Family Photographer Seattle
I am excited to introduce to you: Chelsea
I love breastfeeding my babies because, quite simply put, it is the best of me I have to offer. I can’t ever be the perfect mom, but I can give them the perfect nutrition; it’s a beautiful thing to literally build a new little person all by yourself, one sip at a time.
I love it because it is one of the only times they will ever truly need me, all of me. I love it because it gives me a break to slow down and just watch my little people growing before my eyes. I love it because it’s as much for me, my health and my sanity as it is for theirs.
For Owen, after being born blue and not breathing and spending almost a month in the NICU, the doctors told us he would never nurse; they also told us he would never move his limbs or breathe on his own or take food any way other than from a feeding tube. Nursing him is a daily reminder of how strong and resilient he is, how he proved everyone wrong and surpassed everyone’s expectations time and time again, and how blessed I am to have him in my life.
Arlo was supposed to be my easy baby, an amazing birth without complications and a very close relationship from the start; nursing was supposed to follow suit. After two rounds of mastitis, a tongue tie and a two-month-long nursing strike, I realized nothing good in life comes easy. Nursing him is a daily reminder that with a lot of patience, fierce determination and unyielding faith in my body, my babies and the universe, we can overcome even the most daunting obstacles in order to succeed.
Before giving birth I assumed I would nurse them both together all the time, but like much of new parenthood, it quickly became apparent that I had been living in fantasyland. Tandem nursing both of them became my absolute biggest dream, but didn’t seem realistically possible. It wasn’t until they were about six months old that we all came together and finally mastered it. Nursing both of them at the same time feels sacred to me; I am still in awe that it comes so easily now and it is a constant rreminder that persistence pays off. I feel connected to both of them in a way I have only ever felt while they were still inside me; intricately connected in the most basic, physical sense, one unit working together. Feeling both of them nurse fills me with awe and pride and when they lock eyes or hold hands there is just too much love for me to handle.
– Chelsea