Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Bu – Theresa and William







My breastfeeding story is sweet, simple, and uncomplicated - much like my pregnancies and natural births of my two children. I breastfed my first until we had a mutual separation at 14, 15 months - then we bonded in other ways. I read The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding cover to cover several times, was a card-carrying member of La Leche League of Irving, and had a LLL leader friend in my contacts list whenever I had questions about breastfeeding. I was passionate about breastfeeding, and had such a wonderful experience breastfeeding my daughter; I wondered why more people didn't breastfeed. Of course we had some issues - some engorgement, some sore nipples, pumping issues, weight gain issues. Nothing serious, but learning curves all - but isn't that how things are with children, anyway?



So when I had William, my second, I thought I knew everything I needed to know about breastfeeding. They told me that even if I know how to nurse a baby, that the baby would take some time to learn - and he did. Once he nailed the latch though, there was no turning back. At the time these photos were taken, William was 13 months - he is now 16 months, a busy, happy, healthy boy who always comes back to his mama for milk.

William is an easily distracted baby - his personality is dynamic and loud, so to get him to calm down enough to nurse, I sit in our rocking chair in his room with the lights dimmed, blinds closed, and we nurse. We cuddle and I stroke his cheek. It's one of the sweetest moments in life.
 
 
My favorite breastfeeding memory with William is his word for nursing. In Vietnamese, the word for nursing is "bu" - pronounced "boo." This was one of William's first discernible words, and the way he says it just gets me! It sounds like, "boooo?" in this sweet, high-pitched baby voice. He also signs "milk" while he's nursing. I love these sweet ways he shows me that he understands our breastfeeding relationship, and I look forward to sharing many more of these memories with him as he grows into toddlerhood.


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