I am constantly
bewildered at the range of products designed to help me commemorate my children.
I've managed to resist most of them, my small concession being a mug for each of the children with a slightly smeary newborn footprint
on it and even that felt like an overblown, if reassuringly functional, gesture.
All of which goes to demonstrate how entirely
sensible it is that last week I had a breastfeeding photo shoot. Because nothing says understated celebration like having a
full lighting set-up to capture your boobs out in public.
I hadn't done it before because I
don’t radiate effortless earth mother charm and I nurse with an SNS, both of
which disqualify me from being Pinterest worthy.
Also, I'm British, and we don’t
go bundles on professionally photography unless it involves uncomfortably stiff
family poses and plain curtain backgrounds.
It took something on the scale of
Miss Olive’s nursing strike to scare me into action. It made me realise that
what we have is fragile and hard won and deserved to be celebrated before we moved on to the next stage of our lives.
She is my last child after all*
A big thank you goes to Sharyn for being
talented enough to turn my waffle into a reality and Southern Cross who
were awesome enough to lend me their kick-ass function room.
* I'm allowed to play that card at least once a month.
* I'm allowed to play that card at least once a month.
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The Maybe Diaries was shortlisted for a Brilliance in Blogging 2014 Inspire Award. Thank you SO MUCH for your support.
And what nice boobs you have too!
ReplyDeleteYou're very kind! I have come to the conclusion that nursing is better than any push up bra.
DeleteSns nursing for 5 months now and so proud of baby Iggy Marlowe and me! Would love some tips... I hope to breastfeed as long as possible so anything you could let us know that could help!? You've been such an inspiration for us! To finally find images we can identify to! Thanks
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting and good work on five months, that's an amazing achievement!!! I have done a couple of YouTube videos about tips, and a demo of us using the SNS last week if that might be of help?
DeleteTips are here - http://youtu.be/jZIihsJ8Pto?list=UUtSfaoqHJrIpLebmX3ujxyQ
The Demo video is here - http://youtu.be/ONS8cyBmbww
And if you need any specific help, just shout and we can do a Skype session some time :)
And once again, kudos mama, you're doing an amazing job!
I am surprised how much this photo moved me. Thank you for sharing it with the world. My baby is 11months old, and we are still using the SNS. It makes me proud to see someone else with an older baby 'living the dream'. Now my only challenge is figuring out how to wean off of it as we really do not need it anymore for nutrition, it is just a comfort thing and now a crutch in the night. Have you weaned? How did it go for you?
ReplyDeleteHi Dawn,
DeleteI'm so glad you liked the photo, and for commenting, it's lovely to have contact with another SNS mama!
Miss Olive is now 19 months and we still use the SNS daily. As you say, after the age of 1 nursing is less about nutrition than it is about connecting, so these days we just have one feed in the evening while she falls asleep.
Sorry I can't be much help on weaning, my instant inclination was to go to Kellymom http://kellymom.com/category/ages/weaning/ which I think applies as much to us as it does to any other nursing mama.
Good luck!
Lovely to see other Mamas using the Sns. I used mine with my second child until just before he turned 3 and he continued to nurse until my tiny drops of milk finally were all dried up just over a year ago. He was right about 4 and a half. I couldn't have imagined he'd have nursed so long or that I'd have ever been okay with it lasting that long. I know somehow that my lack of a full supply had a hand in my desire to hold on and make sure he got as many drops as possible. The weaning was a bit tough. He couldn't understand just where the milk had suddenly gone. I was sobbing that night and the poor thing asked What I was doing and if it was going to make milkies for him. Oh child, if mommy's tears could make milk we'd have been swimming in a river of liquid gold! :)
ReplyDeleteGood for you, Natasha, for getting a proper photo shoot. I sure wish now that I had but I've got a good amount of selfies along the journey and I treasure them.
There is a great Web page that has some humor and a good amount of info. "How to have a better than hate-hate relationship with your SNS ("snuss")" by Mari Watanabe. I want to share it far and wide in case anyone is on the verge of giving up and it may be able to help keep them hanging in there. It sure was a catalyst for me in the early days.
Sending much love to my fellow SNS mom's out there! You are amazing! :) Keep paying it forward. The knowledge about the SNS can be difficult to come by sometimes.
Ivee
Hi Ivee,
DeleteSorry it has taken me a while to reply to your comment.
I keep having moments with my youngest where I can't believe that we are still nursing. Every night we tuck up in bed and she has an SNS full of milk before she falls asleep. I make a very conscious decision not to be distracted during those feeds because at 2.5, I will never know that it is the last feed until the next day, and the next, when she lies down and sleeps without me.
Thank you so much for the link to that page, I will be checking it out for sure and hopefully I will share it in a future post because like you say, it can be hard to get the right info sometimes!
Stay groovy mama
Tash
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