Bottle Feeding
After my second child was born, I decided I wanted my boobs back. It was a long journey, learning I deserved my boobs. Everyone had been telling me they belonged to my babies since my daughter was born three years ago. I tried breastfeeding her, but stopped when she didn't gain weight. I felt less guilty about my first attempt than my second effort with my son. After all, he wasn't losing weight yet — no more than a normal newborn, anyway. He started at a healthy 9 lbs 7 oz, so he wasn't exactly wasting away.
And breastfeeding was apparently the pinnacle of motherhood. All the mothering tomes I read disagreed on many things — co-sleeping, solid foods, how to remove beans from the nose — but on one subject they were unanimous: if you didn't breastfeed, you were obviously a lazy bon-bon-eating mommy who couldn't be bothered to properly nourish your baby. How could anyone possibly want anything but the best for her baby? And indisputably, the best thing was breastfeeding... Read more from Tricia Grissom's personal essay "Straight to the Bottle: I chose not to breastfeed."
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