Before having my son I read an entire book on breastfeeding, cover to cover. It was a long book and I thought I knew it all. Right after giving birth, I stopped thinking I knew it all. Here are some things I wish I had known.

Pillows, Pillows, Pillows
You will need a lot of pillows. A lot of pillows. Did I mention a lot of pillows? Breastfeeding pillows don’t lift a newborn up high enough for proper positioning. It’s helpful to have an extra pillow under or on top of your breastfeeding pillow. You may also need pillows behind your back and under the sides of the breastfeeding pillow. I think I may have had four or five pillows that I positioned for every breastfeeding session. It may feel like you’re building a kindergarten-style pillow fortress every time you sit down to nurse your baby, but after a few weeks one pillow is all you will need. The awkward positioning of the first days will gradually turn into the natural-looking, pillow-free hold you imagined.

You need a drink!
No, not that kind. But you do need to keep yourself hydrated. Making milk takes water and that water comes from you, leaving you one thirsty mama. Bring a glass of water with you to your breastfeeding location or make your husband or other helper bring you one. My mom told me to pick a special glass or mug and make that the one I drank from while I was nursing. It was good advice. While you are waiting for your milk to come in or if your supply seems low drink a fenugreek tea. I like Organic Mother’s Milk® Tea from Traditional Medicinals®.

Be careful what you wish for.
You will have WAY too much milk at first – keep towels handy. When my milk came in, I could not get over my breasts and the way that they were the size of basketballs. I also couldn’t get over the way they managed to soak my clothes, bedsheets, furniture, and firstborn child. I had bought washable nursing pads thinking that they would be adequate for soaking up the few extra drops that might leak out. They did not survive the deluge. Neither did the several shirts a day that I soaked through. I recommend Johnson & Johnson disposable nursing pads for at home. They aren’t individually wrapped so they don’t travel well, but they are the most comfortable and absorbent ones I have found. Cloth diapers or burp rags also work if you just need to shove something in your shirt while the baby nurses on the other side. Oh yeah, that’s another thing I didn’t know about. When your baby is nursing on one breast, the other one will leak or even spray. Be prepared. It may be several months before you can break out the eco-friendly nursing pads without fear of having to change your shirt. It’s OK. I won’t tell the green police.

Hello, ladies
Be ready to kind of forget what caring about modesty feels like. Of course, birth will pretty much prepare you for this. Laugh at yourself. It’s fine. I did the first time I noticed I had been walking around the house (without pants) for hours with one breast exposed and a cloth diaper stuffed into the other side of my bra. Nursing tanks rock. No shirt lifting required and the bra is built in. Get at least three, but skip the white one for now. It will probably (definitely) get stained. Pants are optional.

Help!
I was very committed to breastfeeding but I was a big worrywart too. Soreness, pumping, milk supply, thrush, latch–the worrying went on and on. I had nothing to worry about. It was all fine and, most likely, it will be fine for you too. If you do have any problems, there is help out there. Many hospitals have lactation consultants that will see you and do an in-depth analysis of your problem even to the point of weighing your infant before and after feeding to see how much milk she is getting. La Leche League leaders are more than happy to help, day or night. They’ve been there, done that and have most likely heard it before. Give them a call. Talk to other moms, even ones you don’t know. If a stranger asked me about breastfeeding, I would talk all about it and not even think it was weird that a stranger asked me about breastfeeding. Seriously.

Breastfeeding is amazing. It’s sometimes silly, sometimes painful and often confusing. It is also always perfect, always beautiful and always worth it. Be ready to breastfeed. Seek out as much information as you can and then get ready to be surprised.

By Naomi Marotta

GIVEAWAY!! We are giving away one Glamourmom Transitions Tank. In order to enter, please comment below and tell us what surprised you about breastfeeding! Entries close at midnight on 4/17/10. Contest void where prohibited by law. It is the winner’s responsibility to contact us to claim their prize.

Winner of the Glamourmom Transistions Tank is KRISTINE (comment on 4/10 @ 6:10 pm). Congratulations and email us info@momsmilkboutique to claim your winnings! Only 204 more Natural Mama followers needed before we give away some more FREE diapers!!

Tags: breastfeeding, nursing tanks

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 11th, 2010 at 9:46 pm and is filed under breastfeeding, giveaway. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.