Thought on Breastfeeding at the End of my Second Trimester

August 2, 2018

Next weeks marks the 3rd trimester and only 13ish weeks before we meet this next child face to face.

Having successfully nursed my first born for 17 months you'd think I would be ready and raring to go on this one, but not so much.


You see, I know what goes into it. I monitored my calorie intake, fat intake, water intake. I spent so much time hooked up to a pump all the while using hand massage techniques to help with my pumping output. When Harrison finally started sleeping through the night I took advantage of that big supply I had at 2AM and continued to get up at that time just to pump more milk. It was exhausting to work full time, have to supply milk for a sitter, and nurse when I was home.

Lest we also not forget, mama doesn't possess the ability to miss bedtime for over a year.

Our kids will go on all of our dates for the unforeseen future. Unless there's a sitter that doubles at a wet nurse out there. But still, I refused to pump in the car or at a restaurant. I'd rather just nurse the baby and carry it along.

To do all of this again, supplements, tracking macros, water intake galore, pumping... it's an exhausting thought.

But I do it so that 1) my child gets breastmilk 2) it saves us so much money and 3) it's such a nice chance to cuddle my baby, especially since I have to work out of the home.

I'm not at all concerned with pumping so other people can feed the baby. You will never see my pump for a time that I could just as easily whip a boob out. The fact that someone else wants to feed the baby, the them I say "you fed your own, this one is mine." It might not go the same for men, but the extra cuddles are my reward for not sleeping throughout a pregnancy because the child would start kicking at random times. Or reward for how sick I was, or all the blood test... and hello, childbirth.

So while parts of me dread the work that goes into breastfeeding a second baby, I also look forward to the forced time to sit. I'm not a sitter. Usually I'm up doing something around the house.

The only real downside to nursing this second baby... my husband has figured me out.

It was well over a year before he really participated in the bedtime routine, I didn't encourage it. Then one day he waltzes in only to find out just how cuddly Harrison was at bedtime and I have yet to shake him. He's now a bedtime fixture... except that Harrison is no longer cuddly. He's more of a maniac.

So, new baby. Might as well be brand new everything. I know I'll have to relearn the whole shabang... except my art of hiding out to nurse. Because that's mama's time.