We Can Do It

By: Christina Rushing

Our version of, "We Can Do It!" This is for all of you past and present breastfeeding mothers out there who have been shamed by others, looked down upon, or have fed your baby in the bathroom or car because feeding your baby naturally was frowned upon. Never be ashamed of giving your baby the best nutrients possible!! Cover up if that's your preference, but for those who degrade or are rude. I have a newsflash for ignorant people!

Breastfeeding has been invented since the beginning of time. Breasts were created specifically to produce milk for your child(ren). It is society who have sexualized them. It's the most natural and best thing you can do for your baby. The nutrients, antibodies, live cells, comfort, bonding, etc. The benefits go on and on. 

And the awesome facts are out of this world unreal! You're sustaining another being's life after creating and growing that life inside of you for 9 months! (More or less depending on the case.) Did you know that while breastfeeding, a little bit of saliva from baby's mouth enters through the nipple and sends a message to produce more colostrum (which carries more antibodies) if your baby is sick! How cool is that? Your milk is constantly just being produced! It's just all around awesome. One of the many wonderful miracles of life. Breastfeeding may not work for every mother, but I'm so glad and thankful that I am able to give my daughter the best nutrients I possibly can. 

I'm also blessed to have a husband, John, who supports me 100%, and an amazing family who understands and supports us. 
With Raydyn, my now 5 year old, I was only able to pump due to his size (1 lb 6oz) being in the NICU and I only lasted 3 months. As much as it helped him, I really wish I could've continued to produce milk until he was at least one. But I dried up due to the wrong birth control pill being prescribed to me. I took prolactin, made lactation cookies, pumped every two hours through the night to get my milk production back, and every wives tale I could find... But nothing worked after 3 months. 

Anyway, all in all, we do what we can for our children whether we formula feed, breastfeed, bottlefeed, co-sleep, use disposable or cloth diapers, etc. smile emoticon If your child is surviving and thriving, good deal! That's all that matters!!

But I will say this fellow BFMs. If we don't stand up and advocate for ourselves, who will? 

Also, DON'T GIVE UP! There have been so many times I felt ready to throw in the towel. Whether it was because it was hard to take that much time away from my other child, but we got around that. We become Multitasking Queens! Or if it was because she was snacking every hour on the hour, but still colicy and fussy. We got through it. And I know there will be more hard times. When she starts solid foods, when her teeth come in, when I have to go back to work, etc. There will be times in the middle of the sleepless night you will just wonder what the heck you're doing and question everything. And then, saving your mind, you look down at your baby and realize that smile, that precious look of happiness and calmness that spreads across their face and radiates like the sun, is worth every single second of chaos.

-A few of my favorite breastfeeding quotes:

“This baby needs my milk; Not your approval.” 

“It’s not about my right to breastfeed, it’s about my child’s right to eat.”

"I'll feed my baby her meal in the bathroom, as soon as you go to the bathroom to eat your meal as well."

“If my breastfeeding offends you, feel free to put a blanket over YOUR head!”

“Breastfeeding is the best diet. I want to eat healthy for her, so it’s easy to say no to pizza.” Nancy O’Dell

“A newborn baby has only three demands. They are warmth in the arms of its mother, food from her breasts, and security in the knowledge of her presence. Breastfeeding satisfies all three.” Grantly Dick-Read

“When an actress takes off her clothes onscreen but a nursing mother is told to leave, what message do we send about the roles of women? In some ways we’re as committed to the old madonna-whore dichotomy as ever. And the madonna stays home, feeding the baby behind the blinds, a vestige of those days when for a lady to venture out was a flagrant act of public exposure.” Anna Quindlen

“Normalize breastfeeding. Nurse in public.”

“Breastfeeding is a mother’s gift to herself, her baby and the earth.”