The Magical bond

“Breastfeeding is a mother's gift to herself, her baby and the earth”- Pamela K. Wiggins

I have always known that mothers are protective when it comes to their children. In fact, a mommy gets extra super power when she has to go far and beyond to protect her child. This fierce love, I believe comes from the bond between the mother and the baby which begins right after birth. For whatever reason, I began bonding with my baby only a few days post-birth, after making sense of reality by digesting the fact that ‘I have a baby of my own, yippee’

Breastfeeding is a concept which has both confused and baffled me to a considerable extent. I was told that that breastfeeding plays an important role in strengthening mom-baby bond. Once the baby is born, it’s stuck at mother’s breast for ten to twelve times per day for months to come as the baby survives purely on mother’s milk.

My experience with breastfeeding has been rather blissful, not to mention that it’s also been a bumpy road. Initially, it was daunting to have the baby at my breast so often. In fact, I was surprised that a baby had to eat so often to stay alive. When the doctor said that I’d have to feed him every two to three hours, I was thinking, “Is he gonna eat that often? Whoa, when am I going to sleep?” I needn’t have worried because sleep was not the only cause for concern.

As I battled my way through day and night, I tried to get a hang of how to deal with this baby who thought it was a good idea to have milk and then let out high pitched cries to confuse me further. Add in more troubles – sore nipples, slow milk supply, engorgement, mom learning to help baby latch, baby learning to latch – phew, whoever said that being a mom was hard task said it true. The initial weeks were little nightmarish and scary. Yep, I was scared of my little one. Don’t be fooled by their tiny frame, they can cry a lot. A LOT.

Thanks to the makers of products such as breast pumps, nipple shields, breast pads, nursing pillow which helped me immensely in keeping my milk supply intact and also develop a healthy breastfeeding relationship. These made my life easier.

More often than not, I have scared myself by wondering if my baby was getting enough or not. I have scrambled up my fingers on google so often during mid-nights with my head bombarding with worries. Isn’t that what most first time mothers do? But I would remind myself with what my MIL tells me so often. Every mother makes milk, she simply has to want to feed her baby. I am not sure how far that could be true, but it has worked for me for the major part. Of course, what also worked was having my mother around to feed me with ample food to be able to in turn feed the baby.

Lately, doctors recommend breastfeeding exclusively for the first six months of baby’s life which is not easy at all. Getting out of the house is simply not an easy task. It’s surely not impossible, I have tried quite a few times and failed miserably too when my husband had to rush home with the baby screeching from the car seat. But I learned lessons and now I am a pro at dealing with the baby. Yep, I win a few times now and then.

I have been doing well so far but I get deviated quite often with the want of buying myself some freedom. Whenever I find myself surrounded with conflicting thoughts, I try to read the benefits of breastfeeding so that I am able to keep my commitment alive. Breastfeeding is probably one of the best gifts we can give our babies.

 I have no idea if these benefits really make a difference or not because there are mothers who don’t breastfeed for too long and still have healthy babies growing up. But what probably matters is the bond – to think that only we women can actually experience this bond makes us the luckier lot, aren’t we?

It is blissful to have baby close to you as he feeds and looks into your eye with the growing familiarity that you are the one who keeps him alive. That forms the magical bond. And to think that the bond grows stronger with each passing day is one of the nature’s surprising ways.

About the Author : Chital Mehta loves to explore new books. After becoming a mother, she started this blog to share her experiences as a mother. Apart from being busy with her baby, she makes times for writing, reading and watching movies. She has authored 4 fiction novels. You can find details on her facebook page :Chital Mehta facebook

Write to her : chitalmehta1987@gmail.com