This week MAS and I went to two breastfeeding groups.
One was at Gumbo, a children's store/babyspace on Atlantic Avenue in Boreum Hill, Brooklyn. Run by Andrea Syms-Brown, a NY certified lactation consultant, the group was really hands-on and informal: there was only one other woman there and so we both got to share our stories and seek advice.
The other group was a La Leche League meeting on the Upper West Side. Now, I'm dedicated to breastfeeding MAS for twelve months past his due date but even for me this group was a bit crunchy... Things that struck me as odd: 1) a woman nursing a two year old was given a hard time when she sought advice about weaning and was told that most kids self-wean?!; 2) the leader said that because breastmilk was the perfect food vitamins weren't necessary....
Still, it was nice to be able to meet with othe breastfeeding moms, especially since our path to exlusive nursing has been so hard.
I mean things are going well now, but its been a very very long road. Since he was so born so early, he was at first fed via umbilical IV, then central line, then gavage tube, then bottle.
We finally learned to nurse with the help of a lactation consultant named Freda Rosenfeld after we left the NICU. Only after weeks of exercises and the use of, then careful weaning off of, a breastshield did we get to our current exclusive breastfeeding state.
And now? Last week, after a particularly long feeding I cooed to MAS, "You just love the boobies, dontcha?" After which I swear to god the kid winked at me.
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