I did it!
There are so many
things about pregnancy and being a mother that I planned, but did not work
out. When I set a goal that my daughter
would be exclusively breastfed until she was 6 months, I knew it would not be
an easy task. But I did it!
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| For when I'm doing my "motherly duties." |
This isn’t a judgment
against those who couldn’t or chose not to breastfeed. Everyone has to make the decision about what is right for their own situation.
This is all 100% a big pat on my own
back. This is about me.
This is about me making
a decision that what was best for my baby was for her to only drink breast milk
for the first six months of her life to lower the risk of her getting
diabetes.
This was about me
knowing that exclusively breastfeeding for 6 months could help lower my risk of
getting ovarian cancer. I kept this
valuable information with me at 3am when I was exhausted. I will do anything to increase the
possibility that I will be on this earth to meet my grandchildren.
This is about me
returning to work after only 6 weeks of maternity leave, but not giving up on a
goal I set.
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| Antique Breast Pump (I didn't try this one) |
This is about that day
I had to get back to a reporter on a deadline and I had a desk full of work,
but I multitasked and prioritized so that I could still manage to bring my
daughter her dinner.
This is about, in
Illinois, according to the CDC, only 11% of babies are exclusively breastfed
for 6 months.
This is about two weeks
ago when my milk supply dwindled and the milk in the freezer was gone. I ate carrots, pumped, ate garlic, pumped, ate oatmeal, pumped, drank
nursing tea (a lot of nursing tea), pumped, took fenugreek, pumped, called the lactation counselor,
power pumped, drank lots of water, and woke up and pumped even when the baby
was sleeping.
This was about me,
wanting to give my daughter this one simple gift.
And I did it!
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