Today marks the 20th anniversary of the World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) campaign effort launched by the WHO and UNICEF to globally promote, support, and educate women on exclusively breastfeeding for the first six months. In the spirit of World Breastfeeding Week, which runs August 1st-7th, I wanted to reflect on the top ten things no one told me about breastfeeding…
10. Bring your nursing pillow to the hospital! Yep, I’m the girl that was up on the all the latest trends, debated between the “boppy” and “my breast friend” for hours, finally decided and registered for three of the cutest boppy pillow covers, and then…left the damn thing at home when I went to deliver the baby. I suffered through learning how to nurse while supporting this tiny fragile creature on the crappy hospital pillows. Not cool. *side note: If you ever travel – bring your boppy on the plane! It’s great support to give your arms and back a rest while they nap on you, and always remember to nurse during take off and landing to help relieve pressure.
9. You will be sore in places you didn’t know existed. Aaaah, gazing into your baby’s eyes while they nurse can be so lovely. And then your wrist that is supporting their tiny head starts to go numb, your stiff neck can barely turn in either direction, and muscles in your back and shoulders start to ache as they learn how to hold, burp, feed, and soothe a baby. At this point in learning how to breastfeed, all I could think was, this is the most un-natural thing I could think of. But don’t, worry – it gets better, and it does go away. (Okay, maybe this just means I was should’ve worked out more during my pregnancy!)
8. Engorgement hurts like hell. Maybe it was just me, but not only did my chest turn purply-green, veiny, and hard as rocks (I called them “franken-boobs”), but the pain was almost unbearable when my milk finally came in. I have awesome pictures of me holding a pair of examination gloves the nice nurses filled with ice for me over my chest. Why a hospital didn’t have regular ice packs, I don’t know. Again, this only lasts a little while, so keep on pushing through!
7. Not every nurse knows how to teach you to breastfeed. There are nurses who are “lactation consultants” and can help you with getting the baby to latch on, teach you different holds, and gently guide and educate you and your baby on breastfeeding. They are like kind angels sent from heaven. And then there are small, angry little Asian woman nurses that aggressively grab you and your baby and then tell you you’re just sensitive when you say it hurts.
6. If there are hard lumps/clogged milk ducts and you feel like you are going to die have the flu, you’ve got mastitis. I didn’t learn this until months after and I was flipping through one of my many books, but I had mastitis and should’ve gone to the doctor for antibiotics. I really thought I had the flu and that there was nothing I would be able to take anyway since I was nursing. Luckily, the mastitis went away through continued nursing and massaging the clogged ducts in a hot shower.
5. You may think that hooter hider you picked out is so cute/fashionable/on trend, but your baby just thinks, “It’s hot in here! I wanna be free!!! Get this thing off of me so I can look around.” And I thought I was going to be so paranoid about nursing in public. My husband was shocked to find after about two weeks I was whipping it out anywhere. Hey, when the baby’s hungry, I gotta feed her. You can avert your eyes.
4. Yes, you will leak. Nothing is worse than finally fixing yourself up to get out of the house (read: take a shower and brush your hair) and you put on a nice clean shirt, when suddenly you hear the baby cry, and boom…time for a new shirt. Get some nursing pads or better yet, lily pads. They don’t make that bunchy diaper sound when you move and look smoother under your clothes.
3. Your husband will make the “You trying to milk my cat, Focker?” joke EVERY time you pump. And you will be up in the middle of the night nursing, staring at him while he sleeps…and hating him. But all is forgiven when he takes the baby at first crack of day and lets you sleep in.
2. If you can get through all of that, know that you WILL get the hang of it, it WILL become like second nature, and you will LOVE bonding with your baby in a way that no one else can. Both of my girls liked to run their fingers through my hair when they nursed. I will never forget that. And I loved knowing that what I was giving them was all natural and made just for them.
1. When it’s all over, and it’s time to wean them, you will be a little bit sad. But it’s all totally worth it!
Happy World Breastfeeding Week!!!
But seriously: This campaign monitors progress of government policies such as allowing women more time off in order to exclusively breastfeed, or regional and local efforts to provide education or promote “Baby-Friendly Hospitals” in which hospitals create an environment that encourages mothers to nurse. For more information on this global initiative, please visit www.worldbreastfeedingweek.org.