This is not a flaunt your boob event. The Big Latch On is a global annual event celebrating World Breastfeeding Week. Breastfeeding mothers (many will cover up) and families get together to celebrate and support each other in bf, and many locations are hosting in private conference rooms [...] This is not supposed to be a protest or political event of any kind... It's just moms getting together and trying to beat the bf record at 10:30. I am so blessed that I had family help us stick with it, I know many moms don't have that. Without the support and proof that other women struggle, too, all bf relationships would crumble. I have yet to feed Norah correctly, and honestly I'd love to one day at least have the option to NIP, but again that is not what this event is about. I would love to be included in the bf count, but the chances of that are slim. I'm going because I believe in bf and want it so badly.
(I got some of these pictures from other people... I didn't take them all.)
WFAA News Channel 8 was there, which was awesome!
And this is the story that they did on the event.
This year, the previous BLO record was broken! The count this year for breastfeeding at 10:30am around the globe was 14,536 babies! Locally, the count for Fort Worth was 193, which more than doubled last year's. The youngest baby to participate was 12 days old, the oldest was 47 1/2 months old. There were 3 sets of twins and one tandem nursing mom there. It was so awesome and I'm glad that Norah and I went!
So there you have it... and for the record I DID get to breastfeed Norah (or her version of it anyway), we chose to NIP, outside, around a ton of other people, and all I got was smiles and friendly conversations from others around me. I did not go to a club, so there was no need to be frightened about maintaining my conservative attitude towards modesty... and let's be blunt about what seems to be the real "issue" here, nudity. It still surprises me that some people can be so touchy about breastfeeding. Can't someone besides a current or past breastfeeding mother explain to these folks how mammals feed their young?? It is getting ridiculous. If you want a life while exclusively breastfeeding, you give your kid milk when you are out and about. Can you imagine having a day full of running errands and you going back to your car or yuck.. their BATHROOM every 2 hours just to feed your kid? Now imagine doing that when you already have older children running around every which way... it just wouldn't work. Have these people never walked into a mall? Or watched TV? Sure they have, they are just choosing to say that the pornographic tendencies of Victoria's Secret advertisements are justified by something. In reality, a nursing baby even without a cover can be MUCH less revealing than these ads available for everyone to see.
Nursing In Public does not mean taking your shirt off! Most moms wear layers, or a baby carrier that makes it very easy. So why is a mom tending to her baby more frightening than a much more provocative image of a bikini at the pool?! ... talk about boob flaunting. Phew -- I get pretty fired up about this topic, obviously. I am ALL for modesty. That's why I feel like we should be using all this negative boob showing energy and direct it towards man-made things that make breasts and women a sexual object... like the topics listed above. Please don't negatively address something beautiful, natural, and needed when others of us are striving so hard to give women more options in providing the next generation nutrition. Just look away, or better yet, give that mom a smile because more than likely she has sacrificed and struggled a lot to try and do the very best thing for her baby. Then, maybe go to the mall or the pool where there are 'more things' to look at. ;)
To wrap up this post, check out lil miss NJ in her stroller at the Big Latch On. It was 100 outside, so I was kind to her and just let her sport her diaper... until someone said that "HE" was precious. Notice the humongous pink bow in this picture. :P SHE's a cutie.
Firm grip!!
More on this weekend, we went to our friends Gabe and Michelle's wedding Saturday night. It was low-key, lovely, and Christ was all over the place. Sunday was also a special day, since God started knitting Norah together on Aug 4th of last year. :) We went to our first church service as the 3 of us on Sunday morning (we have been going to our Homegroup Friday nights as a family unit, but this is was our first worship service all together). Norah did awesome. I put her in the Moby and she slept the whole time. It was a beautiful service about our joy and identity in the Lord. It was so what I needed to hear -- perfectly struck a chord with all this breastfeeding chaos. The Holy Spirit was definitely cookin something up in me... let's be real, I was moved to tears several times throughout.
As CS Lewis puts it, Praise is inner health made audible. I love that, and I couldn't agree more.
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