Then I start doubting myself. Maybe I won't be able to do it right. What if there are serious problems? What if I just can't handle it?
So I picked up a book my coworker recommended to me:
I'm currently reading The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding. This is a great book, and I think I'm going to recommend it to everyone who asks. It's full of helpful tips and advice. I'm only about halfway through, but I'd still recommend you pick it up if only to read the first half of it. It really has eased some of my odd discomfort surrounding the whole topic (there's that stigma popping up).
I do all my reading at work, so a lot more people know I'm preggers now. They see the book and they ask, "so, is there a reason you're reading that?" One woman told me to read What to Expect When You're Expecting.
Okay...
Our midwife actually told me not to bother with that book because it was fear-based (like the majority of super public pregnancy/birth stuff). This lady told me to read it if I was into the "whole natural parenting...thing." So now I might meander through Barnes and Noble to flip through the book to see what it actually is.
I'm leaning more towards the midwife's opinion about it, though. Mostly because the woman who recommended the book works for Health One.
At any rate, I just finished a section of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding about returning to work after Baby is born. You can totally breastfeed while you're working. It apparently makes for a much happier baby and momma.
All the people who poo-poo the idea of breastfeeding while working should read this section.
What I'm gathering from the book is that breastfeeding is truly easier than formula feeding. Especially if you like to travel.
The main message is "Breast is Best."
I tend to agree.
But I also understand that there are circumstances in which a woman can truly not breastfeed. This doesn't make her any less of a mother.
Life happens, things go wrong.
~~~
I'm going to try my very best to give this baby everything she/he needs and deserves. I don't know what that is yet, but I'm determined to try my hardest.
only one thought- pumping while your working is great if mom HAS to work. It's legally protected in Colorado, too, which means your employer HAS to provide you with a separate, private, NON-bathroom area with electrical plugs for your to pump. BUT, just a word of warning, pumping is nothing like breastfeeding. First, it hurts a lot more than nursing. Second, baby is the best pump, and electric pumps are second best, and because of this your supply will decrease. Women who pump half the day have been shown to ween up to 6 months earlier than on demand moms. Whether it's from supply issues, or because it just gets too hard to keep up nursing and bottle feeding at the same time, it depends on the mom. I know that my supply is always just at the minimum- maybe that's because i have big babies who demand a lot, or maybe it's just the way i'm built- but because of that I can't pump. I get about half an ounce when I try. But Beatrice gets plenty when she nurses, and the only way I've kept my supply up is to let her nurse on demand day and night.
ReplyDeleteFinally, nursing on demand has the added benefit of delaying fertility. My fertility was delayed 9 months the first time, and so far about 11 months this time, which makes for nice spacing without having to do any charts or math!
Good luck whatever you choose! Like you said, I don't judge moms who genuinely try to do what they know is best for their babes and their families, and I know that what is best for each family is vastly different. I'll be praying for you!
I hear/read that charting while nursing is extremely difficult for BBTs because your waking temp is all over the place. Charting is my preferred method, but I think I might pick up a fertility monitor or something to help prevent back-to-back babies.
DeleteI am choosing to stay at home. I think that's the absolute best way to do things, I just thought the chapter on returning to work was interesting because a lot of women against attachment parenting use working as a reason to formula feed.
And you're right, what is right for each family is incredibly different. :)
Waking at night will ultimately affect your waking temperature so a lot of women find charting difficult after a baby. I find a monitor to be the only thing I can rely on, but I have "grave reasons". Also, yeah, the whole working thing is an excuse. It is harder but it can be done. Also, I am mean and think that having a baby should mean staying home. Babies need boobs.
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