Hey guys, today I’m talking about something a little different. I got to contribute to an ebook put together by MAM, the popular baby brand. MAM asked bloggers to share real, nitty gritty stories about motherhood and I was excited to get a chance to talk about something that I still think about today.
Breastfeeding. Yes, even though my babies are done with that stage, I still remember. So here’s my story. I would love to hear some of yours as well!
I looked forward to breastfeeding long before I ever had a baby to nurse.
There is just something so special about a mom providing for her child in such a fundamental way. So when my daughter was born, I was sorely disappointed to discover that nursing was hard. I was not prepared for it to be painful, exhausting, and frustrating.
I almost gave up multiple times. After several months I finally found it to be “tolerable.” I nursed her until she was almost a year old.
Nursing surprised me yet again when my son was born two years later. Only this time, it was wonderful. I guess it has everything to do with the latch and what kind of eater you have on your hands…er, breasts.
My little guy could nurse like a champ. He loved eating, and I loved feeding. I reveled in being good at nursing and being the only one who could provide for him.
When he was five months old I began to experience some awful symptoms including hand numbness and weakness in my arms. I had to have two hand surgeries back to back, and was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis only a month later.
Those surgeries changed everything for my baby boy and I.
I was only given a few days to wean him. I would undergo surgery and take medication unsuitable for breastfeeding. In addition, I would not be able to use my hands for several months.
I cannot tell you how painful it was to wean. Oh yes, physically it hurt. My body was used to feeding an enthusiastic little consumer. It took a long time for the milk factory to shut down. When I came out of surgery my first thought was, “How am I still making milk?” The tell-tale stains on my hospital gown revealed a body craving to nurse.
More painful than swollen, leaky boobs, however, was the depression that ensued. I was astounded by the devastation I felt at not being able to provide for my son. I feared that we would no longer share the mother-child bond. That without nursing, I couldn’t be his mom.
As family stepped in to help with the bottle feedings, he and I would both be in tears. Sometimes I had to leave the room because it was so frustrating. I felt as if I was failing him as a mom.
I realize now how wrong those thoughts were. I know now that nursing, though wonderful, does not make or break a bond with a child. I learned that I could soothe him without nursing. That I was still his mom, even if I wasn’t his food source.
My story is Chapter 6 in the MAM Blogger Real Parenting Guide. I encourage you to read other chapters and find out more about all the stuff, like the bottles, pacifiers and teethers that MAM makes to make the job of parenting easier.
Want to win a $100 Babies “R” Us gift card?
Leave a comment below answering the following question: “What’s the funniest thing you, or someone you know said while in labor?”
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I’m not looking forward to the crazy things I just know I’m gonna say during labor! Haha. But I can’t wait to breastfeed and hope it comes pretty easily to me and my little baby
When the afterbirth came out, I asked the doctor what the heck it was! I felt silly after that!
i’m afraid its been too long ago for me to remember!
It’s not really what I said, but what I did with the cool rag my hubby was using to “sooth” me. I didn’t want anyone touching me with all of the pain I was in. So I grabbed the rag from him and slapped him with it:)
Probably that I was having hot flashes, I was so hot and the nurse had to turn on the fan
tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
a friend said “Mid pushing I asked if I was pooping. I was so scared to poop on my baby.”
The only thing I could say to the valet who parked the cars at Labor & Delivery Unit was ‘Sorry’ as I handed him my keys….my water had broken and I drove myself to the hospital so there was a puddle in the drivers seat. It’s one of those funny later stories. ; )
https://twitter.com/mermont84/status/384459872449736704
I wanted complete silence during labor. I threatened to kick my husband out of the delivery room for breathing too loudly.
When my sister was in labor with her first child she got an epidural and it worked really well. It worked so well that she called all her coworkers at work to rave about her epidural and how great she felt. She then told us that she wanted to have shirts made that said “I love my edipural.” The nurse told her to be quiet and rest while she could…but she was laughing at how happy my sister was. ????
Not really “funny”, but as soon as my little one came out I asked my husband if she had a lot of hair (bc I had heartburn the entire pregnancy).
tweet
i don’t remember what i said during labor!
