Breastfeeding does a body good!

Ah, this might be one of my favorite topics. I am definitely a lactivist but let me start by saying that if you do not breastfeed I don't think your a horrible person. There are some people out there who can be cruel to bottle feeding moms, I'm not one of them. I had my daughter at the young age of 20. I knew that I wanted to BF but looking back I really don't think I knew a lot about it. I can still remember that first night home. My sweet little girl woke me up, I put her to the breast...and nothing. She wouldn't latch, she wouldn't stop crying & my boobs continued to fill up and soon resembled two footballs. Now for all the new moms out there, do not make your first attempt to pump at 3:00am when you are bleary eyed, going on no sleep and have a hungry, screaming infant waiting to be fed. No good, seriously what was I thinking!!!! I somehow got through that hurdle and continued to BF. I only made it until 3 months and while I am happy that I accomplished that, I really wish I knew then what I know now. I am currently exclusively BF my 5 month old son & plan to for at least a year (more on that later). These are the things I wish I could tell that cluless 20 year old girl:

• You are doing the best thing you can for your little one, there is nothing in the world like mommy's milk!
• BF can hurt at first, especially if the baby is not latching on correctly. The pain does go away though...I promise!!!!
• Buy some lanolin, it help speed up the recovery of your poor abused breasts.
  
• The blood that you see on your nipples might get passed to the baby. If you pump - your milk might even be a little pink (no your not producing strawberry flavored milk). This is fine for the baby & will not cause any harm.
  
• Blood? Why will there be blood you ask? Your nipples are going through something they are not used to, they are a little sensitive. They will become tough & eventually you wont feel a thing, but in the meantime the chunk of your nipple that fell off will grow back.
• Dont forget to wear breast pads! I can still remember that hot summer day when I had to wear a sweater because I forgot to wear my pads & had two huge ring marks around my boobs.
• Milk supply has nothing to do with how much you can stuff your face. Yes, good nutrition is important but honestly not really needed to supply your baby with milk. All that tortellini you ate to pump up your supply did nothing but add to your back fat.
• Speaking of back fat, breastfeeding is the best exercise ever!!!! I am now back into all my old clothes & weight less than I did when I got pregnant.
  
• If you get sick you can still nurse, your body will produce antibodies that you will pass on to the baby. If you are already sick, chances are that the baby has come into contact with your germs by now so stopping to avoid little one getting sick will be in vain. Your milk is like medicine, the baby might not even get sick at all. If they do most times its not as severe as mom.
• Studies show that breastfeeding reduces the risk of breast cancer for both mom & baby!
• Can we say free!!! Formula can be expensive, save up that money for diapers, toys, a spa day, college. Formula can cost anywhere from at least $1000 to $4000 per year!! Insane.
• The bond that is formed between a mother and her baby while BF is a beautiful thing. Cherish these moments, these will be some of your most precious memories.
  

I can really go on and on and I haven't even covered half of the benefits here. One of the books that got me through those tough first weeks was The Nursing Mothers Companion. It really helps with some of the common misconceptions about BF and really helped me with questions I had.