A bit of venting...

I fully intend to write a longer, more cheerful post at some point in the near future, but something is just bugging the devil out of me and I've got to vent.

I should make a sign to wear or just tattoo this somewhere on my face: "I believe that babies should be breastfed exclusively. I believe that ALL WOMEN can breastfeed their babies. DO NOT talk to me about why you 'can't' breastfeed your baby. I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR your excuses, and I AM HEARTBROKEN for your baby that you make horrible choices for his/her nutrition."

There is a girl that works at the same place I do, that is a young, single mother who was pregnant at the same time as me. I don't really talk to her too much as she tends to be a little high-strung for my taste. She came to work a few days after her baby was born and we passed over the topic of breastfeeding, and she said she wasn't going to. I do not know of a tactful way to urge people I don't know well to breastfeed. I tend to get confrontational when faced with excuses for not doing so, especially because these excuses tend to stem from ignorance, so I kept my mouth shut. Her baby is now 5 weeks old and I ran into her at work today. She began a conversation by asking me, "How much does your baby weigh?" I replied, "Oh, last check, about 16.5 pounds." She says, "My baby is 10 pounds [some-odd] ounces." (I wasn't really paying attention.) I said something non-committal like, "Oh, really?" Then she goes on to say that some friend of hers's baby is [some amount of time] older than her own and he doesn't even weigh 9 pounds or something. I said something to the effect of all babies being different, at which point she replies, "Well, we're feeding him stuff we're not supposed to. We feed him applesauce, and baby cereal." This baby is Five. Weeks. Old. She continues about how it helps him sleep at night, and he had been eating like, "every 2 hours". "Well," I said, "their tummies are very small, so that's quite normal." But then she said how much happier he is. I am so dumbfounded I can't even put together a complete sentence at this point. I think I said something like, "Well, you're happier" as I booked it out of there before I went off on her.

I do not get this. Where does this logic come from? I really wish women would educate themselves. I am so sick of hearing about these babies who are given all this extra "food" (if you want to call formula that) in the effort to make them sleep longer! And that doctors recommend it without trying to get to the bottom of why a breastfeeding baby is having trouble, if that's the reason (if they even tried it to begin with). I was talking about this with my friends Jim Bob and Cindy and how it's just basically putting them into food coma. It makes me sick about these babies getting empty calories or inferior products because their parents are either uneducated, do not care, or are just plain lazy! Human milk for human babies, people! God made our bodies to do it, but it's not easy! It's hard work to teach a mama and a baby to become an efficient breastfeeding pair, but it's so worth it! Take Max for instance. I never once entertained a thought of not breastfeeding him, but it was a lot of work at the beginning. He had to have a chiropractic adjustment in order to be able to latch on correctly, and I also had to meet with a lactation consultant. These people are worth their weight in gold.

At the pharmacy where I work, the door to get in is right next to the Great Wall O' Formula, and I shudder every time I go in or out. I guess people nowadays are just believing what they are spoon-fed by the mass media, doctors, and marketing giants as to how they should feed their child. It's just ridiculous, and I wish I could make a difference. I am just so incensed by it I tend to step on people's toes. I guess I either need to get over stepping on people's toes or figure out a way to educate people in a tactful and loving way. It is, after all, for the babies. They are the ones benefiting or suffering from a poor choice made by the parent.

That's all. I wish I could say I feel better now, but I don't. Ugh.