Coleen Garcia-Crawford just opened up to friends and followers about why it always seems like she’s nursing her son Amari in her photos in an empowering post on motherhood and breastfeeding to commemorate this year’s World Breastfeeding Week.
“If it seems like I’m always nursing… it’s because I AM,” she began on her Instagram post which included many pictures from her photoshoots, family vacations, and moments at home that showed her baby latched on.
“Time does fly, and what a journey it has been for us! Going on two years, and still counting. And let me tell you, it ain’t glamorous. There have been (and still are) countless sleepless nights, frustration, sacrifices, discomfort, and a lack of time, energy and capacity for anything else. During the times when Amari is non-stop nursing cause he’s sick or teething, sometimes, it’s almost like I feel every last drop draining out of me. But I do see how it always quickly and effectively makes things better for him. And that’s what it is. Being uncomfortable but giving him comfort, feeling weak but making him strong.. feeling like I’m not enough, then realizing that I have more to give than I could have ever imagined.”
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Coleen then said that despite the pain and the struggles of breastfeeding, she knows that it’s all worth it to keep Amari as healthy as he can possibly be and for them to stay emotionally close as mother and son.
“I can name many reasons why it’s hard, but much stronger reasons why it’s so worth it. The permanent effects will always outweigh my temporary discomfort and sacrifices,” she continued. “It gives me so much peace and a sense of fulfillment to know that I’ve been doing what I can to keep Amari as healthy as possible, but our breastfeeding journey hasn’t only been about that. I truly believe that it has brought us even closer and has strengthened the bond, connection and relationship we share in a deeply humbling way. I wouldn’t be the mother—the person—I am today if it weren’t for the times I decided to put him before myself. I could never imagine what it would have been like if we hadn’t chosen this path, and I would choose it again and again! ?”
She then gave the following advice to all mothers out there:
“Don’t be made to feel ashamed of your decisions, and don’t you ever apologize for doing the best you can. Do what you feel is best for your family, and be proud as you do it. If you choose to breastfeed, know that there is a whole community that gets you. Also, we shouldn’t have to normalize something that already IS normal and natural.”
(ALSO READ: How Did Coleen Garcia Treat Her Pregnancy Stretch Marks?)
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