 I have always enjoyed nursing. Our son, Zane, took to
nursing immediately and camped out at my breasts for the next six
weeks.
The only thing I remember at first was the pain with engorgement. I
called my friend Rhonda, who is an assistant Lactation Consultant at
the hospital where I delivered, and she told me to put cabbage leaves
on my swollen breasts and that would make them feel better. At first I
thought, "What? I can't do that! That's not going to work!"
Well, it worked miracles. It did smell like it was cooking though. I
also tried bags of frozen veggies, and that felt good too.
My parents have supported me and so has my grandfather, in his own
way. I will never forget him saying, "That baby is hungry, just
whip your tit out Mama!" Every time I think about that it makes
me laugh.
When I think of nursing at the beginning, I thought it was very
stressful trying to keep up with a hungry baby. I was constantly full,
leaking and spraying Zane in the face when he would unlatch. He was so
surprised that he would cry at first, then he would just open his
mouth and try to latch on again. I got to the point where I would try
to make it into his mouth instead of spraying him the eye. (It also
works well for mouthy husbands, just give them a little shot in the
eye once and a while.)
Zane was a nine-pound baby at birth, and at his first week appointment
he had gained almost a pound. The nurse said to me that they like to
have them back up to birth weight and that he was the most pink,
healthy baby she had ever seen. I felt so good about my nursing that I
don't think I will be able to give it up anytime soon (neither will
Zane).
I attended a breastfeeding support group every week where it gave moms
a chance to talk and share experiences. It was helpful for me and many
others that I didn't feel like I was the only one going through it. As
Zane got older and bigger, other moms could see the benefits of
nursing and realize that they were doing the best thing possible for
their babies and for themselves. I felt so good about myself when we
would weigh Zane every week at group and he was always gaining.
Sometimes a half or a whole pound in a week. It was amazing!
At this point he doesn't need to nurse, but its a comfort thing for
him. I returned to school full time when he was 8 months old, so he
only nurses at night. I don't need to pump because we started him on
solid foods around 7 months, so he was pretty much weaned off day-time
feedings. But before that, he was strictly breastfed. He hated the
bottle and now drinks out of a sippy cup.
I recommend nursing to every mom. Its not only beneficial for the
baby, but also for you. There is plenty of support out there, you just
have to find it. And the more people nurse, the more others will
accept it.
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