My early encounters with breastfeeding.

This morning I tweeted that I had temporarily lost my blogging mojo.  A few fleeting blog post topics have occurred to me in recent days but when it came time to writing them down I just…got lost, somehow.  It was like I suddenly couldn’t find my way around my Wordpress dashboard anymore.

Then this morning I saw a note from Annie, who writes the incredible smart and informative blog, PhD in Parenting, on Twitter, directing her followers to her recent post about her thoughts on BlogHer ads, bottle advertising, and her blog.  I learned a lot from her post, including the fact that there is an International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes.  I urge you to read her thoughtful post.  As I read it, I thought about all of the encounters I’ve had during my pregnancy with the concept of breastfeeding.  Some have been funny, inspiring and encouraging, while others have been sad.

Here are just a few of my early encounters with breastfeeding.

At my first doctor’s appointment after our baby was conceived, my family doctor, who is AWESOME and has been providing my prenatal care up to this point (I’ll be seeing an OB for the first time at 32 weeks), ran down a list of questions she asks all of her pregnant patients.  Some seemed to be asked for the sake of gathering government statistics.  She warned me that some of them might seem surprising, but I should rest assured she asks all of her patients.  The questions ranged from, “Does your family support this pregnancy?” to “Is there any physical or emotional abuse taking place in your relationship” to “Are you planning to breastfeed?”  I assume that had I answered “no” to the last question, this would have been my doctor’s opportunity to tell me about the benefits of breastfeeding.  I was really pleased that these questions were asked.  Maybe not all doctors go to the trouble, but it made me feel like the baby and I were in good hands.

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A few weeks later I was sitting with two of my neighbours, after we had told them that we’re expecting, and one of them asked me if I was going to breastfeed.  I told her that was the plan, and the other woman described how she never breastfed her kids, how when she had them, she thought breastfeeding was “gross”, and that even when her newborn son tried latching onto her at the hospital she told the nurse she didn’t understand why he was doing that, and that she didn’t want him to.  She said that seeing women breastfeed makes her uncomfortable.

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At our prenatal class, the teacher briefly has mentioned that if we’re planning to breastfeed, we shouldn’t even consider formula as an option.  Her thoughts were that if you consider that you might “fail” at breastfeeding, this could end up being a self-fulfilling prophecy.  I think that’s good advice, for now.  I’m looking forward to learning more about it in our last session following the hospital tour.

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I’ve received two different formula samples in the mail from two different companies.  (I must have signed up for some baby-related newsletter somewhere online and this is the result.)  So I have these “newborn formula kits” here at the house, but I don’t really want them here.  I don’t want to just throw them away, either.  I know there are women who won’t or can’t breastfeed for their own personal reasons, and I think that there must be someone out there who can use them.  I hate to waste anything.  But I kind of feel like if I have the stuff here in the house I might use them, and I really don’t want to.

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Many women have warned me that breastfeeding is going to hurt.  At least it will at first.  Their advice usually goes something like, “You probably know this already, but it doesn’t always go as easily as you’d think.”  So yes, I do realize that it will probably take a few weeks before it gets to be easy.  I’m expecting it to be painful at first.  And frustrating.  And heart-wrenching at times.  But hey, maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

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So yes, I am planning to breastfeed.  I am planning to pump breastmilk so that Graham can be included in the experience of feeding our child and so that I can be free to leave the house by myself on occasion without having an infant latched onto my breast.  I do plan to breastfeed the baby in public places (reading mommyblogs has prepared me somewhat for the challenge that may prove to be).  And while there are sure to be some obstacles to the experience, I feel very optimistic about breastfeeding.  I’m looking forward to it.

Edited to add: Some good breastfeeding resources have been popping up in the comments, so I thought I’d link to them here.

Kellymom.com: Breastfeeding and Parenting

Reconsidering the 11-Month Wean

La Leche League Canada

Tags: Breastfeeding, Pregnancy