Thursday, June 26, 2008

The Reclaiming of My Bosoms

ATTENTION: Any male readers (or female for that matter) who may be embarrassed reading about my latest adventures in breastfeeding, this post is not for you. Come back tomorrow. I'll be posting cute pictures--of my son--not my breasts.

So far, I've avoided reference to my boobs in this blog. I don't know how, because I feel like the girls have spent a lot of time over the past year hanging out. I've flashed more people, mostly accidentally, then I ever imagined I would. Including my twelve-year-old brother. And I suspect, on one occasion my father-in-law. Maybe he didn't notice. :) Needless to say, when my baby is hungry and screaming for his bottle, which just happens to be attached to my chest, I don't really think about modesty. To all you people out there who may have gotten an unwanted glimpse at my bosoms, I'm sorry. To all you people out there who may have gotten a wanted glimpse at my bosoms, you're welcome.

I'm making it sound like I'm one of those brave breast-feeding mommies who feed there babies while standing in line at the grocery store. I'm not. I really have tried to be modest for the most part and not make anyone uncomfortable (which does happen by the way....I can't for the life of me understand why a woman feeding her baby makes people uncomfortable, but whatever. It takes all kinds). Whenever we are out of the house, I always go to a dressing room to nurse or go to the car where I may have flashed a few people in parking lots, but that can't be helped.

Now that Colter is a year old, I'm ready for cow's milk to become his drink of choice. I really wanted to nurse for at least a year, and I'm so thankful I was able to (especially when I'm in the baby food aisle, and I see the price of formula--yikes!), but I'm ready for things to go back to their normal sizes. Hopefully that's a possibility because I really have quite a nice collection of Victoria's Secret bras that I would love to wear. It would be nice to be a C cup again instead of a DD!

Weaning has begun, but I'm not sure how it's going. I'm afraid my poor little boy is hungry! He's not been drinking the recommended 16 ounces of milk a day--even if I put chocolate in it (yes, I'm already giving my boy chocolate milk sometimes). Since I've tried to cut him off to one nursing session a day, he keeps waking up at weird hours, like 3 am, wide awake! Even if I give in and let him nurse, he still is wide-awake. I assume he will drink when he's thirsty and not dehydrate or anything, but I still worry about him a little. I don't want the little guy to be thirsty!

Anyway, since complete strangers ask about my baby's eating and sleeping habits quite often, I thought this must be a topic of interest and decided to share with my wonderful readers. As a side note, people ask funny questions about babies. They also are starting to give funny looks when they discover my boy is still a boob baby. I don't think everyone realizes that mothers are now recommend by the American Academy of Pediatrics to breastfeed for a year, because I've gotten the impression some people think Colter is too old to still be nursing. He's only been one a week and a half! Give us time woman in Wal Mart that I don't even know that asks nosey questions and then looks shocked when you realize my son still nurses! :)

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I enjoyed reading your latest blog. I have always been appauled at the way people react to the topics in your blog. I wish I could have nursed for a year, but it just wasn't in the cards for me with my kiddo's. Kuddos to you for making it a year!!!!

Amanda said...

Yes, kuddos to you! I only nursed for 2 weeks with my first son. The guilt was something I continue to live with that I gave up. With my 2nd son I wanted to nurse for 2 yrs, but by 15 months he decided on his own he was done. And I was proud that we made it that far even though I didn't make it to my desired length. The feedings kept getting less and less on his own. It was such a special time in our life.. the bonding is indescribable as you know. And yes, I too flashed more people then ever thought imaginable. You do what you gotta do. Luckily I never had a bad reaction from anyone although one lady decided to come peek under my blanket to SEE him one time while eating at a restaurant. She did it so fast I barely had time to think what to do. Eeeek.