Okay, that doesn't sound quite as good, accurate, or beautiful as the act actually is.
I can't say I always had this ideal. But over time, media blitzing just crept its way into my head and I found myself thinking, "Why not?" After all my body is made for producing food for my baby plus there are numerous supporting studies that laud the importance and multiple benefits of breast feeding. It plays in nicely, too, with my drive to attempt to provide as natural and healthy a diet and lifestyle as I can manage to provide for my family.
Though it's not too late to reform, so to speak, it's also not the easiest thing to undo the possible damage to my health that my lifestyle already induced. Not that I'm going to keel over anytime soon, mind. I don't intend to and I pray to the Lord that His plans for me include living for a good long while still.
Anyway, back to the original point.
It has been the general consensus of everything I've read that one ingredient for starting my child on the road to healthy living--or at least, get a good immune system to fight with--is to breastfeed. This bodes well for me too since I need to feed myself well and healthily to be able to provide my child with the appropriate nutrients.
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| Milk but no cookies...right now anyway. |
I was a very heavy milk drinker when I was in high school. Actually, for all my lactose allergies, I was very big on milk products from when I was fifteen to probably eighteen.
I could glug down a litre of milk in one sitting and couple that with half a gallon of ice cream. It's not the healthiest snack in the world, but that was how I rolled.
And roll I did by the time I was nineteen and less physically active than I was before. I was getting massive calories from the milk glugging but I wasn't getting it out of my system so it just turned to fat.
So silly teenage me figured "Okay, I'll stop drinking milk."
Now I've been getting back into the habit. Not only does my growing belly...er, baby...need the nutrients, but I do too. And really, it's one of the best ways to supplement my nutrient intake.
I have yet to take breastfeeding classes but I've started my online research. My biggest fear about breastfeeding has been the possibility of not being able to produce milk at all and articles like this one on Baby Center (plus the accompanying step-by-step visual and the linked videos) has actually been a source of comfort. Knowing that breastfeeding is part instinct, part body system, and part learning calmed my fears. I'll still be taking at least one class, of course, but for now, I'm reading as much as I can to prepare myself.
The next thing I'm considering is the equipment. Obviously, we are not talking about anatomy. "Which ones to get, how much are they, how many, and how useful will they be?" are the questions that come to mind when looking at the multitudes of baby bottles (I may be breastfeeding but Papa has to take his turn too so I can get me some sleep!), nipples, brushes, pillows, and pumps. And then there's the attire to consider: nursing bras and nursing-friendly clothes, burp cloths, nursing covers...
I completely understand now why many new mums go bonkers the first time around. Especially if they're that type.
The worst part of it all is that everyone has an opinion on what is and isn't necessary, what is and isn't worth the cost. And it really would be too tiresome to have to leaf through everything and sift through everyone's opinions just to get an average that I can work with.
So this is the point to just pick a source and stick with it, the main consideration being economy since Papa and I don't make all that much right now. Chances are those lists will change for us anyway especially since we only need to purchase a few more key items having been lent several big ticket gear already.
At any rate, the SOS has been sent and hopefully I'll be able to figure this all out before Bean arrives.
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