I am a breastfeeding mother and I choose to use a cover while nursing in public.

Nursing in public is a fact of life around here. I’m a breastfeeding mother and proud of it! Because I’ve chosen to breastfeed, nursing in public is something that I do often. I have no choice. My daughter gets hungry and I feed her. Any time. Any place. It’s as simple as that.

So what’s the big deal? I absolutely, positively cannot bring myself to NIP (nurse in public) without a nursing cover. Believe me, I’ve tried. I couldn’t do it. I became paralyzed with anxiety and fear. You know, I love breastfeeding but the reality is I’m just not comfortable enough to nurse in public sans cover no matter how discreet it may actually appear to be.

The thing is, as far as me and my breasts go, we just haven’t had a very good relationship. They’ve been a source of pain, anxiety, fear, ridicule and embarrassment. Over 20 years ago, they were the target of an immature boy’s teasing. Today they provide nourishment for my baby. At the age of 19, they were harboring a potentially cancerous lump. Today they work hard to produce life-sustaining milk. When I was a teenager in high school, they were groped by a trusted adult. Man-handled and violated no more, the disgusting hands that once hurt me have been replaced by my daughter’s gentle touch.

Nursing while getting my makeup done for a wedding I was in this past summer. Notice my brightly-colored nursing cover?

Now some of you may say that nursing in public sans cover could be a liberating experience, a great way to win back what I lost over the years. It would be a victory over all the things that have held them down, so to speak. The reality is, I’ve already won. Despite everything “the girls” have been through, I’ve embraced them as the amazing life-sustaining miracles they are. I can still honor them and their awesomeness by nursing my daughter while covering up.

Yes, I realize that my nursing cover screams “look at me!” and I don’t care. It gives me a sense of security. It’s my safety blanket, my protection. Look all you want. You won’t see a thing. But know this… under my brightly colored nursing cover are a pair of breasts working hard to nourish my child. Nothing can take that away. Not some silly boy, a breast lump or a disgusting old man.

I’m a breastfeeding mother and I choose to use a cover while nursing in public.

Let’s talk! Breastfeeding Mamas, do you cover up while nursing in public? Why or why not?

*To read more about my love of breastfeeding and what I’ve learned along the way, visit my Breastfeeding Page.

I have NOT been living in denial about the weight I’ve gained over the last several months. I am the picture of perfect health.

I did NOT finally step on my bathroom scale only to confirm what I already knew. I need to lose weight! *sigh*

I was NOT appalled by the set of numbers that flashed on the LCD screen. Hey, at least the first number is still a “1″.

I did NOT want to kick myself in the rear for insisting to my husband that we just had to purchase the scale that calculates weight, body fat and hydration levels. What in the world was I thinking?

I was NOT tempted to smash the LCD screen for displaying the wrong set of numbers. Surely the scale must be broken. Right?

I am NOT going to exact revenge on the faulty piece-of-junk scale by drinking a 12-pack of Coke.

And I am definitely NOT going to post any photos of myself as evidence of the ugly truth. I need to lose weight.

The seventh member of our family and resident metro-sexual monkey – Curious George, gets ready for a night on the town.

Did I mention that he’s a metro-sexual monkey? Visit the Ohana Means Family tab to learn more about Curious George and the special place he has in our family.

My 9-month old daughter Alana is one of my favorite subjects to photograph. She’s fun, unpredictable and pure innocence. As you can see, she’s developed a taste for the finer things in life.

Dear Landlords:

Renting your home for the past 6 months has been nothing short of an adventure. A really BAD adventure. This is a really bad ride and I’m dying to get off. Why you ask? Hmm…

• The warped, water-stained ceiling in the master bedroom has yet to be fixed. The funny thing is, you assured us that the ceiling would be repaired prior to our move-in and even stated such on that legal document we signed. What’s it called? Oh that’s right – lease agreement.

