Five Days of What I've Learned Since Becoming a Mom-- Day 2

Day 2! One word- Breastfeeding.

 Probably about the hardest thing ever.  They say give it a month or so and it becomes super easy.  Not true, atleast in my experience.  It took me 3 months to get the hang of it.  3 painful horrible months filled with engorged boobs, bleeding nipples, clogged ducts, and a yeast infection on my boob. Who knew you could get a yeast infection on your boob? After you get through it I have to agree that it does become second nature and it is way easier than bottles.  Baby wakes up in the night? No need to go make a bottle, just plop that giant boob in their mouth and your good to go.  Violet loved it so much she began to refuse a bottle at 3 months and hasn't had one since.  Even if its pumped breast milk, she isn't having it.  So I pretty much can't be away from her for very long and I could never go out of town anywhere since I breastfeed her to sleep at night.  Sounds tough but it's not that big of a deal to me.  I will have plenty of time for a vacation later (I think).

I plan on breastfeeding for atleast a year so I guess I'm stuck with these giant, bigger than Pam Anderson boobs.  You know, big fake boobs are fun and awesome until you breastfeed and they become triple D's or E's and they don't even make bras in your size.  You have to special order them.  No joke.  My dresses and tops no longer fit and I doubt I own a bathing suit that will even partially cover these puppies.  A little advice, if you find a good nursing bra, buy three or four.  Don't be a retard and only buy one like me.  You wear them everyday, all day so why would you only buy one.  Must have been post pregnancy brain. You think your boobs are big when you are pregnant, well I got news for you.  They double in size when your milk comes in.  I bought some bras before I had Violet, obviously in the wrong size, like two sizes too small.  I wasn't in the mood to tote a newborn around town for a nursing bra so I had that "double boob bubble" thing going on for some time.  Side note: nursing bras are not very attractive.  They can't double as lingerie... not like you are in the mood for anything that needs sexy underwear anyhow, right? Win Win.

Pumping- When I did pump in the beginning I realized what a pain it is.  I decided I would rather just nurse her than pump and let someone give her a bottle.  It takes time, it doesn't get as much milk out as your baby can get and it is scary to see your nipples stretched out like African nipples.  I made my sister try it just for laughs and it scared the crap out of her.  She was afraid her nipple would be 2 inches long forever.  It was pretty darn hilarious to say the least.  If you are gonna pump I recommend an electric one.  I tried the manual one first and it takes sooo long and your hand get tired pretty quickly.  And don't buy a gazillion bottles until you know your baby will always take a bottle.  When Violet quit taking a bottle I did some research and I guess its pretty common.  I bought so many different bottles trying to get her to take one.  I finally learned it wasn't the type of bottle, it was the bottle in general.  I now have quite the collection.  Maybe baby #2 will like them.

Breastfeeding Shenanigans-  It is beyond funny when Violet starts to eat, my milk lets down and she decides to try and sit up.  Milk squirts everywhere, spraying her whole face and bald little head.  She thinks its pretty funny too.  It's crazy how far those things can shoot. Now that Violet is getting older, she is interested in checking everything out around her.  Lately when I try to nurse her, she pulls away and just stares at my nipple like its a new toy.  She is enthralled with it.  Then she proceeds to take her chubby thumb and pointer finger and try to squeeze and grab it.  It is really funny until it hurts.  Somethin' that I can laugh about now is all the times my milk leaked through my breast pad, bra and shirt.  It happened to me so many times the first 5 months or so, in public even.  During the night when Violet would sleep longer than normal I would wake up completely soaked.  Sticky milk everywhere.  I have a rather huge supply of milk (I could feed a whole neighborhood of babies) so when I say soaked, I mean head to toe soaked.  I would stumble into the bathroom, eyes half shut to clean up and when I would take my bra off, milk would start to spray the the whole bathroom.  Not so funny at the time, but now, it's pretty darn funny.

Final Advice- Don't give up on breastfeeding.  I threatened to quit so many times, it was just too hard and painful.  It does get easier.  It just takes kinda a long time.  See a lactation consultant, read about it, you will master it eventually.  Buy a Boppy and a My Breast Friend Pillow.  I used both for the first 6 months.  They took the place of my couch decorative pillows for quite some time.  I lugged those things with me everywhere because they honestly made things so much easier!