You shall remain nameless....

So I am on this site today, I get frequent emails from this site about my growing baby, and I came across something that bothered me!!

"Today's society puts a lot of pressure on new moms to breastfeed. No doubt breast milk is the perfect first food. However, there are many reasons why breastfeeding just doesn't work for some women and their babies, including illness, discomfort, and frustration.

Guilt over not breastfeeding can hit especially hard if you had planned during pregnancy to do so but then circumstances made it impossible or more difficult than you'd expected.

Both breast milk and commercial formula nourish growing babies. If you've given up on breastfeeding — or are thinking of doing so — be sure to discuss your choice with your doctor or a certified lactation consultant. Talk through your feelings and don't be too hard on yourself. The main thing to remember is that how you feed your baby is ultimately not as important as providing love and care"

Really? Really? I mean for goodness sakes people!

I immediately typed out an email informing this site of my disgust in their post. I don't think society puts enough pressure on women to breastfeed, if anything I think formula feeding is put on women! I'm glad they agree that breastmilk is the PERFECT first food. What a relief that they actually know that part! Sometimes, yes, breastfeeding doesnt work. The reasons they listed are crap. That's right, C R A P. (Okay, the illness, maybe they have something there) but discomfort and frustration?! Really? Yes world, give up because you are frustrated. Gosh if that were our motto, could you imagine the stuff that we would not have? I mean, I'm sure it wasn't easy to invent electric...but it happened, he pushed past the frustration and overcame whatever obstacles! And tada, we have electric! And discomfort? Really, I am a fair skinned girl, the first three weeks of nursing were the worst for me. It was awful. But no one told me I was just doing it wrong (where was the pushy society then? I was at my wits end, almost gave up here...) nope. With the help of my loving supportive husband I pushed through the pain and my little baby and I figured out how to nurse properly, and the pain went away. And those three weeks that were awful are a mere memory to the great 19 months of nursing that followed.

How you feed your baby is just as important as the love and care you provide. Babies need all of this. All of it. Why don't you read up on the nourishment that formula will offer your baby....I swear when I was nursing my baby...there was a huge recall on formula and mothers had to worry about what kind and what was in it...not me, I made mine, and I knew what I put in it. I just get so angry when I read things like this.

Breastmilk

Okay so this is a breastmilk day. Gosh you have no idea how incredibly mad it makes me to see girls/women choosing to formula feed their babies!! The hospitals around here pretend like they promote breastfeeding, haha. What a joke. They give out tons of formula samples, and you get all kinds of free goodies from the formula making companies, diaper bags, bottle cleaners, ice packs, etc. Crazy! When I was in the hospital (ugh yes I admit I had a hospital birth at first) I was very new to breastfeeding as my mother chose to formula feed. While I believe my mother did right by us for the most part, I think that formula feeding was just easier, this way she could go right back to work (part of me blames my dad for not being steady in employment) Anyhow, so very little in the breastfeeding knowledge department. If it weren't for my husband, I probably wouldn't have even known breastfeeding was an option (WTF, right?) My husband's mother breastfed, but she is hardly around...so also very little help. Anyhow, the nurses at the hospital told my husband and I that it was okay to supplement the breastmilk with formula, and it was okay to give a pacifier, heck the one nurse said I couldn't sleep in bed with my baby, that she had to lay in the hard 'baby bed' on wheels. And that same nurse thought that my husband and I needed sleep, so she just wanted to take our baby on her rounds!! Are you shitting me? No way. If I need sleep, I'll get it later. My baby was not leaving my sight, and if she did (it was only for a second for a hearing test, completely unnecessary by the way) my husband went with her. So anyhow, dont listen to what some of the nurses tell you...they are just a mere product of their knowledge. Poor them. I saw the same thing happen with another younger girl. The nurses thought she wasn't producing enough milk for the baby, so they told her to give the baby formula. What on earth are these nurses thinking? Really? Breastmilk will sustain a baby for 6 months. Goodness this infuriates me beyond belief. So now this girl is strictly formula feeding. Another girl I know, well she is 6 weeks from her 'guess date' (yes I am a hypnobabies momma!!) and she is already talking about how she just can't wait to be relaxing on her back porch with her friends, sipping on some select beverages. Seriously? The few days after having a precious gift like that and all you can think about is getting a buzz? Really? I'm sorry but a few days after I had my baby, I was still in my baby moon, drunk on the love for a new precious being that my husband and I created. What's wrong with these girls? I don't mean to sound old fashioned, but good gosh. Grow up. Really. I see the one mother feeding her baby some green goop out of a bowl, why in the world would that baby need semi-solid foods already, she is barely 8 pounds. My little boy is almost 14 pounds and he still loves his mommy milk. Fill him right up. I couldn't live with myself if I were a part of the formula companies, hell for that matter, the drug companies. But again, another story for another day. Why can't we promote breastmilk. I always tell people I'm just too lazy to formula feed, I couldn't imagine getting out of bed and trying to figure out how to make a bottle, warm it up. Sorry can't do it. Not to mention, when my little ones were hungry in the middle of the night, there was NO time to wait, they wanted it now. And I feel they sleep easier because of that, as do I. Did I mention that my very own mother said that everything would be fine if I just gave in to the formula. That's what the formula is there for. Apparently I was nursing improperly, and I had bleeding nipples for three weeks. I don't know if it's because I am fair skinned, and have sensitive nipples, or if it really was because I was nursing wrong, but for some reason, breastfeeding hurt extremely bad for the entire first 3 weeks. I was at my wits end one night, and my mom says...it's fine. Go ahead and give her formula. She has no idea what that would have done to me? I would have hated myself. I almost gave my daughter a bottle of formula. I poured it, mixed it, warmed it...and went to lay next to her. She rejected it. Clearly, she was already hooked on her mommy milk. Dont blame her at all. And my husband...well I had him in my ear saying honey you can do this. This is what is best for our baby. You are doing great. And so I continued breastfeeding. And I fed her until she was 20 months. And I loved every minute after the 3 weeks. Every minute. And I thank my husband for that. What an amazing man I married. Really.