Boobies!!

i think it's a great thing she's breast feeding on the cover. actually, it rocks! it's nothing to be ashamed about and more people should become educated on the benefits of breast feeding.... cool blog.

hehe, you beat me too it. Good one!

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~Fallon~

The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.- Russell
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He he... I love it. We were watching the first season of House... yesterday, and House goes into the clinic and starts talking to a mother about getting her child vaccinated, because the mother's antibodies don't protect them after 6 months. It was hilarious watching him go off about all natural coffins for the mother who didn't want to 'buy into' the vaccinations for children.

~C
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The only downfall of breastfeeding is the lack of vitamin D and Iron. Hurray for you for posting this! Since people look up to celebs so much maybe they would follow this model and do the same.

http://www.progressiveu.org/043043-mom-i-can-finally-write-you-letter
Sorry to disappoint you, but I am voting for Lewis Black.
DrifterDani~

...and call them "dirtypillows". If you've read the Carrie novel by Stephen King you'd know what I was talking about.

Nice entry, highly sophisticated title (giggle), and nice view on this whole thing. I'd be one of those people who wouldn't want to be seen in public like that, so I can understand the whole "social stigma" aspect of it. That would of course be assuming I'd ever consider having copies of my DNA running around.

~ *~
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Mind Control is Easier Than You Think

It's a good blog. The ear infection thing is very true. I was not breast-fed because I was incapable of eating that way and I still have an insane number of ear infections.
Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see.

funny that people are sensitive to a mother breast feeding her child. I grew up in Bangladesh. 85% of the population there is Muslim. I saw many women in Bangladesh (those that are poor and cannot afford their own room or a lot of leisure) breast feeding their children outside, mostly at work (menial work, not white collar). It is never mentioned anywhere. Lame that it is an issue in the United States.

I have yet to have a baby to care for so...I don't know much about this. My mother has told me that I breast fed forEVER, and i have my basic colds and such, but seem to be doing better than my sisters in some aspects.
You must admit though. The baby formula has come a long way from where it was when i was a kid. My mom and her sister refused any formula for any of their kids. and now, my cousin had a baby recently but couldn't breastfeed it because of an infection, but after some research, she saw that today's type of formula aint too bad....still isn't the best though

I have no problem with boobies in public. Stupid conservatives thinking that a boob will burn the corneas and such. DOWN WITH THE NORM!! lol
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For God's sake, breastfeeding is perfectly fine and critical for the child but we should not be supporting this display of a private event between a mother and a child on front of a magazine. Get some dignity women of the U.S.

Government has no other end, but the preservation of property. - John Locke

I've always wondered about the social response to public breastfeeding. I understand why people find it awkward--I find it awkward, and I've grown up in a family of babies and their breastfeeding mothers--but society has taken huge steps in the past few decades to undress women. Girls can wear revealing dresses to proms and half-dressed celebrities show up on magazine covers but mothers can't bare a boob. I also don't understand why mothers complain about their daughters' dresses but then go breastfeed in public. At the same time, breasts are becoming more social taboo as the Style Pendulum swings away from the nineties.
I don't know. I don't hold it against a mother for breastfeeding in public--when a baby has to eat, a baby has to eat--but that doesn't keep it from being awkward.

Its really good that she's breast feeding on the cover.

I recently went to a family outing for one of my hobbies (www.geocaching.com) and since it was a "family" outing there were lots of families. One family had their 3 month old baby there and at one point they sat at the picnic table under the pavilion breastfeeding. Later on I had heard several comments about it. Stupid comments like, "I know this was a family event, but whipping out a boob is a little over the top." To me it wasn't a big deal, that may be the nurse in me. I didn't know what to say... for some reason I thought that in this day and age we had gotten over this. I for one advocate for breastfeeding, whenever and where ever that may be. I have seen some women go overboard, but overall it's not abused and it is for the best cause in the world..... our future!

