(Breast)feeding a baby

And before you protest, no, this is not a lesson in how to breastfeed a baby! There are (illustrated) guides for that in various baby books.
I've woken up just after midnight again to feed my little girl. It's called feeding on demand. She moans,I wake up, change her, give her the medicines (more about that later, one of the joys of having a severely premature baby),finally latch her on (not that she needs encouragement!). A few minutes later she's done, and you wonder, was that it? By this time I'm fully awake and in any case must keep her upright in case her gastric reflux turns out quite bad.
Breastfeeding is wonderful. But let's go through the problems first.
1. Irregular feeds - when baby wants it not when you want it!
2. Can't leave the breasts at home and go out, although you can express and leave the milk with someone. Now I had to express for over a month when she was in hospital so my appetite for it has simply disappeared. I don't know how some women do it for as long as 6 months. Respect girls!
3. You can get all kinds of ailments. A nasty one is mastitis. It seemed to me worse than child birth - and I was induced so it was more painful! Let me explain. Contractions are not continuous. The pain is excruciating but you get some breaks in between. Mastitis pain, or at least the one I had, is continuous, and whichever position you pick, it doesn't get better. A memory to cherish...
4. Leaking breasts but there's help available!
5. Feeding sometimes every 1-2.5 hours is draining. My best happened for he last couple of nights when she was at it for 3-4 hours with very short (max30 minutes) breaks.
The positives:
1. Your baby gets the best food ever. Full of antibodies, tailored to the baby, it's fantastic.
2. The baby digests it very easily. Sometimes too easily as they get hungry quicker.
3. No pain making or warming it. It's on tap at the right temperature.
4. You never run out. Out shopping? No problem, find a chair and get your breast out!
5. You get big -and I mean BIG - breasts.
6. Very important. You form a very strong bond with your child. So strong that mine refuses to take the bottle from me. Why would she take it when breast is so much better?!?
7. Babies are very sweet when they start opening their mouths looking for food. Like little birds!
Would I do it again? Oh yeah!

Next: breastfeeding in public...