As a strong nursing advocate, I've been following with interest the recent breastfeeding news. If you're not as current with the boob news as I am, the IRS recently stated that costs associated with breastfeeding count as medical expenses and could be deducted on your taxes. What does this mean? Actually not a whole lot, I guess. Basically, it means that I can use my pre-tax FSA savings to buy pumping equipment. And, if I'm itemizing deductions on my taxes, I can list my pump, its parts, that hands free bra I bought so that I can keep typing and pump at the same time, bags for freezing, etc. For me, and for many others, this will probably make little difference in the grand scheme of things. I already bought my pump last year, so I can't retroactively use my FSA. And I don't usually have enough medical expenses to itemize.
But I've watched with pride as this and other pro-nursing tidbits have surfaced in the news these last few weeks. In early February, a guard at the Smithsonian asked a woman to nurse her baby in the bathroom rather than on a museum bench. The poor lady went into the bathroom only to find no chairs available so then came back out to continue nursing. She was again confronted by the guard who told her to sit on a toilet seat to nurse! In response, hundreds of women staged a "nurse-in" at the museum. It turns out that there's actually a federal law that permits women to breastfeed anywhere on federal property so the guard was way out of line. The museum apologized. It's totally appalling and the thought of a 100 women sitting on museum benches baring their boobs totally filled me with awe. I've never thought of myself as a bra-burning feminist or anything (who has the energy these days) but a mom being told to go sit on a toilet seat and nurse her baby is the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a long time. Not long ago, a friend was telling me that she was visiting a company for a meeting and ran across a lady pumping in the bathroom because her workplace had no other place for her pump. Hearing about these things piss me off, and if the government wants to do anything to make things better for working mothers who nurse, I'm all for it.
Michelle Obama recently made breastfeeding awareness a part of her Move On! campaign, as studies have shown strong correlations between nursing and the prevention of obesity in both children and their mothers. The American Academy of Pediatrics strongly encourages nursing for the first 6 months of a child's life whenever possible. And the World Health Organization actually encourages it for the child's first 2 years (yah, so not happening here)! The health benefits of nursing are uncontested. So whenever I read about anything that makes nursing easier or about anyone that promotes it, I'm ecstatic. Who wouldn't be, right?
Well, guess who? Your friend and mine, Ms. Family Values herself, Sarah Palin. OMG, what the hell is this lady's problem. And what's frustrating is that anytime I read these news stories, there are a ton of haters in the comments. So clearly, she's not the only idiot out there. It's gotten to the point where I need to stop reading comments because they just make me so angry.
I don't get it, how does it hurt someone to have the government come out and say, hey, you should breastfeed if you're able and we're going to help in whatever small way we can. Because the thing is, breastfeeding is so HARD, and everyone bit of help is appreciated as far as I'm concerned. Recently I read a statistic that said that more than 75% of women start off trying to breastfeed, only about 40% are still at it at 6 months. The reason for this is that it's oh yah, did I mention that it's HELLA HARD? If I hadn't had the support of every single nurse at my hospital, several awesome lactation consultants, and my husband, I would have been tempted to quit too. I know for a fact that my hospital was particularly BF-friendly, and many are not.
To this day, no other aspect of being a mother has had me in more tears than nursing. When we first brought Diya home, she didn't latch properly (common among newborns). It's not like I knew any better than she did, so nursing was a frustrating task for both of us to say the least. She didn't suck well, so my milk didn't come in as quickly, so then I was trying to pump and feed her at the same time. So this is essentially how the first few weeks went. She wasn't gaining weight so her pediatrician wanted us to feed her every 2 hours night and day. Gregg and I were up feeding her every 2 hours. After she ate, I'd try to pump to clean myself out (so that my body would know to produce more milk). There were days in the beginning when I didn't have enough to feed her and had to give her formula. Not that there's anything wrong with that. The first 6 weeks of breastfeeding, our bodies change rapidly, I've since learned. But back then, those 2-3 days of formula felt like I was failing as a mother, because OMG, I couldn't even feed my kid. And then of course they tell you not to give your newborn bottles because they quickly learn to prefer that over the boob (it's much less work for the baby). So most experts will tell you to wait 3-4 weeks before introducing the bottle. But our kid had lost so much weight that they were considering hospitalizing her. So, still feeling like a failure but realizing that I needed to think about more than just myself, I pumped and we gave her bottled breast milk. And when she still seemed hungry but my body hadn't caught up yet to her appetite, we gave her those bottles of formula.
Everything settled down within a week or two. Diya learned to eat. I learned how to help her. It wasn't long before I had more milk than I knew what to do with, and I couldn't hear a baby crying without leaking all over myself. My point though is that those weeks were pretty hellish, and not just because we were waking up every 2 hours. I read these annoying comments hating on the IRS rule because "breastfeeding is free and natural, and what do you need expensive pumps for" and it pisses me off.
And now, months later, we've come to another crossroads with nursing. Now, the kid only wants the bottle because she's started drinking from them most of the time at daycare. And I struggle to keep up with her, pumping constantly at work. Nursing sessions these days again end up with both of us screaming and crying, as I once again start irrationally feeling like a failure as a mother (you know, losing out to a bottle and all). If I didn't have the flexibility to pump as needed at work, there'd be no way I could keep this up. My goal is still to transition her at one year from breast milk directly to whole milk (without using formula in between). But nothing about nursing has ever been easy, not for me, and not for most women that I know. A friend of mine often says that nursing is one of those things that she's worked so hard at but something that she'll never truly be appreciated for. I think she has it exactly right. And you know what, if the IRS and Michelle Obama want to come around and acknowledge that what we do is important and hard and offer to help in whatever small way they can, then I don't see a problem with that.
