Ode to Nursing
Nursing is a funny thing.
It doesn’t work out/isn’t best for some people for many reasons, all of which are *okay* and should not be judged (this thought needs a separate post/rant).
I wanted to nurse, and I feel like I got lucky and was able to. Aside from a few “preemie”-ish issues at first with Bria, I was able to feed my babies fairly easily the first year of their life and donate what seemed like a gazillion bags of milk to 2 other babies when their mamas didn’t have breastfeeding as an option.
It’s a little bittersweet, this journey ending. I’ve pretty much either been pregnant or nursing for the last 8 years, and now we’re shifting to the next chapter. My body is just going to be my own again. It feels different and looks different and is different, but I’m thankful for what it could give. Some days were hard when I was on the every-2-hours clock. Sometimes it was nice escaping a chaotic place to a quiet room or corner to feed the baby. Sometimes a baby would cry in the store and set the let-down off from aisles away. I’ve figured out how and when to nurse around other kids schedules and busy, busy lives and teaching at lc. I’ve had to figure out milk coming in, even after Abram, and golf balls in my armpits and nursing through having to go back to the hospital after babies, through shingles and the flu and every other thing you just have to suck it up for. I watched a lot of sunsets from our nursery rocker. Ive watched some hilarious shows. Ive made some good friends who also were finding a quiet place to feed their little one. I’ve gone through so many nursing tanks and had a wardrobe for years that can be fed around. I’ve nursed on beaches, on mountains, in cars, at weddings, at parks, all the places. With very active babies, sometimes nursing was the only time they stayed still, that rosy milk-drunk sleep.
I should say I truly do not believe bottle feeding is less special or less demanding. *at all.* All of our journeys are beautiful and exhausting while feeding these hungry babies, from a bottle or breast.
I guess this was a huge part of me for the last many years, and through it all, I’m thankful. Boobs, it’s been real.
It doesn’t work out/isn’t best for some people for many reasons, all of which are *okay* and should not be judged (this thought needs a separate post/rant).
I wanted to nurse, and I feel like I got lucky and was able to. Aside from a few “preemie”-ish issues at first with Bria, I was able to feed my babies fairly easily the first year of their life and donate what seemed like a gazillion bags of milk to 2 other babies when their mamas didn’t have breastfeeding as an option.
It’s a little bittersweet, this journey ending. I’ve pretty much either been pregnant or nursing for the last 8 years, and now we’re shifting to the next chapter. My body is just going to be my own again. It feels different and looks different and is different, but I’m thankful for what it could give. Some days were hard when I was on the every-2-hours clock. Sometimes it was nice escaping a chaotic place to a quiet room or corner to feed the baby. Sometimes a baby would cry in the store and set the let-down off from aisles away. I’ve figured out how and when to nurse around other kids schedules and busy, busy lives and teaching at lc. I’ve had to figure out milk coming in, even after Abram, and golf balls in my armpits and nursing through having to go back to the hospital after babies, through shingles and the flu and every other thing you just have to suck it up for. I watched a lot of sunsets from our nursery rocker. Ive watched some hilarious shows. Ive made some good friends who also were finding a quiet place to feed their little one. I’ve gone through so many nursing tanks and had a wardrobe for years that can be fed around. I’ve nursed on beaches, on mountains, in cars, at weddings, at parks, all the places. With very active babies, sometimes nursing was the only time they stayed still, that rosy milk-drunk sleep.
I should say I truly do not believe bottle feeding is less special or less demanding. *at all.* All of our journeys are beautiful and exhausting while feeding these hungry babies, from a bottle or breast.
I guess this was a huge part of me for the last many years, and through it all, I’m thankful. Boobs, it’s been real.
✌🏼 🐮
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