04/08/2022
Wherever you are in your feeding journey right now,
someone is there with you.
The mother breastfeeding beside you at your antenatal group. Maybe sheโs making it look easy, but it hasnโt been easy for her.
It took a lot of learning, patience and dedication to get to where they are right now. Sheโs up and down all night, sometimes she doesnโt leave the couch, sheโs tired and touched out, but she wouldnโt change it. They made it together.
It isnโt easy.
The mother pulling out her formula dispenser across from you at the doctors while her baby fusses. Sheโs been busy sterilizing bottles, trying different formulas that work for her baby. Maybe she is battling a feeding journey that didnโt go to plan, maybe sheโs grieving it, maybe she isnโt. Maybe sheโs back at work expressing at every interval, the tiresome drone of the pump ringing in her ears at night.
It isnโt easy.
The mother coming towards you with her trolley, pulling out never ending snacks from the nappy bag just so she can get through one shop in peace. Maybe itโs homemade, maybe itโs covered in a shiny plastic wrapper. It doesnโt matter, because theyโre throwing it on the aisle floor and pointing to something on the shelves anyway.
It isnโt easy.
The mother battling mastitis.
The mother who mix feeds.
The mother who is tandem feeding.
The mother who is weaning.
The mother who is flying spoons into their babyโs mouth.
The mother who is hunched over a chopping board cutting up vegetables, knowing her kids will probably refuse them for the umpteenth night in a row.
I have been a few of these mothers.
And there are so many more.
We all want our babyโs belly to be full.
We all want them to thrive.
We all want to celebrate them.
So we all need to celebrate each other.
Because it isnโt always easy, but each journey is beautiful in its own right.
And someone is there with you right now, at this very moment doing her best.
Remembering that makes it a little easier.
Words: โMy After Allโ ๐ Jess Urlichs, Writer
www.jessicaurlichs.com/shop
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