First Feeds: A Celebration

I have no memory of the first time I breastfed my daughter.  Not even a hazy, blurred image.

Nothing.

Not.  One.  Thing.

Her birth was traumatic to say the least and I am lucky to still be here today.  That first feed must have happened…because here we are, four years later, ‘still’ nursing…but I simply have no recollection of the moment.

Luckily enough, I now find myself with a healthy and thriving four year old.  And through this blog and my Facebook page, I am blessed enough to connect with moms from across the world every single day.  Moms with stories similar to my own and moms with stories that differ from every angle.  And yet we still find ourselves united.

Because we need one another.

We need to hear about stories, struggles and triumphs that differ from our own.  Just as we need to hear about the journeys that follow the same road that we happen to be walking along.

Truly - we need one another.

Because no breastfeeding journey is too short or too long ago.  No nursing experience is too mundane or too unusual.

We need to hear from the women who breastfed half a century ago...just as we need to hear from the women currently waking up each night to nurse their babies in the dark.

We need to hear from women who struggled and fought to continue to breastfeed, but who didn’t manage to....just as we need to hear from the women who breastfed past toddlerhood.

We need to hear from the women who exclusively pumped for their little ones, and the women who relied on donor milk to nourish their children.

Just as we need to hear from the women who tandem and triandem fed their nurslings...because these women are our sisters…they are ambassadors for our cause.

Quite simply - we need one another.

And in this way, the fact that I have no memory of the first time I breastfed my daughter does not leave this notion of ‘first feeds’ out of my reach.  I am not cast out from the celebrations of moms who do remember.  We can share together – to advocate, to normalize and empower – and we can find strength through one another’s journeys.

Because when I see images of newborns taking their first feeds, I feel like every single story is a way of celebrating my daughter’s ‘lost’ first feed. 

So it is with true happiness that I share these images below.  Here are the images of our sisters…of women who walk totally unique paths and yet whose footsteps leave imprints in our hearts.

I give to you, Mama Bean's First Feeds...with love.

Thank you to each of the mamas above, for allowing me to feature their pictures in this piece.  For more photos in celebration of breastfeeding and motherhood, join the Mama Bean village on Facebook!

Related posts:

• I Didn't Count Her Toes
• 4 Words Every Breastfeeding Mother Needs To Hear
• Why Nursing In Public Should Be No Big Deal

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