Perspectives in Parenting

In 2022, we’re all aware of the need for self-care. Whether it be a corporate office pretending to give a crap by extending lunch breaks or a spouse that feels they exemplified selflessness by “letting” a mom shower in peace, there’s a lot of pretending out there when it comes to self-care. Self-care in Motherhood It shouldn’t even be such a buzzword in motherhood because the idea around self-care when you’re a mom is to simply take tiny bits of time to “recharge,” just to go back to motherhood. When will society accept moms are people, too? The thing is, while there’s a ton of support around taking care of yourself, even as a mom *gasp*, there’s a lot of judgment in the...

There are so many emotions tied with breastfeeding: joy, exhaustion, accomplishment, and even sadness. I love the bond it gave to me and each of my sons, starting my journey was a steep mountain to climb, and I miss every second of every bit of it. Thanks for hearing about my journey, I hope you can be encouraged. The dream Seven years ago I was pregnant with our first son. The most I knew about pregnancy was from my mother's stories. She had four unmedicated childbirths and I believed that was the typical experience for women. Once I became a teenager I watched Hollywood movies and was then fearful of what childbirth could be. It was then that I decided I...

Happy Breastfeeding Week!! I never thought it would be me. If someone told me that I would nurse my youngest little heart exclusively for a year. Then continue to tandem breastfeed until he was 3, I wouldn’t have believed you. I delivered my youngest, Jacob, at Women’s hospital. They were very encouraging when it came to breastfeeding. They had a lactation consultant that came by with helpful tips. The lactation consultant even answered many of my questions. Breastfeeding went so well in the hospital. The day after we brought Jacob home, nursing took a turn for the worse. Have you ever slapped your pinky finger in a car door? That’s exactly what nursing felt like. Then I started having contractions. I...

I breastfed my son for two months before I threw in the towel to a bad case of mastitis. My antibiotics upset his tummy and he slept through the night after a day of formula. I never looked back. I think fed is best and whatever way you choose to feed your baby is the best way. My daughter was born at 32 weeks gestation and went straight to the NICU. I knew I wanted to give breastfeeding another try, and it wasn’t even a question when they wheeled the pump into my hospital room six hours after she was born. I pumped for 25 minutes to get a syringe full of liquid gold that was given to her through...

Within moments of our son David’s birth, I was encouraged to breastfeed him. Before David was born, my husband and I had planned that I would breastfeed our boy. Not just for all the health benefits we heard about but also because we are the kind of folk who try to save money - after all, kids are expensive! We invested in a breast pump and a really cool pillow that David could lie on so that I wouldn’t have to hold him up to feed him. We felt we were set up for success. I would hold David close and rub his back while he fed. I’d look into his little eyes and sing songs like “You Are My...