You guys,
“I can’t live like this.”
I had just spoken these words out loud, to no one in particular. It was 7:30pm and I needed to produce one more ounce of breast milk for George’s 8pm bottle feed.
Breastfeeding had become STRESSFUL.
It brought new meaning to the phrase, “Don’t cry over spilled milk.”
Spilling five ounces of freshly pumped breast milk all over the floor is like watching the computer screen go black before you’ve pressed ‘Save’ on your midterm paper.
I had reached the point where I felt like George wasn’t getting enough milk from me. And I could barely keep up with his daily intake let alone produce a back-up supply. I started to consider the thing I never thought I would consider: formula.
The horror.
I envisioned myself exclusively breastfeeding for at least the first six months. Breast milk has everything the baby needs. If a mother is able to breastfeed, why would she supplement with formula when her body provides the healthiest and most nutritious option??
Turns out it’s because breastfeeding is f’ing hard work. As soon as Sam and I agreed to supplement one feed a day with formula I breathed a sigh of relief.
But with the relief of supplementing and the ability to create a stash of breast milk came new stress of deciding which formula to use.
Parenting is hard.
Essay of the Week
I have a history of ignoring problems and hoping they’ll go away on their own.
For example, I’ve had TMJ (pain and clicking in the jaw) for 15 years and figured that because lots of people have TMJ it was just something I had to live with for the rest of my life.
I wrote about my recent experience of finally finding a solution that did more than just relieve symptoms. It got to the root of the problem - without surgery - which was something I never thought possible.
You Gotta Read This
I joined an online group called Compound Writing. It’s essentially a support and accountability group where writers share their ideas, outlines, drafts, and published pieces and get feedback from each other.
In my first week fellow Compounder Lauren Maslen shared this essay with me: The Crane Wife by CJ Hauser.
It’s the best essay I read in 2020. Second best essay was Morgan Housel’s The Three Sides of Risk.
What’s the best essay you read in 2020? Reply and send it my way!
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17 Days Until Christmas!!
Charlie