Leading Mama

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #32

It has been a tough week for the Air Force family. Losing wingmen in the war zone is a not-good fact of military life. Losing wingmen during operations on what seems like safe soil is unthinkable. My heart goes out to the families of the two Airmen shot and killed outside the Frankfurt airport in Germany.  This should not happen.

Join me on Sunday for this week's Sunday Standpoint. I will read and comment on all posts, and encourage you to comment away, too. The topic is "Every Mother is a Working Mother." Take a stand and link up.

 

And now for the MilSpouse Friday fill-in. Here's a little more about Leading Mama's military-wife life.

 

1.     Do you or your husband ever wish your husband was in a different branch of the military? submitted by The Turner Family

    I never wish Leading Man was in another branch of service. I like the Air Force. Leading Man has spent lots of time working for the Army in the last few years, and working for Marines in joint assignments (both at the Pentagon and in Afghanistan). He has great respect for the leadership style of many Army and Marine commanders. When he's really fed up with something at work, we joke about going blue to green. He's way too old to go blue to green now (24 years of service!), but it makes him smile to think about it!

 

2.     What duty station(s) are on your "No Way, Hell No, Not Going, Have Fun Unaccompanied" list and why? submitted by Every Branch

    I'd never say "no way, hell no, not going" but the deep south is not on my list of happy places. I'll go anywhere they send him, even if my hair is ruined by humidity, I can't stand sweet tea, and theyhave bugs the size of Chihuahuas running around. I would go. I would complain loudly. But I would go.

 

3.    If you could be one age forever, what age would you choose and why? submitted by Three Krakens

    Oooh, such a tough question. I'd say 35. Old

enough to know better and young enough to keep up with the kids.

 

4.     If you were a breakfast cereal, which one would you be? submitted by the C.W.

    Something sweet and nutty with an obnoxious crunch to it.

 

5.     What is your morning beverage of choice and why?  submitted by NH Girl Displaced

    Nonfat latte, double shot, no foam. WHY? Caffeine and calcium, silly. Two of my favorite substances. I like a good espresso buzz, and I'm trying to keep Little Mama from leaching all the calcium outta my bones with her 6-times-a-day breastmilk habit.

 

 

 

 

Breastfeeding Is Automatic (and Other Rookie-Mom Beliefs)

this post was inspired by a prompt from

 

The mystique of motherhood is powerful.

During pregnancy, I envisioned a sweet, milky-smelling baby with buttery-soft skin. I welcomed the cozy nighttime feedings that would allow me dream of the baby’s future while he drifted off to sleep in my arms. I wanted to be soft, warm, and comforting: the archetypal mother figure.

I’d educated myself about breastfeeding benefits and mechanics, and I (naively) believed it would all come naturally. Perhaps it was the propaganda educational video I saw in lactation class that made me think so. You know the one. The video with the genius baby who crawls up his mother’s bare bosom to nurse only minutes after birth, latches on snugly, and eats like there is no tomorrow.

In case you haven’t been appropriately brainwashed educated, you can watch it on YouTube. Lactation experts call this the breast crawl. Leading Mama takes issue with that.

I say the term “breast crawl” should be reserved for the thirsty breastfeeding mom who has barely enough energy to drag herself into the bathroom for a drink of water after the 3 a.m. feeding.

Let’s debunk the propaganda, shall we? My baby didn’t crawl to the breast and nurse. He bobbled at my side as I tried to figure out the best way to support his tiny body and wiggly head with one hand while supporting the weight of my too-ample bosom in the other. No perfect pillow made this easy-breezy. (sorry, Boppy, I wanted to love you!) And even when I figured out how to get his head at the right angle and his mouth in the right place, he didn’t latch on like a pro.

They took him to the nursery because he was breathing a bit too fast. I spent my nights cuddled up with a hospital-grade breast pump. Pumping didn’t lead me to dream about the baby’s future at all. Instead, I worried he’d fall in love with formula and reject my nurturing altogether. Worrying is, after all, the hallmark of motherhood.

Breastfeeding – in Leading Mama’s experience – is anything but automatic. I can recall going to the park with a friend about 3 weeks after my son was born. My friend – a seasoned mother of three – watched me nursing my son on a park bench and said (with audible pity) “Oh. You still have to use two hands .”

That’s how I knew I was a rookie mom.

Today I will tell you I believe breastfeeding is beautiful and healthy. I nursed my son until after his second birthday. I am nursing my daughter now.

Well, not right *NOW*. But I could.   

You see, after years of practice, I can nurse a baby while I blog or cook dinner or pay bills or paint my toenails. Well, maybe that last one is a stretch, but you get my point. 

Breastfeeding no longer requires me to use both hands and all my mental and emotional energy. It has become automatic. It feels natural. And that’s how I know I’m not a rookie anymore.