Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Breastfeeding: Lose Weight & Give Your Baby the Best Nature Has to Offer

My mommy friend Michelle is pregnant with her third child and has never breastfed before. She told me last week that she was thinking about nursing her next baby and had several questions about my experience. I realized that I never really wrote about nursing in my blog all that much and I decided that I would blog about my nursing experience over the next few days.

When I was pregnant with Ricky, I went crazy with the milkshakes. I had one just about every day. Needless to say, I gained about 45 pounds with that pregnancy. I knew nothing about nursing, but read so many good things about it that I was convinced to do it. Afterall, my mother nursed me for a few months and she offered me lots of encouragement.

Basically, when I gave birth, I knew very little about nursing, had some ups and downs, but enjoyed watching Ricky put on the pounds I was losing.

I lost all 45 pounds I had gained in my pregnancy in the 14 months I nursed him. It was a gradual loss and I lost the pounds without exercising - while eating lots of yummy fattening foods sitting on my couch!! In addition, we never spent a dime on formula and only used the few cans of samples we received in the hospital - Ricky wouldn't take a bottle so I really didn't have a choice there.

It was also a great bonding time for me with my baby boy. It was nice to know that I could comfort and feed him naturally, all snuggled up next to me.

Whenever a girlfriend asks me about nursing and asks if I recommend it, I always say YES. As long as you are determined to do it and your breasts produce milk, it's a great choice for mother and baby.

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