Letter to a New Mother about Breastfeeding

February 28, 2017 by Drafts & Crafts

Breastfeeding is the craziest rollercoaster-of-a journey that I ever could have imagined. I have been feeling inspired by all of my mama friends stories and struggles and felt like I needed to write this letter to any new mother. 

photo by Verance Photography 

 

Dear New Mama,

Congratulations on your sweet baby. Each baby is a gift from God and I hope you cherish this miracle. Your body took on a great challenge and grew your own human!! Be kind to yourself for months to come and remember is took 9 months to grow that precious angel.  You now have the best job AND the most important job in the entire world. Your job is not to breastfeed your baby, your job is not to choose formula for your baby, but your job is to take care of that baby until they are an adult. Your job is to pour love into that little person’s soul even on the hardest days. Your job is to be a kind and gentle mama, even when the rest of the world is cruel.

Breastfeeding a baby for the first time is a LONG journey. It is something that starts off slow and challenging. I had no idea just how much it would test my patience. There were both days and nights that I wanted to give up. There were days filled with tears. There were days that I was mad at my baby for not latching correct. New mama, remember each day is a new day and IT WILL get better. It will get better whether you continue to breastfeed, it will get better if you decide to exclusively pump, and it will get better if you formula feed your baby. Your identity as a mother is NOT in the method you decide to feed your baby. No one on this earth has the right to judge your method. Why? Because YOU ARE THE MOTHER of your child. And ONLY YOU know what will work best for you and your baby.

I learned that quickly. I believe as a new mother, I had this idea in my head about what our feedings should look like and it is really hard when they are not pretty and perfect. Most likely, it is not going to be pretty for several weeks, maybe even several months like my case. But finally it got better. After your baby is a toddler, no one will even care if you formula fed OR exclusively pumped OR breastfed your baby. All that matters is that you feed your baby and nourish them well. I am here to tell you that breast is not always best. Whatever works for you and your baby is best.  My hope is that all new mothers give themselves tons of grace and remember that no matter what you decide, you are doing your BEST.

I previously wrote a post about breastfeeding in the beginning of my exclusively pumping journey if you would like to read it. I am still pumping twice a day and starting to come to the end of my journey. I will write my final feeding update in Tanner’s 1 year birthday update post. I would love any feedback and love to hear your feeding journey, if you would like to share. I hope every mother knows they are enough!!

Keep in touch,
Dani