It's kind of nice that in our world today we have so few things of pressing importance that we can really bring ourselves to get bothered by what another woman chooses to do when it comes to choosing breast or bottle. Myself, I'm a live and let live kind of girl. I don't have any beef with whatever the next woman wants to do. If she really wants to BF a child who started kindergarten this year that's her business. If she wants to do it on a bench in the mall I really don't care. If she's doing it at the table near me I equally don't care. That's her business. I don't find the human body skitchy and I'm not skeeved out to see a strange woman's breasts, or even to have to explain to my, now 10 year old, son what she's doing.
I didn't BF my child because I had to go back to work, we had to wear white blouse shirts, I worked in a RadioShack with one single stall bathroom, and across the hall was a KBToys....and it was the 2nd week of November. I really had no desire to spring a leak every time a child cried across the hall wanting some of the toys on display for the holidays. I had equally no desire to pump myself in that one small bathroom that we all shared in my mostly male work environment. Somehow, despite my choice, my son has a very strong immune system and rarely gets sick, he is a straight A student who excels at anything he tries, indicating that his brain function is doing quite well, and we have a wonderful bond between us. I don't feel he or I missed out on anything. I had one Breast Nazi after me back then, one woman I knew in real life who said derogatory things about me for not breast feeding my baby. I brushed it off, despite occasional annoyance at her.
My husband and I have been TTC (trying to conceive) since we got married Halloween of '06. It hasn't happened for us...c'est la vie. If I do manage to conceive I would like to BF my next baby. I work out of the home now, providing private day care for a friend. I'd have the freedom to BF comfortably, to find my own comfort zone with it, and experience it for myself. I would not extended BF. Personally, I feel (as my husband puts it) if the child is old enough to chew steak it's time to stop. I don't care what anybody else wants to do, but I know my own limits somewhat. I think about six months is when I'd wean. By then I'd want my body back. I'd want to have some wine, to drink a pot of coffee, to take some allergy medicine when my sinuses get all stuffed up...I think by then I'd want my body to be my own again.
To me, the most aggravating aspect of my pregnancy with my son were the restrictions I was on. I had gestational diabetes so I had to be perfect about what I ate and I had to use insulin because most of the oral medications either aren't approved for use during pregnancy (which would also include during BF'ing) or can't hold up to the hormonal fluctuations going on. I remember having an infection and not being able to do much about it except a low dose antibiotic which took forever to work. I got a sinus congestion kind of cold and couldn't take anything at all for it and had to suffer while it ran it's course. When I had a headache my doctor said if it was truly unbearable to take one regular acetaminophen but otherwise, nothing. Now I did all these things, I followed all the rules, I was a perfect angel and even complimented on it by nurses at the hospital I used. I was a goddess of self control. I kept my blood glucose perfect. I put nothing in my body that could potentially harm my baby. I saw a nutritionist, I followed the diets. I gave birth to a baby of normal weight who was perfectly healthy immediately upon birth. (Yeah, me!) The idea of having to extend that behavior much further beyond birth is not a fun one. The first thing I did when I got home from the hospital was eat chocolate, take a Percocet and when he was one month old the (now ex) husband and I went to a late holiday party overnight, out of town, and I got LOADED! WooHoo!
Now, I can hear the stringent BF supporters, the ones who think not BF'ing is a form of child abuse, shaking their heads in disgust at my selfishness. But again I say: To each their own. If you feel that way about it you go right ahead and BF your children however long you want to. You won't ever get a nasty look or unkind word from me. I'd appreciate the same in response.
No comments:
Post a Comment