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Welcome to AndySteiner.com |
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Andy Steiner is a free-lance writer and
editor based in St. Paul, Minnesota. Take a look around this site to
sample some of Andy's work and to find out more about her new book: Spilled Milk: Breastfeeding Adventures and Advice from Less-Than-Perfect Moms.
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 Why I Wrote Spilled Milk: Breastfeeding Adventures and Advice From Less-Than-Perfect Moms
By Andy Steiner
In the spring of 2000, I gave birth to my first child, a healthy, happy
girl. No one ever told me that having a baby would be easy, so I wasn’t
surprised by the crushing exhaustion, the raging hormones, the
unexplained tears (both hers and mine), or even the passionate love
that sometimes made my heart feel like it would burst. What I was
surprised by was just how difficult and stressful breastfeeding turned
out to be.
From the time I first started thinking about having a baby,
I always planned on breastfeeding, and though I was no innocent, I
somehow thought that once we got over the awkward getting-started
stage, my baby and I would become an efficient, loving nursing team.
What’s more natural than breastfeeding, right?
Wrong. Looking back at my milky adventure, I realize now that while
breastfeeding is a natural act, it’s also a difficult one. And after
amassing an impressive collection of how-to breastfeeding books, nipple
shields, lactation consultants, breast pumps, nursing bras (they do
come in black!), storage bags, and wicked breast infections, I can only
say that the one thing that was missing from the experience was a book
that could tell me—in a casual, non-preachy tone—that I wasn’t alone,
that everything was going to be okay, a book that felt like a rambling,
ribald conversation with a gaggle of understanding, empathetic, crazy
and kind friends who’d seen it all and knew better than to
judge my experiences.
Crazy for a book that would offer this kind of solace, I hauled my
strung-out new-mom self to the library. What I discovered was while
there were literally hundreds of “how-to”- type books on breastfeeding
out there, I still couldn’t find the one book I was looking for. What I
needed was a book that provided support (and I’m not talking about
nursing bras), an invaluable, advice-filled volume that spoke to
me in a voice I that could relate to. Spilled Milk: Breastfeeding
Adventures and Advice from Less-Than-Perfect Moms is that book.
Spilled Milk will appeal to new or second-time mothers of all ages who
will find comfort—and maybe some humor—in not being alone in facing the
stress and mess of breastfeeding. The book also provides realistic,
useful advice from mothers who’ve been there. Readers who enjoyed such
popular parenting books as the Girlfriends’ Guide series, The Hip Mama
Survival Guide, and Mothers Who Think will also love Spilled Milk.
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