I was yanking my own IV by accident but thought it was the hubby lol I yelled at him for trying to cause me more pain haha O.o
Tweeted
https://twitter.com/mummytotwoboys1/status/381063848037330946
I was so upset that they were going to have to do an emergency c-section, I said the “f” word and I never never swear. My hubby was so embarrassed, but we laugh about it now.
I don’t remember saying anything funny during labor. I was pretty drugged up so who knows.
tweeted
https://twitter.com/bettycd/status/387374498967609344
-https://twitter.com/tcarolinep/status/372585674358005760
The funniest thing I heard someone say was to “turn off the lights”! Lol!
https://twitter.com/sufferngal/status/387213123817463808
The only funny thing I remember saying while in labor was that I was never going through this again. And that was while I was in labor with the first of my three sons. I obviously did go through that again
You hear a lot of funny things working in the hospital on labor deck – best was ” its like a hurricane” in reference to labor
tweeted https://twitter.com/pryfamily5/status/381470065041760256 [email protected]
A nurse said rate your pain. I said a 9 when I was 5 centimeters upon admittance. She said ‘oh honey that’s cute. Get braced for it, you have no idea what’s coming.”
“I just pooped, didn’t I!”
My wife said, “Get this doctor out of here. He doesn’t know what he is doing!” He has been her OBGYN for years and delivered our first baby.
My husband kept saying “I am sorry baby…” with each contraction…he was panicking
No kids. No funny story. I want to win this for my friend’s grand daughter and her new baby.
Thanks for the contest.
I went into labor 6 weeks early, so it wasn’t funny but was totally me, the workaholic, who said “I am leaving the hospital, I am going back to work until the baby is ready.” (I stayed and he came out the next day)
I tweeted here: https://twitter.com/MsTofuFairy/status/387255847300001792
Somewhere close to 24 hours into (non-medicated) labor with our first son, my sweet husband leaned in close to whisper some “encouraging” words. I opened my eyes and responded, “Stop breathing your hot breath on me!!!” ???? Getting ready to have our third in October…who knows what’ll come out of my mouth this time!
Someone I know said, “Please don’t let me poop on the table”
During labor? Nothing as I had an emergency c-section so it all went by quickly but I was told over and over that I’d have a small baby. When they pulled her out my midwife was like OMG she’s HUGE!! Was almost 9 lbs
I farted really loud when I was pushing! lol
I was induced with my daughter and I was lying there in the hospital bed when I heard a huge pop sound from inside. It scared the hell out of me, and I jumped to sit up in the bed and said to the nurse in there “oh my god, either you just opened a pop, or I just popped”. She started laughing and came over, sure enough it was me. ????
I tweeted: https://twitter.com/BigsbyButters/status/381978239993774080
I am sure lots of swear and alien language came out from me at that moment. One thing I remember saying was yelling hubby to stop coaching me breathing.
tcarolinep at gmail dot com
Someone said “are you sure you want an epidural?”
You can guess the response, more than 20 hours in…
https://twitter.com/purplelover04/status/386558831540465664
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https://twitter.com/eswright18/status/386947601796329472
My sister demanded chocolate icecream.
i told my husband i was gonna stab him with a knife! lol
I honestly don’t remember what I said during labor but I know how you felt about not being able to breast feed…when my first was 5 weeks old I got a horrible breast infection and had to have a whole line of clogged milk ducts cut out. It was so horribly painful (worse than labor) as they had to cut out a whole line of clogged milk ducts and leave a gaping hole that I had to pack it with gauze everyday so it could heal from the inside out…yuck! But I felt like such crappy mom for not being able to breast feed & for awhile there not being able to take care of my son…so I get it. Needless to say I did not even attempt to breast feed my second son…and guess what? He’s the one that is never sick!
When my last baby (the 5th) was born I told my husband early in the morning “Just drop me off at the hospital on your way to work.” That would have been okay but the doctor examined me and told me to go home, it was too soon. So I called my DH and had him pick me up at the front door. We drove the 3 miles home and and I told I wasn’t getting out of the car. Take me back. My son was born 10 minutes after I got back to the hospital.
yelling at everyone to shut the hell up and go away lol
tweet https://twitter.com/danaNagu1/status/381916497666265088
i dont know YET! I am due in oct 31st with my first baby
Tweet
https://twitter.com/clc408/status/381766295059853313
tweet: https://twitter.com/akronugurl/status/381891287105802240 .
