When I got pregnant, I knew I already wanted to breastfeed.
Honestly, the main reason why I wanted to do it was that I wanted to lose weight… fast! I’ve been overweight for most of my life and when I was able to achieve the weight that I was happy about, I wanted to keep it. Then I got pregnant. I vowed to go back to losing weight after giving birth. Reading a lot of stories about moms losing weight very fast because of breastfeeding inspired me so much, I committed to it ed-hrvatski.com.
More than 8 months after giving birth, 10kgs more than my pre-pregnancy weight, and still breastfeeding. I gained instead of losing. haha! But I’m still breastfeeding and proud of it. Here are the reasons why?
It is cheap.Â
Do you know how much formula milk costs nowadays? While I know I can afford one and hell, I would definitely buy one if my boobs aren’t functional, I didn’t want to, because, guess what? “Breastmilk is best for babies up to two years and beyond” -All formula packagings have this on them.
It is healthy.
I’ve read that a baby will get sick 8-12 times before their first year. We’re on the 8th month and my baby only got sniffles 3 times. Two of them was because of the temperature drop (From the hot weather of the Philippines to the cold weather of Serbia. Then the switch from Summer to Autumn). The other one she had recently was because of teething. Her paediatrician never prescribed any medicine because according to her, my baby’s sniffles weren’t that bad and that my milk is powerful enough to protect her. I have never given any meds nor synthetic vitamins to her. (Well, we’ll have to start on Vitamin D drops since we are getting fewer and fewer sun as winter approaches.)
I didn’t have to wash bottles (or buy so many)
Whenever I see mom-friends who post a number of bottles they need to wash and sterilize every day, I always tell myself that I’m glad I didn’t have to. For someone who didn’t like doing the dishes (like me), this is good! During my baby’s early months, when she barely allows us to sleep, I was so glad none of us needed to get up in the wee hours of the morning to make milk. I can’t imagine how formula feeders survived this: Get up, heat water, make milk, feed, burp. When you’re about to close your eyes, your baby will cry and you’ll have to do it again.
What I do is just pop out one boob and let baby latch. I didn’t even need to stand up even after feeding to burp (because I don’t need to unlike bottle-fed babies who has to). I actually learned to feed half asleep, so I get as much rest as I need. Nowadays, my baby knows how to pull up my shirt and find my boob. I don’t even need to wake up.
We didn’t have to carry so much when we go out.
When we were going out with my sisters and their babies, their bags were usually heavy with several baby bottles, powdered milk, a jug of distilled water, and so many other stuff. Our bag only contains a burp cloth, diapers, and change of clothes. Most of the time, we don’t even bring the bag. When she gets hungry, I just find somewhere I could sit comfortably then I give her the boob. Easy peasy!
My boobs are 2 cup sizes bigger
This is serious. hahaha! I was relying on push up bras before to show some cleavage. When I got pregnant, I had to buy bras that are a cup size bigger because I couldn’t fit into my old ones. Now, I had to buy another cup size bigger because I couldn’t breathe into my pregnancy bras. I now have cleavage even without underwires. I seriously dread going back to my old size when my baby starts weaning. Maybe I’ll get pregnant again when she does (oops, in two years time? hehe!).
There are so many other reasons why I am thankful that I stuck to my commitment to breastfeeding, more serious than the last one I shared. With all the benefits you could get, you really should, too.
