An Apology

I would like to apologize to anyone I may have hurt/offended by posting breastfeeding articles, etc. on Facebook.  I realize it can be hurtful to anyone who can't/doesn't want to breastfeed and I never meant that.  So, I'm going to say this.  If you don't breastfeed your child, it's cool.  No really, it is.  And I don't need to hear any excuse.  You are doing what is best for you and your child.  If you choose not to breastfeed for medical reasons, or because it creeps you out, or because you adopted, or because you want your spouse to be able to get up in the middle of the night and feed the baby too, or you're working and pumping is the worst (because it is), or you just don't want to, then that's cool.

I chose to breastfeed for two reasons.  1. Because I was lucky enough that I could.  2. It's free.  No really, I'm a cheapskate. All the other stuff is nice, but the free part was what decided me.  I had no lofty reasons, so I'm really in no position to judge.

Here is what bothers me about the breastfeeding stuff, and what the majority of what I post about on Facebook is really about: it's doing it in public.  If a woman chooses to feed her baby in public and she's formula feeding, no one gives it a second thought.  It's a non-issue.  If a woman chooses to BREASTFEED her baby in public, she better quickly toughen up because someone, at some point, is going to say something.  And that's just not fair.  And why I chose to educate myself before I started doing it.  I needed ammunition, a comeback in case anyone asked me to leave, or cover up, or go into a bathroom (eeewww), or whatever.  I wanted to know what was allowed and why it was important.  And then I probably got carried away.  I admit it.  But for such a long time, you feel like you have to fight for it.  Because at some point in your child's babyhood, you will have to feed them in public.  Because babies have ridiculously tiny stomachs and have to eat ALL THE TIME.  And Semmes was that baby that refused to be covered.  So I just gave up...and toughened up.  But probably too much.

So if anyone, at any point, has felt in any way judged by me on the breastfeeding vs. formula feeding thing, I'm sorry.  I'm really not judging you for feeding your baby formula.  Really.  I just had a bunch of walls up because I was just waiting for the fight to happen, you know?  But now Semmes is only eating once or twice a day.  So it's totally a non-issue now.