Everyone knows a side effect of pregnancy is having to listen to unsolicited pregnancy advice. Then you get the child-raising advice. I’m a pro at the smile-and-nod, and I’m pretty quick with a witty response when the advice is just too silly/dumb/assinine to let slide.
I just never expected to get pregnancy-type advice from my dad.
“Jenny, did your doctors tell you about the cream you can put on your nipples to help desensitize them so breastfeeding won’t be quite so painful?”
Inside my head: DIG THAT HOLE IN THE SAND FASTER, WOMAN. YOUR HEAD CANNOT BE OUT HERE ANY LONGER. COVER YOUR EARS.
I’ll admit. I had a bad knee-jerk reaction and basically responded in a la-la-la-I-can’t-hear-you fashion.
Super mature, I know.
But just now, I realize how wrong I was to be such a weenie. My birth mom died when I was a toddler, so I’m missing out on all that motherly advice so many pregnant women find invaluable (I know this isn’t the case with all moms).
My dad, who talks so infrequently about my mom, is telling me about nipple cream because he wants her experiences to be available in case they help me out.
Don’t you feel like a jerk for me? GAH!
The other mom-experience he shared today is that my mom drank a beer a week when I was a fresh baby. Apparently beer helps with breastmilk supply, and she had some supply issues. Beer helped.
Bring on the Guinness, and throw in a side of humility, please.
Awww… that’s so sweet of your daddy! I would’ve done the SAME.THING. though. I think it’s special (in hindsight, of course) that he’s trying to share the same advice your birth mom would have. (((hugs))) and belly rubs!
Awww. I would have done the same thing. But what a sweet thing for your dad to do. <3
Well I think your reaction was normal! Tell him you appreciate the beer type stories better!
My mommy read about that beer thing, too… She baked brewers yeast into cookies!
Ok, seriously…why does that make me cry? IDK but it does. I’m all teary. I think it will be very interesting to hear more about what you learn about your mom through moments like these with your dad.
My dad and I had a bunch of REALLY honest discussions about babies (and where babies come from) when I was newly pregnant. I learned my mom had a lot of trouble concieving & several miscarriages – something she never told me, probably so I didn’t worry. It was weird at first but it’s nice to have a dad who can share that kind of thing. Yours sounds adorable. The beer thing is totally true too.
Oh sweet jebus I would have died laughing if my dad had said something like that to me! Just give him a big ol’ belly hug and make sure he knows you love him.
I think that is really special, that your dad is sharing that with you. This is probably bringing up all sorts of stuff for him as well. I’m sure it can hard to hear from him, but I think it’s really wonderful that he’s telling you these things. I hope you can find a place for them.
I wouldn’t be too hard on yourself – it was a normal reaction. And, the fact that you were able to realize the motive behind him saying it, makes it obvious what a wonderful daughter you are. Such a cute dad.
Yay for beer! I would have had the same reaction had my dad said the same thing. xoxo
plus side is that beer really does help! Dark beer.
The beer thing is true but you have to make sure that it’s beer with brewer’s yeast in it (not all beer has it). As another poster mentioned, you can just bake it into cookies – google lactation cookies.
Don’t feel badly. It’s a totally normal response any time you hear your own father say anything with the word “nipple” in it, lol.