[Breast] Milk: It Does A Baby Good

It's hard to do very much with a baby permanently attatched to your boob.

Let me first state for the record that I love breastfeeding. It's very special, and I feel good about giving Fifi the very best I can. But dude, no one told me just how exhausting it would be. Everone is so romantic about it, about how relaxing it is to just rest with your baby and bond and all that. They tell you its easy once you get the hang of it. No one talks about how atrophying it feels to sit and do nothing most of the day. No one talks about how frustrating it can be to put the baby down after an hour long feed just to hear her hungry cries ten minutes later. No one tells you about mastitis and painful engorgement and leaking profusely through a breast pad, bra and two shirts.

So I just thought I would mention those things for the uninitiated.

I do love her innocent blue eyes glancing around when she's feeding. I do love her little hands holding onto my breast and stroking it with her fingers. I love her little milky face when she's done. And I love her wildly excited grins and brightly shining eyes and uncontrollably flayling arms when she sees The Boob come out. But I was not prepared for all the physiological factors. I can see why so many people give up. It's hard.

But in case I've now put anybody off, please don't give up. It's not only the best nutrition your baby can get, it's significantly better. I won't get into all the physiological stuff about antibodies and gut flora and e-coli, I'll just say it's good practice for when they're teenagers - that is, in the sense that they are always gonna cause you a lot of pain and suffering.

(And what you can save now in formula you can put away for all those school trips and visits to the mall they're gonna want money for.)