When I was pregnant with my first baby, my sweet friends threw the most precious baby shower. It was all of my 20-30 something girlfriends. The hostesses organized a trivia game where each girl had to guess the answers to some questions specific to our pregnancy. The question that generated the most laughter was "What is Abbey most looking forward to about being a mom?" I got nervous and wrote something appropriate feeling like "bath time" or "gummy smiles"... but every girl in the room knew the real answer: "nursing." I couldn't wait to nurse our baby and evidently it wasn't much of a secret.

I read all the articles and books. We went to the class (yes, "we." I asked David to come... and pretty much regretted it as soon as they played the ethnically diverse and completely uncensored video). I just thought breastfeeding was the most beautiful, natural, and amazing thing. At this point maybe some of you are thinking I'm a total weirdo... but if you are... this might not be a blog post for you...

This is a post for those of you who felt like me. Who had the idealistic post birth expectation of your baby instantly being placed on your chest, latching the first time they were given the chance, and nursing like a champ. This is a post for those of you who thought you'd be fully capable of providing your baby with all the nutrient rich fatty goodness it needed for the first few months of life. This post is for those of you who thought it would come naturally... and for whom it turned out to be one of the hardest things you've ever done. I've got some words for you mama.