I wish I could share that my breastfeeding story was smooth and perfect and the most amazing experience. That is not what you will read here.
I am very modest. So, when I first found out I was pregnant, the idea of breastfeeding (especially in public) didn’t go over too well in my mind. What if my baby flings the nursing cover and exposes me to the world? What if my baby is loud and lets the entire restaurant know exactly what is going on?
Then, there were other questions like: what if I can’t get my baby to latch? What if he doesn’t get enough milk? All the questions that ran through my head were already making me feel like I was going to fail.
So, lo and behold, day one of breastfeeding was awkward.
First, nurses were in and out of the room while I’m fumbling to latch my son. So, I had to mentally block my emotions of feeling weird about being exposed to everyone and for having a nurse help me latch my son.
I like to describe nursing kind of like when I was learning to play string bass. My fingers were not use to pressing the giant strings down to make beautiful, musical notes. Practicing daily caused my fingers to develop calluses which were necessary for it not to hurt anymore.
That’s what happens to your nipples.