Raisins

I'm not referring the toddler-favorite snack... unfortunately, I'm talking about my milk-producing boobies. Yes'm, my deflated boobies.

Breastfeeding is one of the best things you can do for your bootiful bebe. However, it's not as easy as just whippin' it out. For some lucky mamas, it is. For others, like me, it was a long journey where I wanted to give up many times. But I pressed on because other mamas that quit early, most will tell you they wish they had tried harder. Just try to get past the first 8 weeks and you're golden.

For one, it's the perfect milk and it's so much easier to nurse (and cheaper!) your little one than to buy bottles, clean them, sterilize them, boil/sterilize water, measure formula, mix formula, put together the bottle, and finally serve. Whew! All you need to nurse anywhere is a Bebe Au Lait nursing cover. At first, I was shy and would run to any private room I could find. But with a screaming baby in your arms and all eyes on you, you just learn to shed any embarassment (and really there shouldn't be any. plus, i used a nursing cover for goodness' sake!) for your baby. Maybe that's what motherhood is largely about: knowing when to put your baby before you.

Recently though, I had to learn to put myself first. And it's hard... really hard to say, "no, I can't do that anymore." Breastfeeding puts your body to work and burns lots of calories. And for me, it helped me lose ALL the weight and a bit more from my pregnancy. But I couldn't keep up with food intake to make enough milk yet keep my body at a healthy weight. [ You see, if you don't take in enough of the nutrients to produce what your babe needs, your body will take it from your own (yikes!!).] After getting a bad case of strep throat, I lost too much weight and started looking 'homeless person' skinny (definitely not sexy skinny). I decided then that it was too much for my body and for me to be the best mama, I had to be healthy.

Before you wean (IF before 1 yrs old), you want to try the bottle a few times to make sure your bebe is okay with it. You might have to experiment with several kinds before you find the *golden one* too. I started pumping 3x day and gradually took away a pumping session. Currently, my once-full boobies (and boy did I enjoy their once-full state) are starting to look more like... I need to invest in some new brassieres. A bit embarassing to tell the entire internet community but motherhood also develops in you the ability to laugh at yourself and not take anything too seriously.

Hmmm, raisins.. wanna share?