Motherwear's Breastfeeding Carnival

Welcome, Motherwear blog Carnival of Breastfeeding readers!

My 2009 Breastfeeding Goals

Since becoming a mother 3 years ago, I have learned more than I thought possible, both about myself and who I would become as a parent. Without having a mother to turn to and ask a lot of specific questions, and only a couple girlfriends who’d had babies before me, I felt lost at times. I’m grateful that I did have a mentor in my life previous to my becoming a mom who casually told me about some of her child-raising experiences including co-sleeping, cloth diapering, child-wearing, and breastfeeding. When I finally had my first son, I knew that for me, not breastfeeding was not an option. That decision cost me a lot of tears in those first few weeks while Shea and I tried to establish a good latch and routine. Sure, I read a few books, some even with great pictures, but I didn’t feel brave enough asking for outside help.
Something magical happened around six weeks when it seemed as if Bear just “got it,” and our nursing experience became the sweet bonding time I’d heard and read about. When my second son was born, I again knew that breastfeeding would be the only way for us. Imagine my dismay when due to some glucose problems he had in the hospital, the nursery staff did not allow me to nurse him for almost our whole duration after labor. I almost gave up completely because he just would not nurse after the ease and ready milk provided by the hospital bottles. It took almost a full 24 hours with both of us frustrated before he gave in, nursed, and we successfully nursed for a year, and now I’m pregnant with my third child.
My breastfeeding goal for 2009 is just to relax and to be brave. With Bear, I discovered a few like-minded moms through AP forums and websites, and I secretly envied their ability to nurse in public with no qualms. With Bunkin, I got much braver and said “My baby comes first!” and was able to feed without too much self-consciousness. My breastfeeding advocacy has been mostly word-of-mouth, encouraging new moms of the benefits of breastfeeding, although I did join the Facebook group Hey, Facebook, Breastfeeding is Not Obscene. For me, relaxing and enjoying this new little one is paramount to what I have planned in 2009. If there are opportunities to share about my experiences, I would love to be an encouragement to any mom or mom-to-be, and encourage her to relax and be brave as well, because breastfeeding is truly a blessing. Breastfeeding is so much more than just milk, although at it's most base, at least it's about that! But thankfully it can also be about closeness, fingers entwined, baby eyelashes against baby cheeks, and that slow, steady breathing that means the world, for a while, is at peace.

(a picture of me and Bunkin when he was about 4 weeks old)


Check out some of the other breastfeeding goals (I'll update as the posts go live!)
Beautifulletdown
Hobomama
zen-mommy
Motherwear
Milkact
Breastfeeding123
Blactating
Breastfeeding123
Mamaknowsbreast
Breastfeedingmums