BREAST IS BEST!!! BUT...
- if you can't do it, its okay (as long as you actually try)!
- If you can only do it for a few months, fantastic!
- If you do it longer than the first year, you be crazy!!!!
I breast fed my first kid four 3 and 1/2 months and it was not easy! I stressed about it a lot! But I did it and have a very healthy kid! My kid is just as healthy as any kid who was breast fed for a whole year or even 6 months. Don't beat yourself up about any of it! Just try your best and do what you can.
YOU DO NEED TO AT LEAST TRY IT!!!! It is not about you anymore! Its about your baby! And no matter how you slice it, breast milk does provide many things that formula just can't.
Breast pumps are expensive and torturous, yet needed and we are lucky to have this amazing technology!
These contraptions can cost up to $300 plus all of the accessories! There are other options though if you can't afford one! Don't fret! Read on:
You can borrow from a friend... I know it seams weird, but you buy all of your own parts and milk storage containers and just borrow the actual pump mechanism. I promise you won't be swapping breast cooties with your friend! I have two breast pumps that were given to me as hand-me-downs and I have loaned them to friends in need! It's no big deal.
The other option if you don't have anyone to lend you one is that there are companies that rent out Brest pumps to new moms... The hospital staff wants you to breast feed successfully. They are very opinionated about it! You will even have a lactation specialist come in and show you the football hold (a weird prest feeding position for baby that i never understood) and talk to you about how your nipples don't stick out enough or other things you may find offensive! They will set you up with a rental pump that is top of the line and likely free for the first month. They will also probably give you your own brand new set of all the tubing, cups, etc that goes with the pump. The pumps may be around $30 a month to rent and the company will pick it up from your doorstep when you no longer need it. It's easy and cheap!
I'd like to add that the act of pumping itself is no fun at its best and torturous at its worst, but it's what will give you the freedom to go for a walk by yourself or to a movie with a girlfriend While dad stays home with baby... Or more importantly the freedom to sleep while dad or grandma or whomever takes care of baby! I think sleep and time to yourself out of the house are important in avoiding post partum depression, by the way... Later if you have to go back to work earlier than you would like, you will still be able to provide that wonderful nutrient rich boobie milk for your little one! So pumping really is a necessary evil! It's sort of a rite of passage among new moms in our generation! You later can laugh with your girlfriends over a glass of wine about how freakish the pump made your nipples look or how awkward it was when your husband first saw you pumping! it's kind of a war story for women!
More thoughts to come...
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