  Ceiling in master bedroom

• Speaking of leaks and ceilings… Remember when I told you about the water stain on the bathroom ceiling? You asked me to touch it to confirm that it was indeed wet. Well, I touched it and my finger went through the dang thing! I’m still waiting for you to come over and fix the stupid thing.
• Going kitchen-less for an entire week due to a major leak under the floorboards is not cool. It’s especially not cool that our family of six was forced to eat out everyday until our kitchen was restored to working order. Even more uncool is the fact that you offered no discount whatsoever to offset the added expenses we incurred while having to eating out every single day.

  Bathroom ceiling

• You know, I called you about the dishwasher a while back. I mentioned that it seemed to leak every now and then and that the seal required replacement. You came out, looked at it, pressed the seal down and deemed it “fixed”. Well as I mentioned in my follow-up phone call, it still leaks. Fix it please.
• Heat is extremely important around this time of year, so I was pretty angry when the heating unit I called about three weeks before had suddenly died and gone to Heaven on a Friday night. I was even more upset that Mr. Heating Guy couldn’t come out to replace the unit until Monday afternoon. Offering to put us up in a hotel was a nice gesture and although we declined, you were kind enough to bring a few space heaters over. Thank you, though maybe next time you could compensate us for the $60 increase on our electricity bill last month. Had you replaced the piece-of-junk heating unit I called you about weeks before, it wouldn’t have run overtime thereby causing our electricity usage to go up. Oh and you know what? Your reaction upon hearing about the $60 increase sucked. I don’t care that the new unit is energy-efficient. Our electricity bill went up by $60!?!
• Now let’s talk about that armadillo hole at the bottom of the steps leading down from the back deck. I reported that to you two months ago. It has yet to be filled! Get a bag of dirt. Drive your happy, non-armadillo-hole-in-the-yard-having butt over here and fill it! Yes, I could easily do it myself but I’m not going to. I pay you a lot of money. The least you could do is fill the gosh dang hole! By the way, did you ever stop to think that the armadillo hole is a liability issue? If I were a terrible person, I’d purposely fall and break something just so I could sue you. But I’m not, so I won’t. However, I may have to call your insurance agent. Wouldn’t it stink if you were to lose your rental property insurance because of your neglect? I worked in the insurance industry for almost 10 years. Do. Not. Tempt. Me.

  Armadillo hole

• Oh and let’s not forget the vents under the house that have yet to be screened off – you know, to avoid critters from making their way into the house. Which leads me to our party crashers…
• The other night, our son noticed a little mouse run from the stove to the dishwasher. Thanks to the traps we placed around the house last night, we have three less mice here on planet Earth. Yes, mice. MICE! The cute little critters nasty vile creatures were waiting in traps for us this morning. Who the heck wakes up to find three mice in three different mousetraps in the same room on the same morning?!? We do! Apparently those furry little suckers were having a good ol’ time chillin’ in our kitchen while we lay slumbering. Who knows what kind of parties they’ve been throwing!

  Two of the three mice that were killed overnight.

Look, I’m tired of calling of you and I’m tired of finding things wrong with this house. It’s just not acceptable. I understand that you painted the interior, re-finished the hardwood floors, re-tiled the kitchen and bathrooms, purchased a new stove and dishwasher, replaced a few light fixtures and ceiling fans. Yaddah. Yaddah. Yaddah. That’s all fine and dandy, but let’s get one thing straight. My husband and I are paying $1,300.00 per month to live in this non-mortgaged home that you own. We expect and deserve to have every single complaint addressed and resolved. We are faithful tenants who take great care of your home. How about returning the favor by getting off your lazy butts to resolve these issues?

You wouldn’t live this way. Why should we?

P.S. We can’t wait to break our stupid one-year lease. Don’t even think about trying to enforce that clever little penalty you added to our lease agreement. You’ve already broken the contract on so many levels. Good luck with your next tenants. I can guarantee they won’t be as conscientious and understanding as we’ve been.