Nursing

A lot of things are different with this second baby. (See below post - Sleepless in Canton). One of them is Nursing. I know that nursing is a much talked about subject on certain sites but you wouldn't necessary expect it on a ordinary blog and you might not want to read about it either! This is certainly how I felt with my first baby - though I nursed for 13 months and I know it was the best for my child - I felt reluctant to discuss it, shy to let people know I was nursing, and certainly afraid almost that something embarrassing would happen because of it. I never nursed in public with my first baby. The closest I came to anything in public regarding nursing with my son was pumping in a closed, locked office at work and pumping in my closed, locked bedroom of the house I shared with co-workers during a conference. I was brave enough, though, to let people know there that I was nursing in order to prevent people from drinking the milk in the blue water bottle I stored the pumped milk in! I am not really sure why I was so reluctant and afraid to discuss it or do it in public. I guess it is because when I started nursing, I knew no one that had done it successfully and no one that continued to do it when they returned to work. None of this is the case with this baby. I know I can do it successfully, and I made it work once I returned to work with my first baby AND once I changed jobs to one requiring me to be in court 4 days a week and leaving me no opportunity to pump during the day. And to date, I have already nursed my child in public this time around! Perhaps it helps that this child has no weight gain issues with nursing that my first child had (she's risen in percentiles on 100% nursing). Perhaps it helps that I am more relaxed. Perhaps she is just a better nurser. It certainly doesn't hurt that I know I have a supportive Boss (his wife loaned me the pump I'll be using at work). Whatever the reason - I want to say that nursing is NOT something I will be embarrassed about this time or afraid to discuss. It is what is best for my child and for me and I will do it for as long as that continues to be the case. Do you know that there is even a Georgia law on breastfeeding??? It basically says that a mother can nurse her child anywhere that the child and mother can otherwise be! Why am I posting this you wonder? Well, it is something I feel strongly about. And I was reminded about that when I took my son, mother, and nephew to the Georgia Aquarium on Friday. There outside the main women's restroom was a sign that said Changing/Nursing station inside! Now, the nursing station was nothing more than a simple room of seating along 2 walls but still it was something! And the advertising made it no secret at all. More places ought to do this! Not even Babies-R-Us, which does have a Mother's room that mothers can use to change or nurse their child in, advertises it as such. With the American Academy of Pediatrics advising to nurse for the first 12 months of a child's life and then for as long as it mutually beneficial to mother and child, there should be more locations in public like this. There should be more resources, more benefits, more incentives, and definitely more support for women who chose to nurse. One local county - Fulton - provides rent-free a hospital grade pump to employees and their spouses (if the employee is male) to use as long as they need it. More government entities should do this. Fulton County also has a room in the government center where employees and members of the public (e.g. people on jury duty) can pump in private cubicles. There should be more of this. More insurance companies should cover the cost of pump and nursing accessories. (I spent $40 a piece recently on 2 nursing bras). Yes, I know that nursing is not for everyone and I don't look down on anyone that chose not to nurse their child. But, the health benefits to both mother and child have been proven scientifically. Society should recognize this and provide support to those that choose to nurse their children. Anyway, that's my position. This time around I am not afraid to let people know that I am a nursing mother. I am not afraid or embarrassed if someone finds out I nurse my child. And I won't be when I return to work. And if you work with me and can't find me for 15 minutes or so during the day (and possibly several times a day), please know that I haven't disappeared off the face of the earth, I'll return shortly and I'll have small containers of a white substance to put in the fridge. And the next time you are out and about and see a women with a blanket draped over one shoulder and half her body (or like I was with her head underneath the blanket for a few seconds), don't wonder what she's doing - she's feeding her child. I didn't mean to be on soap box. It's just an issue I feel strongly about and don't want any other mother to feel embarrassed or afraid about it anymore. Now, off to other hopefully beneficial things...like sleep. Until then...
-Lawyer by Day and Mommy by Night