Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Pull up a milkin' stool!

I have had a lot of questions today about breastmilk.  Not just on here, but out in the real world too.  So I figured I would take a second and let ya'll know!

Ideally I hope to induce lactation and be able to breastfeed myself.  Breastmilk is incredibly important for an infants physical development, and the World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding a minimum of 2 years.  (I was pretty darn surprised to read that!)  Not that you wouldn't introduce solid foods before that, but recognizing the ongoing benefits for the baby if you can continue it.

Breastfeeding is also an amazing way to bond with the baby, and that is a wonderful thing!

Also, let's not ignore the fact that breastfeeding can burn a LOT of calories.  Hurray for weight loss!  (In most cases... I know some women who don't drop weight because their body recognizes it needs to meet a demand and prepares for potential famine.)

However, in the possibility where I do not lactate (goodness knows my body OFTEN does not do what I want it to) there is something in the contract that Rachel will try to pump breastmilk for a time.  Although if her milk supply runs low, I would certainly not turn down milk from my other breastfeeding friends as some have generously offered.

It all depends on how things pan out.  Which I can't predict.  Although I can have lots of back-up plans!

One thing you MUST know about me... I like my plans.  I like my ducks in a row.  When ducks scatter and go all over the place and my plans get messed up, I tend to have tantrums.  Plan-changes are not my strong suite.  Scott on the other hand is WONDERFULL at the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants approach to plans and is a wonderful balance to my OCDness.

So in an attempt to avoid such freak-outs, I have back-up plans up the wazoo.  It can sometimes be exhausting coming up with answers to all the "what ifs" but it makes me happy to have them in place.  Think I'm nuts? Blame it on my mother ;)

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