Chocolate & Wine Weaning Party
Rewards for a Mother's Sacrifices
There was no doubt in my mind that I would breastfeed my children. My mother had breastfed both my brother and I. As a child, most of the mother's I knew breastfed their children too. I had no idea that I would be one of a very small group of Black women to Breastfeed beyond one month.
When I got pregnant with my first child, I was at the height of my twenties. Old enough to drink, get into the club and young enough to do it on a regular basis without being a lush or needing a month of recuperating time. When I found out that I was pregnant I knew that things had to drastically change if I was going to be the type of mother I had planned to be.
This change came easy while I was pregnant. I mean it is NOT sexy to be in the club with a big baby bump. However once the baby was born thats when I started to miss those things that I had given up.
I loved my child as much as one person could love another, but there were times where I felt burdened and saddened that I could do or have the things that I did before I was a mom. I also noticed that the formula feeding moms seemed to have more "freedom". Their babies seem to sleep longer, and eat less frequently. Not to mention the option to leave the baby for extended periods of time.
Still with the allure of formula I couldn't give up the breastfeeding. To me the benefits far outweighed the negatives. There are many many benefits to breastfeeding, but for me the biggest reasons were:
1. My pregnancy weight (of almost 50 lbs) just melted away.- I got to eat more while doing it and I am ashamed to say, I didn't even do any exercise... I probably could have lost even more if I had did a sit up or two.
2. I didn't loose much sleep- The baby slept in the room with me and sometimes in the same bed (read about safe co sleeping) and when my son needed to eat at night I would just pop the "ninny" in his mouth. By the time he was 3 months we were on a self serve program, I didn't have to wake up at all.
3. My son didn't get sick - including ear infections. My son didn't get a so much as a cold until he was 2 years old, and even then until today his colds don't last longer than 48 hours. He doesn't even get sluggish.
4. No diaper rashes- Saved a bunch of money on extra diapers and that cream stuff.
5. The best benefit to me was that my son was getting the best healthy start. Nowadays children are getting more diseases that used to only effect older people. It scares me to think that my children may live a long life of suffering through any of those diseases.
Or worse if my children only live a short life because of health problems that could be avoided with a small sacrifice of 1-2 years of my life to breastfeed.
All that said, it hard to remember when I was the only one who could remember this past New Years party. So what I did was plan my own party...a Chocolate and Wine Weaning Party to reward my self for all the sacrifices I have made to be the best mother I can be.
I encourage all mothers to breastfeed for at least the first year. Contrary to popular belief, it is RARE that a mother is unable to successfully breastfeed. If you have concerns seek out help and support:
African American Breastfeeding Alliance
African American Breastfeeding Guide
African American Breastfeeding
Mocha Milk
