Men Nursing Babies

I forgot how much I love nursing a baby.

I forgot how sweet it is to have little lips tugging at me and feeling my body respond.

I forgot how beautiful it is to look down and see two big eyes looking back at me with love, trust, and perfect faith in my ability to provide.

I forgot how incredibly needed and important it makes me feel, knowing that I am providing all the nutrition my baby needs to stay alive.

I forgot what an amazing sense of connectedness I feel with my baby and with myself when I am nursing.

I forgot that even though sometimes it is hard or painful, it is still worth it because there is no other feeling like it in the world.

I think that one of my favorite authors, Louise Erdrich, explained it best:

"One day as I am holding baby and feeding her, I realize that this is exactly the state of mind and heart that so many writers from Thomas Mann to James Joyce describe with yearning-- the mystery of an epiphany, the sense of oceanic oneness, the great yes, the wholeness. There is also the sense of a self merged at least temporarily-- it is deathlike. I close my eyes and see Frost's too peaceful snowy woods, but realize that this is also the most alive place I know-- Blake's gratified desire. These are the dark places in the big two-hearted river, where Hemingway's Nick Adams won't cast his line, the easeful death of the self of Keat's nightingale. Perhaps we owe some of our most moving literature to men who didn't understand that they wanted to be women nursing babies." ("The Blue Jay's Dance", pg. 148)

No this isn't a breast.
It is Jon giving Rose the "bicep test".

He holds the baby up to his bicep (he even uses the cradle position!) and if the baby sucks it then he knows she is hungry enough to be passed on to mom. He also uses it as a way to keep a hungry baby "satisfied" until mom is available or ready to nurse. Most of the time he just uses the plastic pacifier to calm her down, but I think he really enjoys doing this when he gets the chance. It is the closest he will get to "nursing" our children and I think it is incredibly sweet.

I have a good man...
who just might have something in common with Keats, Hemingway, Blake and Frost :)