Ramblings on Breastfeeding...

I've concluded that when women get together the talk inevitably centers around men and boobs. Ha ha...

A good evening out with the gal pals tonight. I might post more on that in another entry, but this post is dedicated to one topic of our entertaining conversation: breastfeeding.

Somehow we got on the topic of breastfeeding and how some women are just so open and free about the whole act in public places. The four of us are single, ranging in age from early to mid 30's, with me being the only one who has had extended exposure around infants and toddlers, so a lot of conception, pregnancy, birth and discipline stuff isn't too foreign to me. But it's funny to hear my gal pals talk sometimes about these topics because it's so obvious they haven't had much exposure or "real" discussions on these topics with women who have gone through all of that. I guess this is another reason to be thankful for having sisters! :-)

MN mentioned something about a former manager who recently gave birth. This person would pump in her office on a regular basis. This is generally not a big deal since our work environment is family friendly (with lactation rooms provided), except for the fact that our offices HAVE GLASS DOORS! So once she walked around the corner to talk to this manager and... Hel-LO! There was her manager, boob exposed and all. Hmm...what was she thinking?? "Hmmm...Lemme close this GLASS DOOR to get some privacy"?? Yikes! I mean, maybe she thought the office was deserted, or maybe she just didn't care? I dunno...

And can you imagine being in a meeting with her when you've got this image in your mind? Too weird!

But then it reminded me of this one dinner party I went to in my early 20's where this gal sitting next to me just proceeded to breastfeed her baby at the dinner table. Out came her boob and she just continued on with the conversation as if it was no big deal. So here we were, a group of 8 men and women sitting around this table eating dinner, chatting and trying our best to act like all was normal, when CLEARLY IT WAS NOT!! I remember I was quite shocked and unsure of what to make of the situation. But that was in my early 20's.

Then, in my mid-20's when my sister had my nephew, we were out on a roadtrip of sorts and my nephew really started to cry because we were a little late with his feeding. So in the middle of this tourist place, my sister whips out her boob and proceeds to breastfeed. Of course she was a bit discreet by putting a blanket over her, but I remember asking her if we could find a more secluded spot and her response was, "hey, my baby needs to eat", and that was that. Out came her boob. I just about died on the spot.

But now, as I've entered my ... umm ... "later" 20's :-p, I realize what a beautiful thing it is to have children and what an amazing thing the human body is, and more specifically, the human FEMALE body. What's more amazing is the "truer" understanding of our capacity to love. When my nephew was born I was overwhelmed with the love I felt for him and he wasn't even 'mine'! I knew it would just be so, so, SO much more awesome when I have children of my own someday.

Anyway, the whole breastfeeding thing...it still embarrasses me, but I can really appreciate it now. :-)

Ask me for my thoughts on breastfeeding after I have children sometime, and I just might offer you a seat at the dinner table next to baby and me. ;-P