In observance of international breastfeeding week, I want to share with you the story of my first time breastfeeding in public.  Here it goes, I hope you enjoy or at least get a chuckle out of it.

It was a bright sunny day in July and my three-day old newborn (now toddler) had her first doctor’s appointment. The whole family went to this visit, my husband, my mum, everyone. I was still wearing maternity clothes because well, I still looked like I was pregnant…lol. I wore one of my favorite maternity dresses, which I made,*wink wink*. It was a blue and white, wrap and tie dress. I don’t know if any of you have ever seen/worn a wrap dress, but let me tell you, IT TAKES A LITTLE BIT OF FINESSE TO WEAR ONE. You always need to be conscious about your body and movements just to make sure that your lady parts don’t show. This is a very important tidbit to keep in mind for this reflection.

Ok, back to the story…

We were at the doctor’s office, waiting to be seen and what happened? THE BABY STARTED CRYING!  Of course, anything could have been wrong with her, except, I HAD NO CLUE WHAT WAS WRONG.  So, I decided to go through my handy dandy checklist in my head, which went a little something like this: 

Note To Self: Check All This Before Freaking Out

1. Does she have a dirty diaper? – Nope, clean
2. Is she hot? – Nope, the air conditioner got us covered there
3. Is she hungry? – YEP!!!!!! The child is biting anything that comes close to her mouth

Ok, Got It. No Need To Go Any Further. HOUSTON, WE FOUND THE PROBLEM!

Now, let’s get the baby fed. 

I found a chair to sit for this wonderful event that was about to ensue. The chair was tucked away in a little corner, far away from everyone else but was still in plain sight. It had my name all over it, so I carried the baby and off we went. Everyone else stayed put, to watch ALL THE STUFF we brought to the doctor’s office, because 3-day olds are divas. NOT! I was just overpacking..lol, but I digress.

Ok, now in my corner, I decided to throw a blanket over our heads, you know, FOR PRIVACY. I could have just covered the baby while she ate but I didn’t like the idea of her not seeing me and my not seeing her.

So yep, over our heads the blanket went AND… on came the struggle…

Did I mention I was new at this whole breastfeeding thing? With that being said, getting the right position was a bit of a struggle. OK, it was a HUGE struggle. I rotated her, adjusted my arm, tilted my body, tilted her body. This way, that way, this way again, NOPE, back that way…

Finally, after who knows how many minutes, we got the correct position that worked for both of us. So, I relaxed. I patted myself on the back. I complimented myself, GIRLLLL, YOU DID THAT! 

We were on a roll. The baby was eating and I was chilling. Just when I relaxed completely, I heard a voice, sounded like a whisper.

At first, I asked myself, am I hearing things? Then, I heard something again.  The voice was so low, I could barely hear it. It could have been the fact that I had literally created my own little world in the doctor’s office, and tuned everything else out. Who Knows? Either way, I couldn’t hear a thing outside that blanket…lol.

So to confirm what I thought I heard or didn’t hear,  I did the only thing that made sense, I THREW THE BLANKET OFF, and  rejoined the real-world. After throwing off the blanket, I realized that it was my husband trying to tell me something, STOP FLASHING THE WHOLE WORLD!

WAIT.

NO.

He didn’t say it like that…he was WAYYY more discreet about it. 

He whispered,…”Honey, fix your dress.”

In my head, I was like, what? Fix my dress?! What’s wrong with it? Is a string hanging somewhere or something? Don’t tell me this dress is falling apart on me, not now!

I already told you that I made the dress, right. Well, in case you don’t know this about me, I’m not a professional seamstress, I just dabble in it every now and then. So, yeah, my mind automatically went to the fact that maybe something was wrong with the stitching or something.

IN ACTUALITY, however, I HAD NO CLUE WHAT HE WAS TALKING ABOUT. So my response, of course, was … HUH?

The Man repeated himself: “Fix your dress honey.”

And,

Because I was still in a bit of a daze from my struggling to get the child to latch and finding a good position that we both were comfortable with, I heard him, but I STILL DIDN’T GET IT!

He repeated himself a 3rd time and then just pointed at my legs.

I looked down and what did I see?

I was sitting in the spread-eagle position, FLASHING ANY and EVERYONE. I was solely focused on one thing, which was making sure I fed the hungry, crying child. Apparently, I had no control over the rest of my body and definitely was not paying attention to what the rest of my limbs were doing.

Lucky for me, the doctor’s office was not packed that day, so my lady parts remained relatively private. But, from that moment on…

I VOWED NEVER TO COVER UP WHILE BREASTFEEDING IN PUBLIC AGAIN.

So there you have it, the story of my first-time breastfeeding in public, starring the wrap dress.

Now…

Since you know how challenging this process could be for mums, especially first-time nursing mums, please join me and all the other nursing mothers in NORMALIZING THIS NATURAL ACT.

IF YOU SEE SOMEONE BREASTFEEDING IN PUBLIC, GIVE THEM A THUMBS UP, a little encouragement goes a long way.

Let’s keep talking about it. Share your story!

Are you a breastfeeding mum? Do you know a nursing mother and have seen the struggle? Do you remember your first-time breastfeeding in public? Are you comfortable breastfeeding in public? If you breastfeed in public, do you use a nursing cover, why or why not?

Comment below with your answers.