A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2015
25 weeks old – Feeding you
This week you are 6 months old. I can't quite believe half a year has already flown by. Half a year of getting to know you. Of watching you grow. Of nurturing you. This weekend we'll give you solid food to try for the very first time. You have been interested in it for a long time but we want to try Baby Led Weaning which recommends waiting until 6 months and so that is the goal we set. I am excited about this stage but I am also feeling rather sad as it means an end to exclusively breastfeeding you.
I was never afraid of breastfeeding, I knew without a doubt that it was what I wanted to do but I wasn't prepared for how empowered it would make me feel, how much it would shape who I now am. I am so proud that I have nourished 9.5 kg of baby from the moment of conception purely with my body. I am so warmed knowing that by nourishing you I was also providing you with antibodies to protect you from disease and providing blissful comfort that I could see wash over your face even when you were only a few hours old. I have struggled with my body image over the years, I have felt let down by it at times too, but although the process of growing you and then feeding you has certainly taken its toll and left its mark, I have never been more in love with, in awe of, and proud of my body. How lucky I am to have been able to achieve it all with retaliative ease (despite 4 four bouts of mastitis). And while I will continue to breastfeed you for a long time yet, moving on from this stage is a reminder of how fleeting this time is, when I am your whole world and where you will let me have you as mine. The rest of the world is creeping in and I am so excited for you, but these sweet milky memories will always be some of my happiest.
No comments:
Post a Comment