Real Moms Cry Over Spilled Milk

Breastmilk makes me emotional...

- I feel indignant when someone suggests something in my milk is making my son sick.

- I feel angry when my husband forgets to put the bottle back in the fridge at the end of the night and I have to pour the "liquid gold" down the drain. (Though not too angry since he did take the late night shift so I could get some sleeeeeep.)

- I feel exhausted when I close my office door to pump AGAIN.

- I feel weepy when my breast pump cracks and the milk I work so hard for spills. (But, I can't cry because I have to maintain some shred of professional dignity while wearing my milk-stained blouse and trousers to my next meeting.)

- I feel wistful when I think of milkshakes and grilled cheese sandwiches and all the other yummy dairy treats I've given up to make this work.

- I feel astonishment when I look at how much my son as grown and developed while existing almost entirely on the milk I produce. Our bodies truly are amazing.

- I feel gratitude when I think of the encouragement I got when breastfeeding was a dirty word and I was struggling.

- I feel proud that despite all the difficulties, I am still breastfeeding as my son turns 5 months old today.

Real Moms make room in the minibar for breastmilk.

I wrote this post as part of the meme that Kristen at The Mom Trap started. You can see the other Real Mom Truths here .

Here's how it works:
Put up a post "Real Moms [insert what you do here]", followed by an explanation (feel free to use more sentences than just one run-on one like me), a picture, and a "Real Moms. Making ....". Then tag five people.

I'm tagging Sheri  and Abby K.

Comments

[amisare waswerebeen]

It ain't easy, but is so worth it...not to mention, cheap too. Keep it up.

[Katrine]

Aw, so true. And in my case with my youngest child, I cried over spilled milk when breast feeding made me so ill I had to stop nursing.

[b]

Congrats for keeping it up, cute! I know it has been a struggle, but you have been so awesome for hanging in there! Hope you do something fun today or this weekend to treat yourself -- you deserve it! Enjoy the nice weekend!

[Jana]

I look on in amazement at that stocked minibar full of milk! I would pump and pump and pump and get one ounce. If that one ounce spilled, my whole world was shattered.

[Koonj]

Breastfeeding is amazing and maddening. I had a crazy oversupply for 3 months. I produced and produced and produced nonstop -- and I wanted to HIT anyone who said I was lucky. I was in pain and engorged ALLL THE TIME. Eventually I had to give up and take the pill, and reduce the supply. ... Ah well. My baby's healthy, thank God.

[J]

So fabulous! I, too, have cried over spilled milk. Craziness!

[Rebecca]

Great Real Mom Meme! I felt like such a failure for the first few months of my daughter's life because we had such a hard time nursing. No one told me how hard it might be! All I'd heard was that it was so easy, and so natural....but eventually we got the hang of it (in our own awkward way) and I'm so glad we did.

Congrats on sticking with it and writing a great blog about it!