Dear first-week me, Put down the scale. Put down the timer. And please, for the love of everything, take care of your nipples. I know you are sitting there convinced that you are doing something wrong. The baby is fussing. You cannot tell how much they are getting. Your nipples feel like they have been through something they were not designed for. You are exhausted in a way you did not know was possible. You are not doing it wrong. You are just in the first week. And the first week is the...

She was not just feeding a baby. She was managing a full-time job in her mind, around the clock. Tracking wet diapers. Counting feed times. Calculating how long it had been since the last nursing session. Watching the clock during pumping. Logging output. Worrying if the number was enough. Worrying if she had eaten enough. Worrying if the stress from worrying was affecting her supply. Breastfeeding has a physical dimension that we talk about constantly. What we rarely discuss is the cognitive...

She thought she would feel relieved when she decided to wean. She had met her goal. Her baby was thriving. It was time. What she did not expect was the grief. Weaning is one of the least talked-about transitions in the motherhood journey. We spend so much time preparing for breastfeeding that we rarely prepare for what it feels like to end it. And for many mamas, it feels like a loss — even when it is entirely their choice. IF YOU ARE READY TO WEAN First: there is no right time. Six weeks,...