Breast Bond

I never thought I would be such a huge breastfeeding advocate but here I am with an almost 13 month old daughter (who still breastfeeds once at night and once in the morning) about to write a post about supporting the breast option.

Obviously I am a little late jumping on the lamenting band wagon of everyone lashing out at Facebook...but I'm going to climb on board anyway. Or at least hitch a ride for a moment. Do I believe them removing pictures of breastfeeding babies and canceling groups about breastfeeding is unfair? Yes. But only because they are allowing groups about alcohol, anorexia, drugs, and homosexuality to remain. I've seen much more offensive pictures in the profiles of others than that of a mother breastfeeding her new baby. So in that sense, shame on them for having their morals seriously misplaced. However, if you want to be ultra conservative then I can see how breastfeeding pictures may be found offensive. If that was their view point and they were consistently conservative throughout I would not take offense to their refusal to support breastfeeding. Even so, I am not removing my facebook account as I find it useful for contacting long lost friends and staying in touch with those I don't see often. Besides, I'm not paying for their product and thus I don't feel I have that much right to complain.





That being said...I hear tomorrow is Breastfeeding Awareness day or some such thing and in honor of that...and the fact that I, the non-breastfeeding supporter, have now nursed my daughter PASSED the FARTHEST point I ever thought possible, I am posting my own picture. Which, for the record, was also removed from facebook without my knowledge.

This picture is very special to me. It was taken in the hospital right after my daughters birth. I suffered from some post partum after my daughter was born and I believing breastfeeding was one of the things that saved me from further depression and from destroying my relationship with my daughter. It formed an unbreakable bond between us. Although it was tough, (she had a slightly over attached top lip and lock jaw which made nursing extremely painful whenever her jaw would snap back into place. We both also had thrush for the first three months no matter what remedies we tried), it was the one thing I could do for her that no one else could. And in the beginning that's exactly what I needed. My husband was a natural the first day when she was a newborn. I was exhausted and overwhelmed and since he was doing so well I felt as if my bond with my daughter wasn't worth much. But then my husband got extremely sick our second day in the hospital and I was faced with caring for my daughter on my own for the next few days after her and I returned home. (My husband was quarantined from us). Through that turn of events I became her soul provider, she needed me, and I needed her. I remember telling her as I sat terrified in the hospital waiting for word on my husband "It's you and me baby girl. We're going to be alright". And you know what, we were.

I didn't think I would make it this far, but it seems she still needs that reassurance. For right now, I'm okay with that. Eventually she'll be a teenager and turn on me but for right now, I'm still her favourite person in the world and the only one able to give her the best start in life and the bond she craves.

So for all you breastfeeding or wondering if you should breastfeed mothers out there....Here's to the bond of the breast!