breastfeeding is.  It is a wonderful way to provide your baby with the nourishment and comfort they need.  When done correctly it takes virtually no effort.  Your baby latches on and the milk flows.  That my body can create the most perfect nutrition for my baby still amazes me.  In fact babies really don't need anything else other than breastmilk for at least the first year of their lives. Even though my monster of a child loves to eat.

I will spare you the scientific reasoning behind why breastmilk is so nutritious.  You can look up the stats and components of breastmilk on your own.  Suffice it to say, it is the perfect food.

When you travel with a breastfed baby you don't have to bring bottles, formula, or bottled water.  The milk is always at a perfect temperature and provides warmth and comfort to a baby instantly.

Breastfeeding as you may have heard also burns calories in the mother and we all want that benefit.  It is also (usually) a decent form of contraception and women have been using nursing as a birth control method for centuries. 

Learning to breastfeed my first baby in the hospital

BUT (there's always a but), breastfeeding did not come easily to me with my first baby.  It was painful, I was engorged, my baby didn't eat properly and I was worried she wasn't gaining enough weight. I have to emphasize here that it did NOT start out being easy, but thankfully I had help from family and I did not give up.  I will pause here to say that breastfeeding does not work out for everyone for many reasons.  I think most of the time people do not have enough help.  You need people to tell you to stick with it.  You need people to help you clean your house and cook food so you can sequester yourself with your baby and just breastfeed.  You also need to learn and practice. Also some women do not want to breastfeed or cannot breastfeed again, not a problem for anyone, this just happens to be my experience.

Also I'll throw in here that many people claim breastfeeding is also free.  My husband always loved that I breastfed because you know it was free.  Maybe if you're a SAHM it's virtually free, but I spent money on nursing pads, nursing bras, nursing tank tops, storage bags, bottles (I still needed to go back to work and pump), etc.  So it really wasn't "free".  I suppose cheaper than formula? But not free.  And here is where I also mention that both my girls drank breastmilk from bottles with not much of a problem.  They switched from breast to bottle pretty well and thank god for that, because otherwise how is a woman supposed to go back to work?

Despite how hard breastfeeding was with my first baby, I can still write a post about how wonderful breastfeeding is because it eventually became easy for me.

My first baby getting much better at breastfeeding

With my second daughter (who turns one tomorrow) breastfeeding came quite easily from the start.  She was a better eater and I was more experienced.  I can honestly say that I have not struggled at all with my second baby. I always had (and still have) plenty of milk and I never once thought I was going to run out of milk or not be able to keep up with her while I pumped at work.  Breastfeeding has been a dream the second time around.  In fact, I have had so much milk that I have now donated about 200 oz.

100 oz of extra breastmilk I donated recently

I don't tell this breastfeeding story to brag.  After having breastfed children for a total of about two years now, I know that many women struggle with breastfeeding and breastfeeding is a very personal choice.  I also know that the controversy surrounding breastfeeding seems to grow each day.  I want to tell my story to just explain that sometimes just sometimes breastfeeding is simple and easy and goes the way nature intended. 

My champion breastfeeder nursing on a plane

I am also not going to get into the debate about breastfeeding in public, because in my eyes there is no debate.  I never had a problem breastfeeding in public and don't consider it to be an issue.  I do however, get saddened to read the stories that pop up at least once a week where a woman was shamed for breastfeeding her hungry baby in public.  I cannot believe that this is an issue in the 21st century.  But again, today's post will not be an angry rant in which I say that I want to punch people who oppose breastfeeding in public.  Nope I won't say that.  I will simply say that I have had a beautiful experience breastfeeding in public.  I have breastfed in pretty much every public place I have happened to be with my baby.  Church, museums, zoos, restaurants, you name it.  And "gasp" I usually don't cover up.  But if I do it's more to keep a distracted baby from unlatching, not to convenience ignorant people and their insecurities with the human body.

Look pirates breastfeed too

I rarely read positive stories about breastfeeding and I just wanted to share mine.  Now excuse me, the baby is up and I have to breastfeed her back down to sleep.  Yes, she still wakes up at night to nurse, and that folks, is not such a positive story!

Nursing a sick baby back to health- quite literally

This BREASTFEEDING post is a part of "Theme Thursday", a multi-blog collaboration. Click the button below to read posts from other bloggers, or to add your own.  Each week some great writers pick a topic to write about.  This week's topic was BREASTFEEDING.  Some past topics have been:

-Things That Aren't Blog
-Cats and Dogs
-Winter
-New Year's Resolutions
-Reality TV
-A Wedding story

and so on...

You can see all the previous Theme Thursday Topics on its pinterest page.

Special thanks to Something Clever 2.0 for just being awesome. Visit her page.  She actually blogs on a regular basis, something I strive to do one day.

#ThemeThursday