Frustrated of Family/Friends/Strangers Telling Me to Breastfeed!!!!

I am NOT breastfeeding... now go ahead and ask why....then continue to tell me (though it is not your place & I didn't ask) what is healthiest for my baby and for me. 

How about instead.... you be the one who is different. You be the one who actually either knows it isn't your place and encourages me to do what I feel is best or if you actually ask then...LISTEN. LISTEN to the fact that I have a mental illness. A true illness that I have battled with for the last 14 years of my life. I don't need props or your sympathy, but I want you to understand that after 8 years of battling this illness looking for a name, trying probably 20 medications (none of which made it better), wanting nothing more than to feel"normal". I did the best thing I could have ever done for myself. I went to spend two weeks in the so called "loony bin". If I didn't spend those two weeks there....I truly believe that I would not be alive today. Because of that hospital stay I know I have bipolar. I am on medications that allow me to finally feel "human" and "normal". I am ALIVE and WELL and grateful to be. I am a fully functioning professional. I graduated from college in the middle of this illness and went on to make great money. I am happily married. I live a productive active life style. I am now super excited to be pregnant with my first baby!

Now if you truly listened you wouldn't go on to tell me how I can try another medication so that I can breastfeed. You wouldn't try to tell me how healthy breastfeeding is. You wouldn't tell me how I can lose weight by breastfeeding or how breastfeeding treats depression. 

You would however know that mental illness is a real illness. It can be in remission and you would never know that someone struggles with it. You would know that I have questioned even ever becoming pregnant at all because I know there is a chance I could pass on this really hard illness to an innocent child. You would know that I thought about not being able to breastfeed long before I got to this point. You would think about the fact that just because I have battled a mental illness doesn't make me sick. If anything...it makes me an advocate for myself and for so many others that have been and continue to be there. I know what is best for myself. Just like other woman telling you they aren't breastfeeding knows what is best for them. Know that when you embark on the breastfeeding conversation with a woman who tells you that she doesn't want to breastfeed to actually LISTEN to her. It may not be because of a mental illness, but if she doesn't want to then it is not your place to say any different. 

To all you woman out there who fight the battle of mental illness. You deserve to be a mom and a good one at that. You will be just as good as any other parent out there whether you breastfeed or not. Take care of yourself. Be your own advocate. Don't listen to the pressures of others. Know that you are not alone in this fight for mental health. Let's stand together as mom's and empower each other regardless of our situation. We all want the same outcome.... healthy happy babies!