Today, while avoiding the work I needed to complete from my daily job, I took a moment to read some other blogs out there. I was shocked to find this article and had to take a moment to comment on it.
Really? Honestly? This Happened?
I can’t even imagine walking into my twins’ bedroom and finding another woman breastfeeding my child. But, perhaps in those horrible first days in that sleep deprived, altered state I might have considered this a relief and gone back to bed.
In all seriousness though, this is a horrific and disturbing sight and one that would give me nightmares for years to come. Nightmares about breastfeeding are not new to me. My breastfeeding experiences were filled with anxiety, guilt and frustration. I wanted nothing more than to feed my boys only breast milk, but no matter what I did, I could not get my milk production up to where I wanted it to be. I did breastfeed them exclusively for the first 6 weeks of their life and while in the hospital I pumped, fed and drove back and forth as often as needed so those boys could get the best I had to offer.
Unfortunately for me the stress of having twins, their premature delivery and a variety of other circumstances led to a series of difficulties and the end of my milk production. Even though many women stop breastfeeding much earlier (and some cannot at all) I was wracked with guilt and felt that I had failed as a mom. I know many others that have had this experience. Looking back I know the pressure I put on myself was far greater than others did, but at the same time I wished I could have provided more. Just like so many other things we do as moms, I have come to the realization that I did the best I could and my happy, healthy beautiful boys will love me just the same.
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