This weeks story comes from someone you already know. Our very own Heidi Helser. Have I ever mentioned that Heidi might have the best sense of humor ever? Well keep reading and see what I mean and read about her breastfeeding "career".
Hello all you beautiful breastfeeding mamas! You may know me already, I am Heidi Helser, President of The Breastfeeding Initiative and owner of Heidi Helser Photography. But more importantly, I am Ada's mama. I have a sweet three year old girl who is the twinkle in my eye and the gray in my hair.
I proudly breastfed Ada until she was 2.5 years old. I never thought I would breastfeed as long as I did. It felt right. I went with it. I wanted to sleep through the night and I cut the girl off. I'm not sure who it was harder for.....
I love breastfeeding. No, like. LOVE, love. I am proud to have nursed for as long as I did. I'm okay that Ada never stops touching my boobs and calls them her best friends. I like it. Except when she does it in Target and people are looking and then it's awkward. For everyone. It happened tonight.
I have a few few things that I am proud of that I have done in my 30 years of living..... breastfeeding being one of them, but more than just breastfeeding my own child..... I exclusively breastfed my daughter and pumped for another baby for the first 6 months of my breastfeeding career(yes, it's totally a career). I was so proud and honored to have supplied another human with breastmilk. It brought me great joy and lots of laughs. I was really leaky. I was always flooding my shirts. I was really impressed with myself when I could nurse my little lady and then pump 8 ounces on both sides. I liked to time myself to see how fast I could fill the bottles. What? That's weird? It was pretty awesome. I feel like I could have won a contest if such a contest existed.
Breastfeeding came so easy to me and my supply was HUGE. I am so thankful for this. I was so humbled to have supplied for another mama who was struggling. I know that breastfeeding doesn't always come easy, it sometimes doesn't come at all.
The breastfeeding connection comes in all different ways and I am so grateful to have my experience and to have shared with others.
With so much love,
Heidi
To view more of Heidi's work and to find out how to book a session with her check out her Facebook page HERE
