Breast Feeding Class

We went to our first parenting class: Breastfeeding. It was very informative! 

When I signed up for the course, it said husbands were encouraged to attend but were not required. I took this to mean, "Hey! It would be really great if husbands came!" so mine did. Out of the dozen or so pregnant women, there were about 8 husbands/boyfriends that came along. A word of warning: I thought the class would have illustrations of boobs and babies rather than pictures (and video) of the real thing. I was very wrong. If your husband would be weirded out by a lot of other women's milk jugs, don't bring them. 

10 things I learned about breastfeeding:

1. Babies don't come out of the womb ready and rarin to go - you both have to work at it. They do come out hungry so they'll be ready to eat something. 
2. Women need to continue taking prenatals and eating an additional 400-500 calories each day while breastfeeding. 
3. Women usually don't have their menstrual cycle while breastfeeding. 
4. You can save up to $3,000 a year when you breastfeed versus using formula.
5. Breastfed babies are less likely to be obese and more likely to attend college.
6. Breastfeeding mothers lose their baby weight much faster (it helps your uterus shrink faster and also burns hundreds of calories).
7. Breastfed babies and breastfeeding mothers are less likely to develop certain cancers.
8. Breastfed baby diapers are less stinky than formula diapers (this is great especially for those using cloth diapers!)
9. An infant's stomach is so tiny that it takes very little to satisfy their hunger. 
10. Because of #9, feedings should occur at least every 3 hours, even through the night (which means you have to wake a sleeping baby to make sure they're eating). 

I'm looking forward to breastfeeding for many reasons. The two biggest reasons are to bond with Joanna and to save a lot of money for her college fund.