pregnancy, the breast things in life are free

I (heart) my boobs

I just gotta state for the record that I’ve got TERRIFIC boobs. I didn’t say terrific-looking boobs so you can stop staring, thank you very much. They’re terrifically productive, and they’ve come a long way from the days of being nice-but-completely-useless. Not only have they matched the demand of my milk drinking machine, they have stepped up and far exceeded expectations by producing way more than needed. I’m up to 8 bottles of extras so I can go out galavanting for a whole day without worrying that she will starve to death.

I have waited for this day for so long that all I could do this morning was to open my fridge door and admire the milk bottles all lined up neatly in a row.

milk-bottles

Now that I’ve officially joined the league of milkmaids all around the world and I can heave a sigh of relief because it means I’m not a bad mother, I’ve gotta say that society these days are not kind to breasts. I mean, you don’t see any other body parts coming under such intense scrutiny, like “Oh, your little pinky can’t fit into your ear canal? That’s terrible and you’re now less of a human being.” Or “OMG your nose isn’t producing enough mucus? Maybe you should get a nose job.”

The moment i got preggers, it seemed the whole world was interested in my boobs. I had lactation consultants manhandling them and complete strangers asking if you was successful at breastfeeding. Even the old lady who lives next door had a detailed and mildly inappropriate conversation about them when she walked past and saw me expressing milk. Ok see, where I grew up, my breasts are no one else’s business but mine and NOBODY talks about them, much less touch them.

While I was stuck at the hospital for 27 hours, I was bombarded with tacky posters of how BREASTFEEDING IS THE ONLY WAY and the evil formula was going to make my baby self-destruct. Except that I already have a baby who survived on formula milk and he seems to be doing fine (fine being relative because he likes to eat dirt a lot, which might not be the case had I given him breast milk). But even then, I felt terribly guilty all the time for not being able to breastfeed him, like I was shortchanging him or something.

And the husband will tell you that I went through a completely irrational phase of blaming *everything* on formula. He catches a cold, it’s because of formula. Can’t sleep, formula. Can’t eat, also formula. For a while, I was beating myself up everyday for not feeding him the all-powerful breast milk.

It used to really get to me, especially when folks who found out I didn’t breastfeed him gave this sympathetic-but-it’s-all-your-fault look and proceeded to berate me on the benefits of breast milk. It took every ounce of my self control and then some to not stab them and feed them their own guts. I KNOW BREAST IS BEST (the person who came up with that cheesy line should be beheaded by the Dear Leader himself), but there was a time when they were broken and refused to work.

So you can understand why I’m so proud of the fact that they’re fixed and no longer spoilt. And why I’ve got to shout it from the rooftops, so everyone will stop asking me if I’m breastfeeding, and going on and on about why it’s the elixir of life.

PS. I know I said breast/boobs 12 times in this post and if you’re conservative about that sort of thing, BREAST BREAST BREAST BREAST BREAST.  For good measure.

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13 Comments

  • Reply kless September 2, 2009 at 11:50 am

    CONGRATTTSSSSS!!!!!

  • Reply jude September 2, 2009 at 1:05 pm

    Congrats!!!
    I feel guilty from thinking about formula.
    Hope I can be successful too… when the time comes.
    .-= jude´s last blog ..Pix that make me go… Ooohhh… =-.

  • Reply Steph September 2, 2009 at 6:57 pm

    BOOOOOOOBS!

    Just wanted to add to the count!

    …stopping by from SITS…

    Steph @ Stick It in the Fridge

    pleasestickitinthefridge.blogspot.com
    .-= Steph´s last blog ..A Little Better…Kinda. =-.

  • Reply RW @ TrueBeauty September 3, 2009 at 12:44 am

    Just stopping by from SITS! Great Blog!
    Happy Wednesday!
    Come over and check out my 5 DAYS of GIVE-A-WAYS!
    http://truebeautyinsideandout.blogspot.com
    .-= RW @ TrueBeauty´s last blog ..5 Days of Give-A-Ways: Day 3 – Scrapper? =-.

  • Reply Amy September 3, 2009 at 6:30 am

    stoppin’ by from sits- had to come say hi when i saw your roll call comment! :) also because you did a link in the comment and i was just wondering how to do that… so i must figure it out because now i know it’s possible. gosh, sometimes i still feel so new to this blogging world even though i’ve been here for a while!

    and, although i’ve never been pregnant- i appreciate what you’re seeing here… and can say i don’t look forward to everyone wanting to talk and touch, ah, i need my personal space.
    .-= Amy´s last blog ..it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… =-.

    • Reply Daphne September 4, 2009 at 4:57 pm

      @Amy, You just need to place your URL in HTML code, I’ll drop you an email with details. =)

  • Reply kelly September 3, 2009 at 9:03 am

    hi there! visiting from SITS and decided to become a follower! love other mommy bloggers! come give me a visit!

    http://www.speakingfromthecrib.com/
    .-= kelly´s last blog ..MOTHMOM PROPHECIES OR MOM VS. MOTH =-.

  • Reply Denesa September 8, 2009 at 10:12 pm

    You expressed it so funnily when you mentioned about your “abilities” LOL.

    From a fellow Singaporean mother blogger
    http://parentimes.com
    .-= Denesa´s last blog ..Our Experience – Professional Video Shooting =-.

  • Reply If all goes well, I should be able to have my boobs back April 13, 2010 at 10:50 pm

    […] Finally, it’s time. But first, I need to congratulate myself for sticking through nine months of exclusive breastfeeding, and also my boobs for really stepping up and delivering. […]

  • Reply Finally, a website dedicated to making more babies April 30, 2010 at 2:49 pm

    […] sometimes it sends you on a wild goose chase to sites like this one when all you want to know is whether it’s normal for your boobs to be spraying milk. (BTW, it’s totally normal, and there, I totally answered your question. You’re welcome.) […]

  • Reply Supersex: the parent edition | MOTHER, INC. February 24, 2011 at 11:37 am

    […] a lot more effort and advanced planning, while dealing with exhaustion, postpartum depression, leaky boobs, cramps, fussy babies and a whole lot of tension. Seeing how we’ve been conditioned to think […]

  • Reply Chu yee May 23, 2011 at 3:53 pm

    Hi Daphne,

    How did u manage to increase your supply by just solely expressing? I have e same problem as you and am trying desperately to increase my supply to meet my baby’s demand. Now I only manage to fulfill his daytime needs.

    How I wish I can stack up a fridge full of milk like you…

    • Reply Daphne May 23, 2011 at 4:25 pm

      Hi Chu yee,

      I had some difficulty with my milk supply at first too and I tried every trick in the book so I’m not sure what worked. Besides pumping regularly, I took fenugreek, the papaya fish soup, a lot of fish and a lot of milk and other liquids.

      I heard massaging helps too, maybe you can try everything, you never know what ends up working for you. =)

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