But I've watched with pride as this and other pro-nursing tidbits have surfaced in the news these last few weeks. In early February, a guard at the Smithsonian asked a woman to nurse her baby in the bathroom rather than on a museum bench. The poor lady went into the bathroom only to find no chairs available so then came back out to continue nursing. She was again confronted by the guard who told her to sit on a toilet seat to nurse! In response, hundreds of women staged a "nurse-in" at the museum. It turns out that there's actually a federal law that permits women to breastfeed anywhere on federal property so the guard was way out of line. The museum apologized. It's totally appalling and the thought of a 100 women sitting on museum benches baring their boobs totally filled me with awe. I've never thought of myself as a bra-burning feminist or anything (who has the energy these days) but a mom being told to go sit on a toilet seat and nurse her baby is the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a long time. Not long ago, a friend was telling me that she was visiting a company for a meeting and ran across a lady pumping in the bathroom because her workplace had no other place for her pump. Hearing about these things piss me off, and if the government wants to do anything to make things better for working mothers who nurse, I'm all for it.
Michelle Obama recently made breastfeeding awareness a part of her Move On! campaign, as studies have shown strong correlations between nursing and the prevention of obesity in both children and their mothers. The American Academy of Pediatrics strongly encourages nursing for the first 6 months of a child's life whenever possible. And the World Health Organization actually encourages it for the child's first 2 years (yah, so not happening here)! The health benefits of nursing are uncontested. So whenever I read about anything that makes nursing easier or about anyone that promotes it, I'm ecstatic. Who wouldn't be, right?
Well, guess who? Your friend and mine, Ms. Family Values herself, Sarah Palin. OMG, what the hell is this lady's problem. And what's frustrating is that anytime I read these news stories, there are a ton of haters in the comments. So clearly, she's not the only idiot out there. It's gotten to the point where I need to stop reading comments because they just make me so angry.
I don't get it, how does it hurt someone to have the government come out and say, hey, you should breastfeed if you're able and we're going to help in whatever small way we can. Because the thing is, breastfeeding is so HARD, and everyone bit of help is appreciated as far as I'm concerned. Recently I read a statistic that said that more than 75% of women start off trying to breastfeed, only about 40% are still at it at 6 months. The reason for this is that it's oh yah, did I mention that it's HELLA HARD? If I hadn't had the support of every single nurse at my hospital, several awesome lactation consultants, and my husband, I would have been tempted to quit too. I know for a fact that my hospital was particularly BF-friendly, and many are not.
To this day, no other aspect of being a mother has had me in more tears than nursing. When we first brought Diya home, she didn't latch properly (common among newborns). It's not like I knew any better than she did, so nursing was a frustrating task for both of us to say the least. She didn't suck well, so my milk didn't come in as quickly, so then I was trying to pump and feed her at the same time. So this is essentially how the first few weeks went. She wasn't gaining weight so her pediatrician wanted us to feed her every 2 hours night and day. Gregg and I were up feeding her every 2 hours. After she ate, I'd try to pump to clean myself out (so that my body would know to produce more milk). There were days in the beginning when I didn't have enough to feed her and had to give her formula. Not that there's anything wrong with that. The first 6 weeks of breastfeeding, our bodies change rapidly, I've since learned. But back then, those 2-3 days of formula felt like I was failing as a mother, because OMG, I couldn't even feed my kid. And then of course they tell you not to give your newborn bottles because they quickly learn to prefer that over the boob (it's much less work for the baby). So most experts will tell you to wait 3-4 weeks before introducing the bottle. But our kid had lost so much weight that they were considering hospitalizing her. So, still feeling like a failure but realizing that I needed to think about more than just myself, I pumped and we gave her bottled breast milk. And when she still seemed hungry but my body hadn't caught up yet to her appetite, we gave her those bottles of formula.
Everything settled down within a week or two. Diya learned to eat. I learned how to help her. It wasn't long before I had more milk than I knew what to do with, and I couldn't hear a baby crying without leaking all over myself. My point though is that those weeks were pretty hellish, and not just because we were waking up every 2 hours. I read these annoying comments hating on the IRS rule because "breastfeeding is free and natural, and what do you need expensive pumps for" and it pisses me off.
And now, months later, we've come to another crossroads with nursing. Now, the kid only wants the bottle because she's started drinking from them most of the time at daycare. And I struggle to keep up with her, pumping constantly at work. Nursing sessions these days again end up with both of us screaming and crying, as I once again start irrationally feeling like a failure as a mother (you know, losing out to a bottle and all). If I didn't have the flexibility to pump as needed at work, there'd be no way I could keep this up. My goal is still to transition her at one year from breast milk directly to whole milk (without using formula in between). But nothing about nursing has ever been easy, not for me, and not for most women that I know. A friend of mine often says that nursing is one of those things that she's worked so hard at but something that she'll never truly be appreciated for. I think she has it exactly right. And you know what, if the IRS and Michelle Obama want to come around and acknowledge that what we do is important and hard and offer to help in whatever small way they can, then I don't see a problem with that.
No comments:
Post a Comment