Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Things I Wish I'd Been Told...

about breastfeeding a six-month-old.

1. She will try to twist your boob back and forth, as if it were a bottle, while nursing.

2. She will want to inspect your nipple after feeding.

3. She will want to talk/sing/coo at your boob after feeding.  Her way of thanking it for her nourishment, I suppose.

4. She will come to think that everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING, is a boob or nipple.  Freckles. Elbows. Pumpkin stems. Tops of cookie jars. Dog noses.

5. She will try to nurse off of anyone, especially her shirtless father.  (You say ouch; I say, oh well cause he didn't learn his lesson the first dozen times it happened.)

6. No matter what anyone tells you, she will try to nip/bite you more than once, despite having tried all the "tricks" to get her to stop.  If her gums hurt from teething, you're gonna know about it!

7. If you get out of the shower and, heaven forbid don't put a towel or rub around yourself, she will gawk at your breasts like a 13 year-old boy who's never seen boobies before.

8. If she does see you shirtless and braless, she will stare at them with the widest eyes that seem to say, "Wait!  There are TWO of those?!"

9. You will experience engorgement every couple of months when she goes through a growth spurt and her appetite changes and then slows down after the growth spurt.  This is a good time to stock up on milk!

10. You will have made one of THE. BEST. decisions as a mother for your daughter (and yourself, honestly!).  And, hey, it's okay to pat yourself on the back for making it to your first breastfeeding goal of six months (and counting)!