a-breast

This has to be fast. I have to walk the dogs and shower before Waylon wakes up. But I have to tell you...I am nursing Waylon now. If you know me, you know that is HUGE. If you don't, I'll fill you in. When Waylon was first born, we tried to nurse for about 3 weeks. It was horrible. It was hard work. I hated every second of it. I didn't feel an intimate bond with him. I felt frustration and anxiety and most of all stress. A wise friend told me that if whatever I was doing was keeping me from enjoying Walyon, that I needed to do something else. So I did. She was right. That's when I donned the chains of Medela and started pumping every bottle. I hated that, too. But at least I knew that he was getting what he needed. There was no question as to how much milk he was taking at each feeding. So, when he cried after he ate, I knew it was not because he was still hungry. It was just what I needed to take away the stress at the time.

Four months later, I got mastitis for the first time. If you've never had mastitis, let me compare it to passing a kidney stone...although I have never had a kidney stone. Anyway, you get this huge rock in a breast and you have to pass it, basically. That's what I'm calling it now. You have to pump/nurse as much as you can and warm compress and massage the thing to death until the clogged milk rock is set free. It is borderline miserable. We're talking extreme pain, first of all, accompanied by extreme fatigue, aches, pains, fever, chills, nausea..what else? All wrapped up in one. Most women quit breast feeding when they get it. I didn't. I prevailed.

Two weeks later, I get it again. Different side. Not quite as bad, but still terrible. Nurse suggests that I try nursing for the weekend, since baby-sucking is not the same as pump-sucking (to put it bluntly). I gave it a doubt-filled try. Waylon was frustrated for about a minute. I explained to him that I needed his help and to please try. So, he did and it worked. No lie. He's almost 5 months old and we have been nursing for only a week. It's crazy. It's like we've been doing it from day one. It really is the greatest thing ever. I have joined the crazy-nursing-mom band wagon. I am sold. It truly is a beautiful, intimate experience that happens to take waaay less time and be way more convenient that pumping and bottle feeding. I have put the pump in the closet for now. I am so proud of us.

....I am a little apprehensive about teething.