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Respectfully,
Adam L. Labonoski

I couldn't agree more. I mean in Europe they go to the beach topless. We shouldn't be ashamed of what God gave us. It just goes to show how much society has really shaped how we view ourselves.

It's not that I don't support breastfeeding, because I know it's healthier for infants than formula, but most women need to return to work after having children and cannot breastfeed for six months straight. Breastfed babies also need to be fed more than formula-fed babies, meaning that only Mom can comfort the hungry baby, sometimes every hour. Isn't pumping breast milk as beneficial, nutritionally speaking, as breastfeeding?

~Violinstef

I did my best, including pumping, for 3 months. The decision to give up was very painful. I took all the classes, i bought the special breastfeeding pillows, and the pump for when I knew I would have to go back to work.

As it turned out, my baby and I both had a very difficult delivery. She spent the first 3 days of her life in the NICU with a feeding tube down her nose secondary to meconium aspiration. I suffered a severe hemorrhage, a 3rd degree laceration and 4+ painful pitting edema over the entire surface area of both of my legs secondary to a pitocin drip followed by a plasma infusion.

Even after we got home, my baby was lethargic. She would nurse for 40 seconds at a time, and fall asleep. I would try to wake her and stimulate her to eat. Every time I aroused her, she sucked for 30-50 seconds at a time, and passed out. I was able to arouse her every 2-3 minutes. As a result, I never slept, holding her in my arms around the clock, drifting in and out of delirium while sitting up straight.

The home health nurse came over on her third day home and expressed concern about her weight loss. We talked about her feeding habits, and she suggested pumping and feeding her with a bottle, because she could get more milk with less effort. So I tried it, and it worked. She inhaled the first bottle, and wanted more!

This was exciting. I tried to breastfeed her in between pumping sessions, but she would get so impatient, she would go to into a screaming frenzy until she got her bottle.
I was so sad about this, you have no idea.

So, I resolved to pumping. My milk supply gradually dropped. I read every book I could find. I started taking Milk Thistle and Fenugreek, as well as drinking a Guiness a day, as beer is said to increase milk production. I smelled like a walking skunk.

I was able to maintain about 50% of her daily intake in the form of breastmilk. My daily routine was also completely monopolized by this effort. The routine was, breastfeed until she screamed, pump, give her a bottle, let her sleep, sanitize all the pump equipment and bottles. Baby wakes up, repeat, and so on. I had to pump for an hour every two hours in order to maintain the 50% milk supply. Those two hours in between were used for sleeping, if I was lucky, house work, sanitizing the pumping instruments and bottles, counseling disturbed family members, and sometimes bonding with my baby.

When she was 2 months old we went to Hawaaii for a wedding. We were supposed to be on vacation, but my rigorous breastfeeding routine made it impossible for me to enjoy the environment. I remember sitting in the bed in our bungalow, pumping, when the caterers for the wedding started wandering through the place, placing the food in our refrigerator.

I was really irritated and embarrassed. One of the bride's friends happened to walk in while I was in this predicament, and sat down on the bed with me. She said, "Pumping sucks." I said, "Yeah, no shit." She said, "I had a breast reduction, and I was in your position. I realized that my obsession with breastfeeding was interfering with our bonding, and decided it wasn't worth it."

i broke down in tears. I kept it up for 2 more weeks, until we settled back in at home. Then I fed her on soy formula fortified with DHEA via bottles, and put her to my breast for comfort and bonding. That ended when she was 3 months old.

i really felt like a failure as a mother for not being successful with breastfeeding. I do appreciate this blog, and it is very valuable. At the same time, I think it should be acknowledged that while ideal, breastfeeding is not always successful, and we should be grateful that the formula available today does provide adequate and necessary nutrition to babies.

"Consistency is not a human trait" - Maude, from Harold and Maude

finally someone shedding some positive light on this photoshoot, peopel were saying so much negative things about this picture when in reality is one of the most beautiful pictures ive seen of her because you can see her playing her best role which is a mother,thank you