The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding

So I just read a book that changed the way I look at breastfeeding.  Once I started it,  it was hard to put it down.  The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by La Leche League was just such an excellent read and had so much information about being a mom.  Totally didn't expect all the tips on child raising and child birthing.

So I'm not writing to promote the book for anyone.  I'm not being paid for my opinion just sharing, like I always do.  After the read, I really wish I had read the previous edition BEFORE I had Audrey.  So many things I would have known off the bat instead of learning the hard way. 

But the thing that has blown my mind was something that the book said early on.  The book points out that there are NO BENEFITS to breastfeeding!  All the research starts with the breastfed baby at the experiment.  The formula fed baby as the control.  If you reverse that and make the breastfed baby the control, which he/she should be since breastfeeding the natural/normal way to feed a child then instead of benefits to breastfeeding we would be talking about the dangers of formula.  The things that formula fed babies lack rather than the benefits of breastfeeding.  Being that DH is a scientist, you would think I would have looked at the research more careful and found the control and thus the correct conclusion myself but I totally see everything different now.  EVERY DROP COUNTS!  I just don't think I'll every look at baby-feeding research the same way.  Audrey is the normal not the experiment.  She's not big for her age.  She is what a normal fucking baby should be.  Gerber has no clue what a normal baby is.  That Gerber baby  is being denied his right to nature's perfect food. 

This realization also makes me very sad for the babies who have no choice but to have formula.  Baby J comes to mind.  B was so looking forward to breastfeeding Baby J and giving her the best start possible.  Formula has its place.  Not all moms make it thur to hold and raise their babies.  Not all babies are born at 9 months ready to latch.  Some moms are breast cancer survivors and have no way to make milk.  I wish we could make milk bank for babies in need that are affordable.  I hope that more moms that can breastfeed will breastfeed if even for just a few days.  Every drop counts.

Things I never thought I would do but . . .

Audrey has taught me so much that now I just do them.  So here is the list in no particular order:
1.  Talk about poop, alot!
2.  Use cloth diapers
3.  Talk very freely about breastfeeding and encourage other woman to get their boobs out
4.  Look for shirts that allow for easy boob access
5.  Want to delay vax
6.  Bedshare/co-sleep
7.  Have to stop myself from grabbing crying babies so that I can give them boob
8.  Hate disposable diapers
9.  Not own a stroller/wear my baby
10.  Not buy baby food
11.  Describe labor as not that bad
12.  Wash cloth diapers/rinse poop off of a diaper (see what I mean about the poop)
13.  Describe myself as crunchy/granola/counterculture
14. Have a sidecar/know what the hate a sidecar is
15. Still have my placenta in the freezer (actually be thinking about consuming after the next birth!)
16.  Try to EC/know what the hell EC is
17.  Think that travel systems are from the devil
18.  Go wheat-free
19.  Loath a Baby Story for distorting the true about birth/yell at TV OB for causing a C-section
20.  Cry over losing a friend in childbirth/Cry with a friend over the loss of a baby

I've learned a lot over the last nearly 11-month since Audrey's birth.  I can't wait to see what else she has in store for me.  I can't wait to see if God has more babies in store for me.  Mother is quite the adventure and I would hate to think I won't have at least one more to learn from.

Lactivist leanings

So why do I still breastfeed after 10 months?  I remember watching a show a long time ago, maybe Oprah or something similar, and it featured a breastfeeding mother.  She said that she was so thankful for breastfeeding because it allowed her to discover her child's allergies.  She could eat only boiled white rice and plain boiled chicken.  If she ate anything else her child would react.  I can't even image having to go to that extreme!  But it always stuck with me the power of breastfeeding.  The baby eats what I eat.  I can control what I eat.  Similac, Nestle, Target don't get to feed my baby whatever is in their factory. 

I  wonder how Audrey would be different if I formula fed.  I'll never forget that realization that wheat was the issue.  How different she was after I cut out the wheat.  How much happier she was.  What if I had chosen formula?  I would have just thought she was a colicly baby, a fussy baby, a baby that no one could make happy.  How wrong would I have been?  I know that I"m lucky to know that wheat could be a problem.  DH has an allergy so I knew to be on the look out.  I hate to think of all of the people who never get a diagnoses and just suffer.  I hate to think of all of the suffering moms and babies.  I can't even image how hard it would be to have  child that can't be comforted.

So I breastfeed 'cause frankly I'm a control freak.  I need to know what my child is eating.  I can control my mouth so I can control her diet.  I breastfeed 'cause it is the best thing for Audrey.  She's a happy healthy baby.  Sure I'm off wheat til she weans but what is a few years without bread when I can see her happy and thriving. 

There are other women that may need help, who may need a helping hand, and who just need to know that breastfeeding is normal.  So I want to be there for them.  I want to be their support.  So the journey begins, how am I going to help women?