Dear Health Canada, You're Killin' Me

Feeding your baby is the most natural thing in the world. So it should happen naturally, right? WRONG.

In the magazines and complimentary books published and distributed by our tax dollars, the new mother is cradling the new bundle of joy at her bosom with a look of serenity. She looks far away into the distance, cherishing the most beautiful and intimate bond between mother and child. Somehow this just doesn't equate to me, with purple bags under my eyes and a haggard ponytail/bun atop my head, juggling the baby from side to side and wincing in pain.

Throughout the pregnancy, one is bombarded with the sentiment that "Breast Is Best". The pressure to nurse is intense. I fully understand that nursing your baby is beneficial to the child both physically and emotionally. But if it's so darn important, why didn't anyone tell me that it would be the most difficult part of being a new mom?

I read books. I looked up information online. I watched video animations of faceless cartoon babies latching efficiently onto their mothers. For us, it was just not so simple.

Thinking back to all of those times in my life that I felt sorry for the women whose nipples always showed right through their t-shirts, I now realize that there is a great equilibrium in life. Sure, they cursed their fashion challenges revolving around their pointy nipples, but when it came time to feed their babies, they had 'er made in the shade.

I don't feel the need to elaborate in detail the challenges that I faced during the nine months that I nursed my daughter. I mean, let's be honest. There's a limit to graphic content that even I must respect. I will say, however, that if you have sat in agony while nursing your baby, maybe even cried during the feedings, and had your own personal battles of temptation to give up, you are not alone.

Eve's dad came to me with a bottle of formula and practically begged me to give in. It was tough to watch us struggle. I refused to give up. There was, to date, nothing in my life that I really really wanted to do that I had given up on. I wasn't about to start now.

It took me about four months to get to the point where feeding the baby became "routine". Up until then, it was a big ordeal. Then one day I realized that it was working, and it was not a monumental task as it had been in the past. Feeding the baby 8-10 times a day for 4 months equals about 450 times. Maybe sheer repetition was on my side.

Once the kid grew her bottom teeth, there was wincing. Once the top teeth came in, there was pinching which eventually evolved to biting. And that, my friends, was the beginning of the end of nursing for this mom.

We went till nine months. Health Canada recommends to breastfeed until the age of "2 years or longer".

Ahem.