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You think that nursing is going to be some blissful, easy activity, right?

Well, I am here to tell you that you think wrong.

Very, very wrong.

Now if you have read any of my other posts, you’d know that I consider myself an exclusive pumper. However even though that is what I call myself, I do still nurse one of my twins.

Caeden loves nursing, however since I am alone with them for most of the week bottle feeding is much easier on my sanity. Some twin moms will deal with listening to one twin cry while the other feeds, but I just think that is too stressful.

Since I do just about all aspects of the nursing/feeding babies scene, I have learned a lot over the past four months feeding my twins!

My biggest takeaway?

Making milk just sucks.

Sorry to ruin your hopes and dreams of a blissful nursing/feeding experience. But it truly does suck.

I was blinded, just like you, from the truth about nursing. No one shares the nitty gritty.

No one wants to seem like a bad mom for not liking it.

But my goal with Twins and Coffee has always been to share the nitty gritty stuff with you guys. Stuff no one else wants to say.

SO HERE I AM.

I don’t like nursing. And here is why.

Why Nursing SUCKS

1. Engorgement

I am starting off with the first hard reality of breastfeeding- engorgement. A few days after giving birth it is going to happen to you, and it’ll keep happening for the duration of your nursing experience. At least one of your boobs is going to blow up like a balloon and become hard as a ROCK. It is a pretty good sign that hey, you got some milk in there.

When my milk first came in, I swear it happened within ten minutes. I had no milk, and then all of a sudden BAM my boobs were bigger than my face and felt as hard as the ‘cool mom’ from Mean Girls. I had no idea what to do, or what was happening. If something like that starts happening to you, call your doctor or lactation consultant! They can help you walk through what to do before it’s too late.

I waited too long. It took 48 hours for the lactation team to help me massage the milk out of my excruciatingly painful breasts.

2. Pain

Speaking of painful breasts- nursing brings on all kinds of boob pain no one ever wants to talk about!

I almost gave up my milk factory a few weeks ago when my son, Caeden, nursed so hard he split my nipple and gave me blood blisters. I started rubbing every nipple cream imaginable on my breasts and tried to let them air dry. But it took a good two weeks for that nipple to finally heal enough to not make me want to cry while pumping. And I haven’t let him nurse on that nipple since!

Another pain is getting used to babies latch and the suction of pumps. For nearly the first month of the twins lives I would take a deep breath before letting them latch or turning on my breast pump. I don’t really know how to explain the pain since there isn’t anything else like it. It’s almost like a sting? How would you guys that have nursed before describe it?

3. Wet Clothes

Another thing that sucks about nursing is the constant wet bras and t-shirts. At least two days a week I wake up in a soggy mess. And don’t even get me started on the nights I fall asleep nursing. It might seem impossible in the beginning because of the pain associated, but it’ll happen.

And everyone will wake up soaked. I felt so bad once because I fell asleep and I had leaked a good feed worth all over Caeden, the sheets, myself and everything else around us. I have never gone through as much laundry (for myself) as I do now.

I used to go weeks (gross, but whatever- real life) without changing my bras. Now I get excited when I make it a day or two without leaking through! I get so anxious out in public like, am I leaking? Shit. Can anyone see it??

Yes. Yes they can.

4. Mastitis

Oh the M word. You might hear stories about it but honestly I think its a lot like birth.

No one can prepare you for it.

I got mastitis a few weeks after the twins were born and it was the WORST sickness of my life. I have never been as sick and achy.

The most you can do for mastitis is your best to prevent it. Empty your boobs every time you nurse and pump, massage regularly to get the extra out and use heat and ice packs when necessary.

But the second you start to feel a cold coming on, along with a hard, hot red spot on your boob, call your doctor to get started on some antibiotics flowing through your system before it takes full course!

5. It’s Lonely

Another reason I think nursing sucks is that its lonely a lot of the time. You have to go find somewhere to sit down and nurse or pump at family events, often alone in a bedroom if that’s the only place.

You also have to leave places early if you didn’t bring your pumping equipment before you become engorged and in pain, or start leaking through your shirt. I think that’s something that bothers me most about nursing.

I am constantly aware of the time and trying to think of when I need to be home so I can pump before I blow up like a balloon. I can’t run a list of errands all at once because it would take too long. Can’t go out with my husband for a movie and dinner without coming home in pain with quadruple F’s busting out of my shirt.

It’s really just annoying.

6. Stress

Nursing is also flat out stressful. Especially when you don’t make enough for your little’s like me. I make enough breast milk for one baby. Probably because Caeden is the only one that will nurse if I choose to do that. So it is stressful on me to make sure I am giving them the most of what I can.

Fed is best, but every mom wants to be able to give their babies milk like every other mammal can.

It can also be stressful because of the time nursing and pumping takes up. I know my husband gets antsy sometimes when I am sitting doing my daily 30 minute pump (longest pump of the day). Sometimes I wish I could be doing this or that and not tied up on the couch. Be able to get out the door when I want, not have to time it with my pumping.

7. Watching What You Eat

I am grateful I am not one of the moms that falls into this suckiness, however, it is a BIG one.

There are things every nursing momma is told to avoid (in large amounts): caffeine, alcohol, gas inducing and spicy foods. But some moms have babies with intolerance to dairy, gluten, soy, and a ton of other things! So if they want to continue nursing, they have to majorly alter their diets for the sake of their little!

8. Everyone Has an Opinion

The one you were waiting for- I know.

EVERY.ONE.HAS.AN.OPINION. and it sucks.

You can’t nurse without someone saying ‘cover up’.

Can’t bottle feed without the smug look of ‘why aren’t you nursing, you KNOW that’s whats best for them’.

And then everyone else that wants to give their two cents.

Best advice- grow a thick skin now. Don’t let anyone get to you EVER.

They aren’t worth it. Fed is always best, and however you you want to raise your kids is YOUR decision. NO one else’s.

9. Goodbye Perky Boobs!

Say goodbye to the days of looking great in your lacy Victoria’s Secret bras. Here are the days of pad-less nursing bras because all you want is comfort and ease. Also gone are the days of your boobs looking the same at all hours of the day. Your boobs are about to look their best right before you pump, and then quickly become sad pancakes within a few minutes.

My husband once said my boobs looked sad.

Like I said earlier, don’t let anyone get to you.

10. It Has to End Someday

My last reason for why nursing sucks- it is eventually going to end.

I absolutely love that I can provide nutrients for my babies from my own body. I love holding them close and listening to them suckle. But someday, it is going to end. And I will probably forget all of the reasons why I thought nursing sucked so much, and will long for the days my babies would snuggle me close and get all bug eyed when they can smell my milk.

Our babies are going to grow up so fast.

So take every little second of it in. Even though a lot of the aspects of this first year can suck (especially nursing), it is all going to end someday and we are going to want it back.

What do you think sucks most about nursing? Or what do you think you’re going to miss most?

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