Breastfeeding

When I first had my daughter this past January I was dead set on breastfeeding, it's natural, it's good for her, it's more economical than buying formula and while I still think all of those things are true- Breastfeeding SUCKS.

Here are the things that books and the internet don't tell you.

1) Breastfeeding is hard to figure out. Look, I'm no dummy but it was hard to figure out the positions (football hold or cradle hold??) that worked for me and my little one. Even getting the nipple in her tiny mouth felt almost impossible and the nurses try to help but this is one area when their "I've seen it all" attitude didn't comfort me. I wanted someone to acknowledge that it is hard and super frustrating.

2) Latching on is hard for some babies. My little one had trouble latching on to my left breast, my right (big boob) was no problem at all. The lactation consultant just said to keep at it but after not being able to latch on at all I started using a Medela nipple shield. And just like that she latched on. We used that for a couple of months and then she didn't need it anymore. Probably because my National Geographic nipples were such a giant target.

3) It takes FOREVER. First, my baby fell asleep after not eating enough so it was a constant challenge to wake her back up so she could eat enough to sleep for longer than 2 seconds. Then it comes to pumping, I felt like years of my life were spent pumping.  I pumped 3 times a day at work, 3 times at home and then breast fed in the middle of the night. It started to feel like that was all I did.

4) Say Goodbye to cute nipples. Little round pink? No way, pop can sized brown is more like it. I'm still hoping mine go back to pre-baby cuteness.

So I'm almost done breastfeeding, we still nurse at night and I like the ease and comfort of that but I do not miss pumping for one second. I felt like throwing myself a party. She's 9 months next week and I feel so proud that I did it and I know I will next time but this bitch is going to be complaining the entire time.

- Ginger