I was diagnosed with breast cancer aged 29, a lot younger than the typical breast cancer patient. Luckily, my family’s history with breast cancer had made me very proactive about screening, so I found the tumour early. Nonetheless I needed surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone therapy. I … [Read more...] about Nursing after Breast Cancer
Slings
Breastfeeding with PCOS and a High BMI
November 2013: My first baby is finally here, and I am over the moon. But I am also leaving the hospital with formula forced upon me and already combination feeding 24 hours after a long, medicated birth. The midwives’ comments about the size of my breasts and the flatness of my nipples floating in … [Read more...] about Breastfeeding with PCOS and a High BMI
The birth of my second child
E struggled to cope with the change to the family dynamic when her second baby arrived… I have two lovely, scrumptious daughters, A who is nearly four years old and B who is just over a year old. The first year of B's life has been the most difficult year of my life so far. I had no idea that … [Read more...] about The birth of my second child
Something Cosmological: A Father’s Reflections
About three months after the arrival of our second son, I looked at my wife tandem feeding our two boys and had somewhat of a revelation. That moment profoundly changed the way I look at breastfeeding and, more generally, the world. Let me rewind a bit... Breastfeeding was always the goal when we … [Read more...] about Something Cosmological: A Father’s Reflections
Making different choices
When I became pregnant with the one I now know to be my son, I had all sorts of ideas and ideals about parenthood and little interest in breastfeeding or responsive parenting. This has changed a lot over the last two years: who would have thought that a simple thing like mother’s milk could cause … [Read more...] about Making different choices
Dear Mama
Dear Mama, I’m coming soon, to be with you, and there are some things I wish you knew, about feeding me, and how we can be together. I come hard-wired to feed, and usually, you won’t need to do very much but follow my cues, you’ll need to learn those, watch and see my rose-budded lips … [Read more...] about Dear Mama