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by Cecelia A. Cancellaro
Nothing, really nothing, could have prepared me for the
hours upon hours that I would spend nursing my little girl in the
days, weeks, and months following her birth. As I sat in my special
rocking chair, most of the time unshowered, half-dressed, looking
longingly across the room at a half-full glass of water, or a
partially eaten banana, or my glasses, or some reading material, or
the remote control lying on the floor in front of the television, I
soon realized that our marathon nursing schedule would be greatly
improved if only I were better prepared.
Yes, of course, it was also wonderful just to sit and watch her nurse
but believe me, we nursed so much that there was no lack of precious
moments. As a result, I transformed that little corner of our living
room into what came to be called "nursing central." You can
do the same thing. Here's what you need:1. Nursing pillow. The right pillow provides good support to
the kidlet and and if you're very lucky, can even free up your arms
(crucial). In this department I recommend the unfortunately named
"My Breast Friend" model.
2. Beverages of choice. Several small bottles of spring water
did the trick for me. If you're feeling bold and have some money to
burn, some of those Fresh Samantha smoothie drinks can really liven
things up. Nursing can make you very thirsty, and it's always good
to keep hydrated.
3. Snacks that can be eaten easily with one hand, including
nuts, various kinds of bars (I like Health Valley Moist & Chewy
Wild Berry Granola Bars or when in need of some heavy-duty
nourishment, Source One Nutritional Food Bars especially the chocolate
roasted peanut flavor), raisins and other dried fruits, pretzels, and
some M&Ms, preferably peanut. Warning: proceed with caution when
eating in nursing central. Once, in my daughter's early days, I was
just about to call the pediatrician when I realized that the brown
growth in my daughter's ear was actually a little pretzel fragment.
4. Reading material (again, it's best if it can be easily
read and manipulated with one hand so smallish books - no wider than 5
inches, no longer than 8, and no thicker than 1 1/2--and not-too-thick
periodicals are best). Anne Lamott's "Operating
Instructions" (which all new moms are required to read) is
perfect for this as are a few choice magazines (HipMama and Mothering
among them). It's also not a bad time to reread some of the classics
(as long as you get the small mass-market editions). Marge Piercy's
"He, She, It," Emily Bronte's "Wuthering
Heights," and Mary McCarthy's "The Group" really
worked for me.
5. An extra pair of glasses (if you so require). It is
essential to keep an extra pair at nursing central at all times.
6. Remote controls for the TV (cable channels like the cooking
network, MTV, and even C-Span were lifesavers), the VCR (a little
trickier, of course, since this assumes you'll have a video in it
waiting to go, and one which you won't mind watching repeatedly.
In
this category I was a sucker for 80s teen films, Say Anything, Sixteen
Candles, and Breakfast Club among them), and the stereo (obviously a
multi-disk CD player is the way to go here so you can alternate
between Aretha, Enya, Courtney, Sinead, and Lauryn, depending on your
mood).
7. Telephone (a hands-free headset would be great, but it is
possible to get by without one).
8. Laptop computer. With some practice, it is possible to
set up and use a laptop while nursing. This will require that you have
extremely good balance and that you excel at one-handed typing. Although most of the time you might feel too brain-dead to write
anything, there are times when amazing ideas will pop into your head
and if not recorded immediately will recede into your always too-full
mama brain, not to emerge again for a very long time.
9. A box of thank-you cards and something to write with. I
wrote many a thank-you card atop my trusted nursing pillow and
although my daughter's sudden jerks or kicks made them a little less
neat than I would have liked, people were getting thanked for their
various kindnesses, and that was a major accomplishment.
10. Various catalogues. Spit-up, liquidy yellow poop, and
another version of a body we're no longer sure is really our own may
stop us from buying anything new to wear for quite some time after we
give birth, but browsing through catalogues can still be entertaining.
In the very-fun-to-look-at category I recommend The Land of Nod (kiddie
stuff), Back to Basics Toys, and Martha (Stewart) by Mail.
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Nursing
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