What Will People Say?

We had our first adoption meeting with the social worker yesterday, and it went better than I'd hoped. I was so nervous going in, but she was wonderful. I did not bring up breastfeeding my adopted newborn since we'd been over that already. I posted a while ago that when I broached the subject, she was surprised and said that she'd never had anyone mention adoptive breastfeeding before :( I have already researched whether or not the breastfeeding community believes that I could successfully nurse a baby who didn't come to me until he was five days old, and the consensus was that I could. Of course, this puts me on a timeline that other adoptive families aren't facing, which is that I want to adopt while my two year old is still nursing.

I realized something the other day that had not entered my mind during the entire process of deciding whether or not we want to adopt. Our two main thoughts on this have been, 1) I want to breastfeed the new baby and 2) We will happily accept a baby of any race. Can you believe that until this week, I never wondered what people will think when they see me sitting at the park breastfeeding a black baby? I've been reading message boards for transracial adoptions to find out what other moms' experiences have been, and the breastfeeding scenario came to mind. Can you imagine the looks on the faces of southern Louisiana Good Ol' Boys to see a white woman nursing a black baby? Then imagine what will happen when that black baby is still nursing as a two year old...

Cute Stuff That Mainstreamers Wouldn't Find Funny

My two year old nursling has some new breastfeeding habits that I find charming, but mainstream parents would see as a reason to wean. She has learned to say, "My turn," to her brother and sister when she wants something (lick of a popsicle, a toy, etc.). Of course, her English is sketchy, so it comes out as, "My nurn," and is often shouted rather than said. She has begun to say, "My nurn," when she wants to switch the breast she's nursing on for the other one. It cracks me up because it's always her turn when it comes to breastfeeding; she has no competition (until her hoped-for adopted newborn sibling arrives anyway).



A couple of weeks ago, we shared a sweet nursing moment in Target. I had taken all of the kids into the Family Bathroom (a genius invention) to pee before we began shopping. While her siblings were taking turns with the toilet, Grace asked to nurse. I employed a trick I figured out long ago when I had a toddler who wanted to breastfeed but was too heavy for me to hold while standing up. I pulled down the plastic changing platform and sat Grace on it with her legs hanging off of the front. That way, I could stand in front of her and nurse without straining my back. I was looking down at her sweet little face, and she pulled off to say, "I dub meemee," which translates to, "I love nursing," because meemee is her word for it. As soon as she'd said it, she latched back on :)