Pretty Cool Feeling

Well, to say this pregnancy didn't go exactly to my expectations would be accurate. For starters, my cerclage wanted to take up permanent residence.  And then there was the whole business with having to be induced, after a cerclage, to then 14 hours later have a C-section.  So, basically by the time he finally joined our family, I was a bit frustrated about the whole thing!

And then we started nursing. He actually started off really well, in the hospital.  Then we came home and that first night was accurately predicted by the pediatrician as "the worst night of our lives."  Those of you nursing mothers out there are familiar with that hospital to home transition.

So, in an effort to embrace my new "lifestyle" (because if nursing doesn't qualify as a lifestyle, I'm not sure what does), I read up.  I researched online, I exhausted every book on breastfeeding from all City of Mesa libraries.  I knew what the books were telling me.  (And having been in the hospital for four days, I'd gotten advice and opinions from about 15 hospital personnel too!)

Saturday was the first day of daddy day care.  A friend was in town, so she and I had plans to walk around the scrapbook convention in the morning and go to lunch.  I had started pumping a few weeks earlier in preparation for this day away from my baby.  I was nervous the entire time I was gone, was daddy feeding him right?  Was he getting enough?  All of those books had talked about possible nipple confusion before six weeks old.  Plus, my body was telling me when I should have been feeding him.

I called Dad as we were leaving lunch and he was just getting ready to feed him.  I was so sad I was going to miss a chance to be back with my baby.  Well, I didn't need to be worried at all.  About 20 minutes after getting home, he was hungry (he'd just had a bottle mind you, but he wanted me!) and I got to give him some of what I call my good ol' momma juice.  And it was like we'd never missed a step.

Nipple confusion?  Yeah right!  My baby and I have this breastfeeding thing down.  That time we share together at all hours of the night and day bonding is pretty powerful.  And maybe the pregnancy didn't go according to my expectations, but this nursing this is!  And that, right there, is a pretty cool feeling!

Maybe I need some help to carry a baby full term and maybe I need some help to deliver a baby, but, gosh darn it, I can give my baby the best nourishment he needs all on my own!