World Breastfeeding Week

Just so that everyone is aware this week (August 1-7, 2009) is World Breastfeeding Week! The World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) is “the greatest outreach vehicle for the breastfeeding movement, being celebrated in over 120 countries.” And to celebrate, I am learning to breastfeed!

I haven’t posted much lately here as the old adage “if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all” was ringing in my head quite loudly as I neared my delivery day. I was truly not a pleasant person to be around as I am sure most of you know, those last weeks are not comfortable ones! Anyway, my heavenly baby girl finally arrived into the world one week ago and we have been very busy working away getting this breastfeeding thing down.

The most amazing thing that I was totally unprepared for was this tiny newborn seemingly knowing how to do this on her own. Immediately after being born, I was shocked at how strong she was because as they placed her on my stomach she literally started crawling up my chest! She pushed off with her little feet and could even lift her head for a few seconds at a time. The even stranger thing is she did this when her daddy was holding her too, even though he had to gently remind her that only mommy has food as a reward for all of her effort and showmanship.

Apparently, this phenomenon is called the Breast Crawl. This amazing little feat is actually quite natural, even though I was sure that my baby must be an accomplished little genius to have this figured out so early. So, as much as I say that to celebrate WBW that we are learning to breastfeed, apparently she already knows and it is just me doing most of the learning. I would really encourage everyone reading this to follow the Breast Crawl link and check this out. You will be amazed at all that is behind this!