Lessons Learned From Breastfeeding

The Tadpole has been nursing a lot less than he used to, but still more than enough to keep us both happy and connected. He always looks directly into my eyes when he nurses. And of course, because he is a *gasp* toddler now, he often tries to do flips and turns on my lap while he nurses as well.

I remember almost eight years go, talking with my hair dresser while she cut my hair and talking with her about my pregnancy. She asked me if I was going to breastfeed and I responded with, "Well I haven't really thought of it." So she walked out of the room and came back in with a copy of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding for me to borrow. I took it home and I read it. And then I read it again. And I knew that I was going to breastfeed.

When The Mermaid was born I didn't have any pain when I nursed. She was long and skinny and healthy. We had a small speed bump in the beginning when she wasn't gaining weight fast enough but one quick call to La Leche League and I was given a suggestion that worked like a charm. She went on to nurse until she was 22 months old, when she self-weaned after I got pregnant with The Guppy.

When The Guppy was born I guess I was expecting it to be as easy as it was with The Mermaid. It wasn't. Her latch was shallow and it took a couple of weeks to fix, in the meantime I was in a lot of pain. But I knew it would work itself out if I kept correcting her latch and by six weeks postpartum things were great. The Guppy was the opposite of The Mermaid: short and chubby! I look at pictures of her as a newborn and wonder how she got so chubby, just on mama's milk! Six weeks postpartum was also when I went to my first LLL meeting. The Guppy nursed until she was over two years old, and weaned when I got pregnant with Kalei.

Finally The Tadpole was born. The birth was fantastic but boy did the postpartum suck!! He was born with a slightly recessed chin and had a shallow latch. He also was a sparkler and demanded to be held/on the boob all. the. time. I was in terrible pain and came down with a nasty case of mastitis. At the time I was a single mother, so I was doing it all by myself. I ended up taking him off one side and just pumping until the tissue healed and just worked on his latch and waited for him to get bigger and his chin to pop out a little more. The issues we had were finally resolved and I have never been so glad and relieved that I stuck with it. The Tadpole taught me so much about patience and perseverance those first few weeks, and I am grateful for receiving those lessons.

The Tadpole is 13 months old now and although he is nursing less and does not nurse to sleep, I don't think he is showing any signs of wanting to stop. And that's fine. He's our last child, so I am going to let him go as long as he wants and enjoy it while it lasts. This is the last part of the chapter in my life where I am able to solve all boo-boos and upset feelings with a nursing session; or not worry as much when a stomach virus hits, because he'll be able to keep down breastmilk; or not worry so much when he has a day when he doesn't eat as healthy or as much, because breastmilk provides him with all his needs.

He comes up to me and signs the word for milk, tilts his head to the side and says "Na-nas?" And I scoop him up and kiss his head and he latches on. And he looks at me and I look at him, and even though we aren't speaking we are having our own private conversation about love and comfort and security.

Happy World Breastfeeding Week!

Lessons Learned From Breastfeeding