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https://twitter.com/1amypugmire/status/371164852355465216
https://mobile.twitter.com/Shiebs24/status/385949053353070593?screen_name=Shiebs24
https://twitter.com/OneFrugalGirl/status/370385746537893889
onefrugalgirl AT gmail DOT com
“This is all YOUR fault!” Men…they seem to take the blame. haha
I can’t remember much of what I said during labor- but I was shocked when I thought it was a girl and they announced it was a boy!
I don’t remember anything during my births
[email protected]
tweet–https://twitter.com/WildOrchid985/status/375795882911731712
https://twitter.com/smilekisses/status/384887803491803136
Looking back the funniest thing said during my labor was said by my husband. At the time I didn’t think it was funny but looking back I do now.
Me @ 4:44 am Honey, wake up! My water just broke!!!!!!!”
My husband ” Are you sure?”
I mean really? Lol am I sure?
I don’t recall anything funny about it
My tweet is here:
My wife said she was taking a long vacation by herself!
i dont have any funny stories:( or maybe i said some funny stuff i just dont remember since i was so exhausted giving birth at 2 am.
All I wanted was a Pepsi & pizza.
I went in for a csection, one of the nurses walked up to my husband and asked him if he was prepared for all this. He told her that he believes he could handle it. About the time the dr started to pull my son out, that same nurse fell to the floor. She had passed out temporarily due to the fact that she was unable to handle it. ????
Great post! As for funny during labor….We had to drive about 40 minutes to the hospital, and I was in transition. But I told my husband “don’t drive too fast, I don’t want to get pulled over!!” When we arrived at the hospital he had to drag me out of the car into a wheelchair because labor was so intense, but I still insisted that he bring along the birth ball from the car so I could use it during labor. Ha! My daughter was born 20 minutes later.
I didn’t say anything funny but I looked pretty funny…I was a hot mess walking those hallways and I couldn’t have cared less!
I dont remember saying anything particularly funny in labor, but when our son was born my overzealous husband accidently cut the cord on the wrong side of the clamp because the doc looked away for a second and I remember jokingly telling him the baby was only here for mere seconds and he was already putting him in harms way.
The funniest thing my friend said while in labor was, “will you get out now?” then her hubby was going to leave the room….but she called him back right the way and said, not you, I’m talking to our baby! LOL
I screamed after a nurse to bring me drugs please!
does it hurt?
When I told my hubby that my water had broken, he said, “Are you sure you didn’t just pee yourself?” I was sure!! Thanks for the sharing your heart and the giveaway!
My daughter had her daughter , my first grandchild (and according to my daughter, my last one!) and she had her naturally and most of her labor was spent in the tub. While she was in the middle of a contractions, she looked up at me and said “Mom, did you have contractions with me?” I just rubbed her back and said,”Why no, honey, those were just invented for you!” Precious memory!
no deliveries for us yet, and guys dont really talk about this, so I have no idea.
https://twitter.com/aes529/status/387275139831713792
I just remember the nurses saying how fast it was going – that’s all.
i posted a tweet: https://twitter.com/bellows22/status/384103869539557376
The funniest thing my friend said to her hubby during labor is I’m going to kill you when this is over
The funniest thing I said during labor is that I had just remembered the yogurts I had in the fridge were about to expire and I needed to go home to collect them.
tweet–https://twitter.com/mami2jcn/status/370716623507705856
My friend texted with her progress and that she was going to take a nap next. Her epidural was working wonderfully. A couple months earlier, I arrived at the hospital with that level of progress and my son was born naturally a few hours later. (I planned to have the epidural, but was too far along when I got there.) I laughed that she could even think of a nap because that was about the time I was just screaming GET HIM OUT OF ME!
https://twitter.com/disneyfan40/status/381798245019557888
My cousin kept saying she wanted an italian sub as soon as possible!
I was so busy breathing thru contractions – can’t remember anything funny being said.
The funny thing happened on the way to the induction. When my husband turned on the car – Salt n Pepa’s “Push It” was playing. It became the theme of my very short labor that lead to a c-section.
