Maybe breast feeding for the rest of you mothers out there was a joy, but for me it was pain mixed with misery... and ultimately led me into a situation that, while it has its deep pleasures, also has caused me much anxiety and worry.
I suppose I should have been worried when, after being six months pregnant, my breasts really began to grow and be sore. I went from barely a B cup to a fully-filled out C cup. I tried to not let the pain bother me, and didn't want it to interfere with my sex life with my husband, Greg, but it did. Nothing, however, could have prepared me for what was to come after my son was born. The doctor said it was one of the more severe cases of engorgement she had ever seen, but that didn't do anything to comfort me -- I was in non-stop pain, despite the cabbage leaves, hot showers, self-expression, etc... She tried to pass it off as having over-active lactation, but to me it seemed like my breasts would explode any minute.
Once I got into a rhythm feeding my son, Brayden, it got a little better. Still, if he wasn't right there when my milk let down, it didn't take long for my breasts to start hurting again. That, coupled with raw nipples, made me want to swear off the whole thing. But, after many consultations with lactation experts, I decided that I wanted to go for at least 6 months, and hoped that things would get better over time, that my body would eventually figure out how much milk it needed to make, and no more. But it seemed like every time I just about got to that stage, I would have a setback, due to a vacation throwing our rhythm off, or me being sick and not wanting to get my son sick as well. The extremely expensive breast pump that we bought saw me through, but it never quite drained me like my son did, and for some reason seemed like it sent a signal to my body to make more, when I was trying to get it to make less. The biggest problem, however, was how turned off Greg was by the whole process. He teased me all the time about the pump, and seemed much less interested in sex than he used to. It didn't matter that as soon as I could, I was back in the gym and by 6 months was in even better shape than before I was pregnant; it was apparently the fact that watching me give birth had grossed him out. He used to spend hours between my legs eating me out, and now wouldn't go near my pussy with his tongue. We talked about it frequently, and he reassured me he loved and wanted me, but that it would take him some time to get over the breastfeeding and the birth. I tried to be patient, but I was more than ready to get back into the active sex life we had had. It seemed like I was horny all the time, to the point that, on numerous occasions, when my son was really hungry and was feeding well, I would get very aroused, and would finish myself off after he was done feeding and was asleep. Pretty pathetic, to be honest...!
Nevertheless, I hit the 6 month mark and decided that I would start to wean my son, so that the endless pain would go away. I tried, over the course of a week, to get him to drink formula at nights, instead of from my breasts, and he took to it surprisingly well -- only my breasts didn't. They kept producing the same amount, even though I followed the guidance of two different lactation consultants. The only thing keeping me from going insane with the pain in my breasts was my trusty (and did I say expensive?) breast pump. Unfortunately, I was about to lose my only touch with reality, because Greg was leaving on Monday for a business trip for a week, and thus I would have nobody to talk with or take care of our son. And, of course, that's when my breast pump decided to fail on me. I spent an agonizing day on Tuesday morning trying to self-express and get my son to drink from me again -- but he was content with the formula and wasn't much interested in my milk anymore. Tuesday afternoon was a blur, trying to figure out where to take my breast pump to get it repaired. I barely made it to the store in time to drop it off, and asked if they had anything I could borrow. All they had was a manual breast pump, which, when I got home, only made me laugh like someone gone off her rocker. While it got me through the night, I knew in the morning my milk would come in in force, and I honestly didn't know how I would make it through. I was gearing up to head back out to find another pump, when the doorbell rang, and there stood my brother Jeff, with a big box of clothes in his hands. He had a big smile on his face, and said, "Hey, Sis, Denise wanted me to drop off these clothes for Brayden." But when he saw the grimace on my face he said, "Hey, Sabrina... are you ok?"
I opened the door and let him in, saying, "No... I'm in a lot of pain, to be honest."
"What happened? Did you fall or stub your toe?"
"No... none of that... you probably don't want to know."
"Oh, come on... please tell me what happened?"
"Ok, since you asked... my breasts are killing me. I'm trying to wean Brayden, and... it's not going very good."
"Oh... right... too much milk?"
"Yeah... how did you know?"
"Are you kidding me? We have 3 kids, you know; I've been through all of this with Denise."
Ah, yes, Denise... Jeff's picture-perfect wife. Denise, who was always prim and proper, with the perfect sense of style in clothes. Denise, who, despite having three kids, kept a perfectly maintained home. Denise, who was tall and thin, but somehow still had perfectly perky D-cup breasts, perfectly manicured nails, sparkling blue eyes, and always styled long blond hair.
I'm not sure why I always compared myself to her, to be honest. Even though I wasn't that short (5'7"), I didn't have the slender frame that she had, but was more curvy. And for some reason, my shoulder-length dark brown hair and deep brown eyes seemed downright plain, next to her. The only comfort I took was in my complexion, a result of some recessive genes that brought my distant Italian heritage to the surface, giving me that light olive skin (as well as the fiery temper and emotions), something I knew Denise tried for with tanning, but never achieved. The worst part was that she was extremely sweet and nice. She had welcomed me like a long-lost sister when I first met her, and I hated myself for liking her so much.
"Right... forgot... anyway... my body just can't seem to figure it all out, and my breast pump won't work, and I think I'm going to explode if I don't get any relief."
With a huge grin on his face, he said, "Where's Greg? He'd probably love to help you take care of that."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, nothing... just... not to gross you out, but... I loved drinking from Denise when she was breastfeeding."
"Are you serious?"
"Absolutely! It was awesome."
"First of all, that is way too much information. Secondly... Greg isn't really interested in it, to be honest."
"Seriously? Man, I loved Denises' milk... so sweet, perfect temperature..."
"You are such a pervert."
"Why, because I did that?"