I was thinking about breastfeeding in public...

I don't know why it came to Aldo's attention - maybe he was just curious and the article came up, but he had an epiphany that "breastmilk is liquid gold" after reading it. The article talked about all the things it does for baby as well as how it prevents cancer. I knew that. Why didn't he? Anyway, there was one benefit after another and at the end it was like - how could anyone give a mother a hard time for wanting to breastfeed her baby - public or not?

After reading it I was reminded of a picture I saw of a woman who was breastfeeding her baby in a bathroom stall. I've never had to do that, but I have had to breastfeed at another person's house and in an office with closed doors and in a break room with closed doors. Not every place you end up is the most comfortable psychologically or  physically. And I remember a friend of mine saying she would never breastfeed in a restroom. Now I've never done it, but I have changed Luke's diaper once on a bathroom floor and I hated that because it was hard and cold and those pads are so thin that come with the diaper bag. And it isn't the cleanest surface either. But you do what you gotta do. And so my opinion on breastfeeding and where you have to do it is the same. If a bathroom was all I had, that's where I would go. I mean if I didn't have a cover. If I had a cover I would breastfeed in public. If I didn't, you do what you gotta do... If all there is is a restroom, and there's no time... Sorry baby, I'm going to feed you and not make you wait.

But in regards to the public thing - how dare people shame women into feeling like they can't feed their babies in public with the best food option they can. Geez.

The opportunity came up again tonight. I went to a party of one of mom's high school friends. There were a lot of people I didn't know, or have seen briefly, celebrating out in a barn on a small farm. It was warm in the barn with space heaters and kind of chilly outside where the cars were parked. And as her feeding time was drawing near I thought, if I had a cover, I would breastfeed her right here. Probably in a corner so not to stick out. (It would be awkward if an older man came up to introduce himself and was completely oblivious to it and then halfway through conversation realized what was going on right in front of him. But is that "shameing" talking? Have I been shamed into feeling awkward for breastfeeding?) Instead I went to mom's car and sat in the back seat, behind tinted windows, in the dark and fed her. She didn't care. She fell asleep like a baby. :)

The more I do it, and the more we connect, or she looks up at me and smiles afterward, or the next time she searches for me when another is holding her - the more I see the importance of breastfeeding and the bond it gives you and your child. The more beautiful this thing has become. I'm telling you, there's nothing like it.