Breastfeeding has been such an amazing experience for me and Mikah. I started leaking a couple of months before he was born, so I had no fears about producing or not producing enough milk when he did come. What was unexpected was the gorge a few days after his birth when my “real” milk came in. It felt like I had horrible breast implants! 3 weeks later my nipples were still tender, but I refused to give up and I am glad I didn’t. Now breastfeeding is no longer painful, but joyful, and there are no words to describe the bonding between him and I.
The list of benefits from breastfeeding is extensive, including:
- fewer allergies
- high IQ
- protection from asthma
- fewer each aches
- saving money
- convinience
- better teeth
- bonding
Really, there is no reason someone who is capable of breastfeeding to not do so.
This post is inspired by One Love, from which the following photos are also taken…
CHRYSALIS
Hungry crying
stirs me out of dreams
into a dawn
of musty canvas, damp
pillows, ribs that ache.
I crawl over the breath
of a sleeping husband, stumble
out of the tent into a thick
morning
to sit on the ledge, legs curled
against the moss, feeding a warm
baby who nestles
his cheek against my breast,
milk dripping
from the sides of his mouth
as he drifts into sleep.
In the marsh that stretches before me, cattails touch
the mist. Jewelweed opens to warmth. And I wonder
what other woman in what other time sat here
like this, her sleeping son cradled
in the crook of her leg,
watching the great blue heron rise
from her nest, weaving herself
into the pattern of dead leaves and new ferns,
eyelids closed, chin raised
touched by the sunrise, drenched
with the morning,
waiting
awakening
Happy Breastfeeding!
