Topless, raw and exposed: That?s how I spent the first few weeks following the birth of my daughter, Dale. In fact, for most of last December, I lay in bed, in a freezing room (a CPR class made me paranoid about my baby overheating), feeling sorry for myself. My skin was too raw to cover with clothing, so I wore an open cardigan to keep my arms warm because I couldn?t pull the covers up higher than my ribs. Every so often, I?d glance at Dale, asleep in a bassinet next to me, and dread that moment when her eyes would crack open and the call to feed would come again. This was motherhood apparently and, less than a month in, I already felt like a failure.

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7 breastfeeding tips every nursing mom has to read
Even before I found out I was pregnant, I had this notion that I wouldn?t be able to breastfeed. I don?t know if it was because my mom wasn?t able to breastfeed or because the idea of milk coming out of my body was too strange for my brain to process, but I obsessed over every aspect of breastfeeding. I read every blog and website I could find. I?d look at my boobs in the mirror and poke them to see if they were filling up. At work, I watched a breast pump webinar instead of taking a lunch break. In the evenings, I registered myself and my husband...