Welcome Carnival of Breastfeeding readers! This month’s Carnival theme is “What I Wish I’d Know Then….”
When I was first thinking about this month’s theme, it crossed my mind that I could talk about clusterfeeding, and how I wished someone had told me it was perfectly normal for my son to be attached to my boob for hours on end every evening. Then I thought it would be better to dispel the myth that newborn babies eat “every two hours.” I mean, I guess technically it’s every two hours, but the clock starts when your baby begins his meal, not ends it. So it usually feels more like feeding every 30 minutes, round-the-clock, especially if your baby is a gourmand like mine was and prefers to hang out at the buffet for hours, savoring every drop.
But honestly, what I wish I’d know then, and what I don’t think I could ever have imagined, was how much breastfeeding would change my life. I never thought the simple act of feeding my baby could be so life altering. For the first three months, I lived, breathed, ate and slept breastfeeding. It was all I could think about and talk about (and, it seemed, all I ever did). I spent hours online at the Kelly Mom forums, asking questions and reading about other moms’ experiences. I scoured the internet for pictures of women breastfeeding, for articles about breastfeeding, for videos showing how to hand express or latch my baby on. It wasn’t just that I was having some trouble and needed the help (I was and did), but I wanted to know as much about breastfeeding and how milk is made and how babies nurse as I could. It was at this time that I discovered many of the blogs I love and read to this day, and was inspired by other black women who were as passionate about breastfeeding as I was. It was what inspired me to start this blog, which has been an outlet for me and brought some amazing opportunities my way. Because of Blacktating, I have met and become friends with some of the smartest women on the planet who have educated me not just on breastfeeding, but on birth, child development, feminism, attachment parenting and more.
Breastfeeding has changed how I view my future and my career path. I am going to attend training to become a Certified Lactation Counselor so I can teach breastfeeding classes on the weekends. I have been inspired to a higher calling, to help women and babies.
Breastfeeding is such a huge part of my life that sometimes I wonder who I will be when I am no longer nursing. I don’t even think I can count all of the ways that I have changed since becoming a mother, but I know that I wouldn’t be the same woman I am today if I had not breastfed. I want all women to know that breastfeeding profoundly changes you in ways you couldn't have imagined, although I wish I had known then!
Photo credit: Motherwear
Please check out the amazing posts on "What I wish I had known then..."by these other bloggers. This is one of the best Carnivals to date, with some of the most heartfelt posts on breastfeeding I've had the pleasure to read in a while.
Massachusetts Friends of Midwives
My World Edenwild
The Adventures of Shrike & Whozat
Hobo Mama
The Starr Family Blog
Momma's Angel
Breastfeeding Moms Unite
Birth Activist
Three Girl Pile Up
Happy Bambino Blog
Fancy Pancakes
The Milk Mama
Fighting Off Frumpy
Breastfeeding Mums
Cave Mother
Breastfeeding 1-2-3
Mum Unplugged
Twitter me- I'm blacktating
10 comments:
I've really enjoyed your posts since I first visited pretty recently. My daughter is almost 4 and we weaned together late last winter, I don't know the date. She doesn't have my milk anymore but we are still attached, still so well connected. I am so grateful that I know her so well, that, and seeing how beautiful a girl she is inside and out, is the best part of my life.
I definitely agree! I wish some did tell me that I felt like a milk making machine for the first few months! I think I'm more mentally prepared for the 2nd one this go round.
Gosh- the line "wonder who I'll be when I'm no longer nursing" sort of stopped me in my tracks-
I'm so enjoying this new activity that I'd forgotten that one day, probably within ten years, I'll be totally done with it.
Huh. Well, being a LC definitely is a way to make the most of your experience and knowledge. The LCs at my hospital are such great women, and the help they provide is invaluable. I'm so glad you'll be doing the same thing!
This blog carnival has been so great to participate in - I've learned a lot and gained a new appreciation for breastfeeding! I've definitely had my share of troubles, but I'm determined to make it work, and the stories I've read today have bolstered my determination that much more. :)
i help teach breastfeeding classes every other month and we have a really fun game we play each time. let me know if you're interested in the details when you get your classes started!
You will still be a great mom to your boy and you will still feel passionately about educating women about breastfeeding, even after you are no longer doing so yourself.
Asher just turned 2 and I thought about how it's been 8 months since I stopped breastfeeding. I can't imagine still doing it now, but I still like to keep up with your blog and talk to my friends who are breastfeeding. I recently helped my neighbor with her newborn, and I felt proud that I could give whatever support I could. I am also SUPER proud of Carrie for exclusively breastfeeding her new baby, despite many qualms she had beforehand. I think it's great that you will be getting that counselor cert to teach classes! It won't even matter that you aren't breastfeeding whenever that day comes, because you will always have your experience to draw from and impart to new moms everywhere. Keep up the great work here!
Breastfeeding was life-changing for you and as a result you have become life-changing for others in the fabulous work you do. I love your blog and how hip, smart and fabulous it is! It goes a long way towards helping to give breastfeeding a makeover and "beat the booby traps" so more moms can achieve their breastfeeding goals. Thank you for serving moms and babies!
Bettina Forbes, President & Co-Founder
The Best for Babes Foundation
It is profound! I don't know how much breastfeeding has changed my life per se, but I do know that it has changed ME, which of course is a big part of my life! No career changes for me, but I do want to help other women, too. And you are so right about there being a lot of very smart women out there blogging. It's so great to connect in this way!
I love this reflective post. Breastfeeding encompasses so much more than what you feed your baby. I can't wait to hear more about your LC training and teaching. Hope you'll be blogging about it!
Congrats on following your passion! Breastfeeding has changed my life too. First I jsut thought I'd be a full term nursing mom, then I thought I'd just do that and have a breastfeeding blog. Now I'm on my way to becoming a Social Worker who focuses on work with new moms and breastfeeding and how to best break down barriers in breastfeeding for minority groups and victims of trauma. Phew. Who knew?
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