I Breastfed Because I Could

For as long as I can remember I have hated having to carry my breasts around. As a teen I was the first of my peers to develop breasts and I was the brunt of considerable snickering, teasing and all of the other great stuff that comes with pre-pubescent boys discovering their attraction to breasts.

When I was pregnant with my first baby I never considered that I may not be able to breastfeed him. I mean, if you were “blessed” with the endowment I sported you would assume, as I did, that they were in place for a reason.

I do not come from a long line of “breastfeeders.” My mother gave birth to me in an era when it was not only not encouraged but it was openly discouraged. I don’t actually know where the assumption about breastfeeding came from in me; I just know that when I pictured my new baby in my arms, I envisioned nourishing him at my breast.

The prenatal classes I took didn’t seem to cover the how-tos of breastfeeding and so I depended on the information I was able to get by attending a local La Leche League (LLL) meeting. For those of you who are not familiar with LLL, they are an international organization with the sole mandate of offering peer support to new and expectant mothers who want to breastfeed their babies.

I lucked into finding a notice about an upcoming LLL meeting in the “Community Calendar” section of our community newspaper. When I got there I met many breastfeeding moms and their babies. I heard people talk about “Bringing A Breastfed Baby Home” and I began to learn some of the dynamics of how breastfeeding should unfold. When I left I was given the name and number of the meeting’s Leader and was told that I was welcome to call her when my baby was born, if any questions, comments or concerns presented.

My eldest son was born in the spring of 1998 amid a flurry of activity and excitement. The interventions introduced at his birth created an environment wherein he found nursing a challenge and, in the first few days, difficult to stay awake for. He, as with many babies exposed to medications during the labour process, experienced a significant case of jaundice. While he was born at a healthy weight, he was not helping himself along because he was too sleepy to wake for a full feed.

This worry didn’t last more than a few days and, by the end of the first week, we were experiencing the opposite problem. I called my LLL Leader one night as she was putting her own daughter to bed. She promised to call me back as soon as she could and within the hour she had kept her word.

I outlined the reason for my initial call: my baby was nursing every hour, on the hour, for an hour. I am sure I was exaggerating slightly but I was a new mom and I did not have anyone close to me who had breastfed. I wasn’t sure what was normal.

Even when I was feeling stressed out, even when I had family members wondering if I had enough milk, even when I would have killed to sleep more than two consecutive hours, I never thought about stopping. I only thought about how to make it better.

My LLL Leader reminded me that adults sometimes have days when they could graze all day and not be completely satisfied, just like babies. She also reminded me that my baby and I were just learning the intricate dance of breastfeeding together. She asked me not to forget that my body was made to meet the needs of my new baby. He was telling me what he needed from me and I needed to take the time to hear him. Before saying her good-byes, she assured me that it would get easier. He and I would learn quickly from one another and would figure out how to make the whole process smoother and more enjoyable.

My body was designed to breastfeed. My baby was designed to receive my breastmilk. Together we were the perfect unit.

My eldest son went on to breastfeed for longer than most of his peers. It was a relationship through which both he and I received benefits. He was able to receive the perfect nutrition for his growing body, food that targeted the parts of him that needed extra attention as he mastered new skills and antibodies to help protect him from any illnesses or viruses that he was exposed to.

I was able to reap the benefits of decreasing my odds of developing degenerative bone disease in the form of osteoporosis (a genetic condition that I see my own mother struggle to stay on top of), female hormone-fed cancers (another potentially genetically-vulnerable disease in my family) and delayed return of my menstrual cycle. (I admit the latter was the benefit that stood out as being the best at the time!)

I am honoured to be able to visit and help many new, breastfeeding pairs of moms and babies. I do what I can to help them see that they have all that their baby needs and that it will get easier.

Posted by Sam