Breastfeeding Oh breastfeeding

Motherhood at times has been very surprising, but what has shocked me most has been how breastfeeding has turned out. I read the Le Leatche League's breastfeeding book: The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding and the book leads one to think breastfeeding will help save the world. And many of the first days of breastfeeding I felt this way. I was in the honeymoon phase of breastfeeding and loving it. I would tell anyone who would listen how everyone who can breastfeed should because it is just lovely.

Then I got Mastitis, then Riley got reflux and my supply dropped. Breastfeeding was no longer the lovely bonding time it once was and a bunch of times I almost gave it up. Things are once again going well, however the honeymoon phase has not reappeared. I love breastfeeding but not with the same enthusiasm that I once had. I am however so glad I stuck with it. Every week I breastfeed is money in the bank, it helps build his immune system and lowers my risk of breast cancer as well as much more.

Plus I now have some great breastfeeding stories to tell:

When R and I got home with Riley it took his dad a week to come visit, and when they finally decided to drop by I was breastfeeding. At this point breastfeeding while going very well I was still getting used to using the cover but I had it beside me for when they came over. However R and I soon found out I didn't need it, because his father and current wife both refuse to be in the same room as me while I feed Riley! Yep even with a cover the idea of breastfeeding weirds them out so much they can't be in the same room as me! R and I laugh that Riley will be over a year old before they spend any quality time with him, sadly it might actually be true.

Story number 2:
I was breastfeeding in front of my sister's kids, they are 2 and 4 years old and neither was breast feed so the concept is new to them. When I told them there was milk in my breasts in response to them asking me what I was doing they didn't believe me. So I showed them. Now my let down is fast so when I hand express mild literally SHOOTs out, some times a good three feet or so. The look on their little faces when the milk came out in their directions was priceless! And then after the shock wore off... "Can we try?"

Story number 3:

Riley loves to grunt and groan while on the breast and it makes both R and I laugh. We have taken to telling him "talk dirty to it" and "Oh Lefty like it when you talk like that". Yep we sexualize breastfeeding! Riley is going to need lots of therapy when he gets older.

Story number 4 is and oldie and a goody.

It is X-mas eve and we are spending a short period of time with R's family. I have organized our feeds so that Riley won't need to eat there but still breastfeeding comes up. When one of his male 20 something cousins finds out I plan on breastfeeding for a year he is a little weirded out. My response "Your just jealous Riley gets to mac on my porn star boobs." The look on his face and the shade of red it turned was hilarious, maybe you had to be there to find it as funny as we do, but thinking of that night still makes us laugh out loud.