“get me a sandwich”
While my sister was in Labor with my niece she had advanced quicker than her nurses thought she would and they were telling her to literally “hold the baby in” until the doctor got there… Right before the doctor walked in my sister was yelling “WHERE IS MY DOCTOR? I’M PUSHING AND HAVING THIS BABY WITH OR WITHOUT HER.” It cracked us all up because that is SO unlike my sister.
I remember being told to try to hold the baby in until the doctor got there. Yeah right!
https://twitter.com/HappyTina0115/status/377194544300687361
I needed my hair in a ponytail and my husband couldn’t do it. I sadt “If you can’t do a ponytail then you can get out!” lol. Poor hubby,he’s never done a ponytail in his life!
Tweet – https://twitter.com/willitara/status/387119331651239936
I broke my tailbone pushing but I thought It was a “toot” and I apologized to the drs and then they told me my tailbone popped and hadn’t passed gas. ha ha
My husband wanted to know if I wanted to play cards. Only in hindsight is that funny. At the time I wanted to smack him.
telling me to calm down
It was pretty awkward greeting the firemen EMT’s in training who were observing my natural childbirth
http://twitter.com/ccboobooy/status/387019596676337664
https://twitter.com/scg00387/status/385968465531510784
tweeted:
https://twitter.com/uTry_it/status/382958464487534592
The funniest thing wasn’t so much what I said, but when my water broke at the hospital in front of my husband, I was laughing so hard at his facial expression and fluid just kept coming harder each time I laughed. I guess you had to be there!
I kept asking my hubby if I pooped
My friend told her husband that she hated him because he had done this to her. it was hilarious!
When my mother was pregnant with me her water broke while she was painting my nursery. It was a Sunday so everyone was home. She went to my father and told him she was going into labor. He then proceeded to pack himself a snack and make some coffee. Then he asked if they would still go to church that day! I think that floored my mother.By the time we got there my mother was too late for my mother to have an epidural and I was born naturally within a few hours.
The funniest thing I remember saying to my husband: “Good thing I had an enema earlier!”
A close friend, after giving birth.. I walked in the room to see the new baby.. as soon as I walked in, I was told “NEVER AGAIN!” lol
I don’t know what other people said during labor, but I said “This is the grossest thing that has ever happened to me.”
A nurse threatened to leave me to give birth alone and I said, “Fine, but I won’t know how to cut the cord.”
https://twitter.com/eaglesforjack/status/386135141120090113
My husband kept saying “It’s taking too long” during the 30 hour labor with my first son. I am not sure what he thought it was going to be like but I was sick and tired of his saying it. Finally I told him “I am not a pez dispenser, please leave the room”!!
Moments after pushing Hallie out, Joe came over to me and kissed my forehead and said, “lets have another one.” HE was completely serious. I on the other hand never wanted to do that again. Men.
I still remember when my sister in law grabbed my brother’s hand during labor and screamed: “I want your finger off so you can feel my pain”. She grabbed his hand (with his wedding ring) so hard it swelled up for days.
My son was hung up inside me, and hubby leaned over to me and said “Doc is going for the salad fork thingies” (forceps).
I don’t have any good stories!
https://twitter.com/thomasmurphy40/status/387318851576135680
I don’t have any children, but I have lots of funny labor or right after labor stories from my family. One story from my hubby’s side is that after my mom-in-law gave birth to my bro-in-law she didn’t remember a thing. She told the nurse when she brought him in to see her that it wasn’t her baby, she was still pregnant. LOL Hope this story can count!
Me to my hubby: “Quick, hide my sandwich.” I was not going to listen to the hospital’s no food policy so I hid a sub in my hospital bag.
[email protected]
“You’re going to clean that up, right?”
tweet https://twitter.com/ChelleB36/status/386622686312402946
After a long painful csection I said everyone just leave I will finish this myself!
I had two C-sections so I had no funny comments during labor.
https://twitter.com/slehan/status/387362905273823234
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https://twitter.com/kellysaver/status/370548547260661761
The funniest thing I said was I have to go #2! I guess I wasn’t much in the mood for laughter. Thanks for the giveaway!
During my first I was asking for other ways to get the baby out that didn’t hurt like new procedures ????