In Honor of the Boobies!

Breastfeeding Love!
(Kalina on the boob, Luna on right and Me)

It's World Breastfeeding Week and I'm proud to say that I'm STILL nursing my 3 year, 3 week and 2 day old toddler.  I nursed every single one of my daughters and it has been one of the most loving and bonding experiences.  Daughter #1 nursed for 22 months, Daughter #2 nursed for 28 months and Daughter #3 is still holding on to her golden liquid.  Breastfeeding your children is truly a self-less act but it definitely comes with it's own set of challenges at times.

The start of my nursing journey was rough and painful.  My first daughter arrived five and a half weeks early.  She broke my bag of waters while I was in TJMaxx shopping for booties and newborn hats.  She was a planned homebirth but I ended up having to go to the hospital because of Florida laws requiring a mother to be 37 weeks or more to give birth at home under the care of a licensed Midwife.  Nope, I was not a happy pregger with a broken bag of waters but off to the hospital we went.  The doc ordered me to have the crappy 'Pitocin' and I did that WITHOUT an epidural for a full 13 hours of ACTIVE labor.  Well, I pushed her 5lbs., 6oz little self out and the hospital decided that they'd have to keep her 'just in case' (their stupid protocol) so I had to go home WITHOUT my baby and she was a prisoner of the hospital for 9 days.  Mind you, her Apgars (a test performed 1 minute and 5 minutes after birth) were 9/9 which indicates that the newborn is NORMAL!

You can imagine the stress I was under.  First time Mom, premature birth, they did not ALLOW me to nurse my baby for the full 9 days she was there.  Every single night at home was torture without her.  I'd set my alarm for every 2 hours.  I pretended that she was there with me because I'd wake up and I'd go to her nursery, sit on my buttercup yellow pique glider and I'd place a picture of her in front of me while I pumped my breastmilk for her as tears came streaming down my cheeks.  In the morning, I'd wait by my clock for the 7am hour to call her on duty nurse that had watched her the evening before to know how she did throughout the night but it was still terrible to feel so disconnected from my baby.

Okay, back to the boobies! I got severe mastitis the day after we brought her home from the hospital.  She was having a difficult time latching on, my boobies were in pain and I was exhausted and desperate.  So after three days of high fevers, cabbage leaves (to reduce the redness) stuffed in my microfiber tank top, no shower, and a frustrated newborn, I went to see a fantastic lactation consultant.  It took no more than 30 seconds for this woman (thank you Faith!) to get my baby to latch onto my breast and when I heard the loud and thick gulps coming from my adorable newborn, I could do nothing more than simply cry from the joy. I was nursing my baby! My body was nourishing her.  My body was the perfect tool and she was the perfect baby that I was doing everything I could to give her the best start.  It was a perfect boobie+baby day...

I've had my fair share of many other breastfeeding ailments aside from the mastitis, to plugged ducts, thrush, low milk supply (which dark beer cured-thank you Linda!), baby on a nursing strike that caused me to become engorged, etc. But none of those things ever stopped me from continuing to nurse my babies.  I love breastfeeding.  I've helped dozens of mothers with their breastfeeding challenges and its something that I will continue to do because every mom needs 'boobie' support.

I love the bond of breastfeeding.  I love the sweetness and tenderness of cradling them in my arms.  I love it when they look up from below and half smile while not breaking their latch (amazing).  Even while my youngest is a full grown toddler, the nursing relationship that she and I share is priceless and I know that I'll look back on these moments and it'll simply bring a sweet sigh to my heart.

Happy Breastfeeding Week to all the Mamas out there! Cheers to the Boobies! ♥♥