promote breastfeeding

For moms to be or new moms, I encourage them to breastfeed. I tell them about the difficulties I had in the first few months of my daughter’s life. But, persevering through it was well worth the effort. Working through the “hour long” nursing sessions, the nursing every hour to hour and a half, etc. was well worth it. I realize and accept that breastfeeding isn’t for everyone. I’m not saying that those who don’t breastfeed are somehow losers or not-as-good-moms. I’m definitely not espousing that. It’s just that in the U.S., breastfeeding still isn’t all that encouraged. Doctors do encourage moms to breastfeed, but the reception from the public is still not great.

Martha was impacted our lives in a most positive fashion. I give her a lot of credit for Isabella being provided breastmilk exclusively for the first six months of her life. Though she still has breastmilk (and no formula), I can no longer say she’s breastfed exclusively. I’ve been trying to give her baby cereal and now green beans. Anyways, if we are here, in South Texas, another year, Martha has asked me to give a testimony at some sort of breastfeeding meeting for lactation consultants. Sounds good to me.

last weekend, my husband and i went to the home of one of my former students and his wife. they had a baby a few weeks ago. we made them some lunch while we were there (what all new parents need, meals cooked for them). the wife/mommy and i had a chat about being a mommy. one topic we perused was feeding. she was doing some breastfeeding and more formula. without being a nazi about the breastfeeding thing, i tried to tell her the benefits of breastfeeding. but then, i spent most of the time encouraging her, telling her that she’s doing a good job, that she has what it takes to breastfeed, that the overwhelming exhaustion won’t last forever. yesterday, she wrote me an e-mail to tell me ‘thanks’ and that she’s breastfeeding almost exclusively now. no more problems with her not producing enough milk. yay!!!