Breastfeeding is not easy. But neither is weaning. That’s why this powerful photo from Brazilian mama Maya Vorderstrasse went viral. Her husband took pictures of her nursing their second baby for the first time and then, almost two years later, nursing their daughter for the last time. Maya Vonderstrasse discussed her feelings during this time and how challenging it might be to stop such cycles.
Maya Vorderstrasse, a mother of two, sought to show the world how pregnancy genuinely feels after becoming weary of seeing it depicted as effortless and wonderful on social media.
Maya said:” Honestly I was so tired of seeing motherhood portrayed as perfect, flawless, and effortless on social media because I never felt like it was like that for me. So I embraced my chaotic life, and decided to share it with everyone in the hopes of helping other mothers realize that it’s OK to not have it all figured out.”
In order to share her feelings or thoughts on a given day, Maya frequently put images next to a letter board while she was pregnant. She revealed how truly feeling pregnant feels in the funniest and most honest way possible, including food cravings, a wild bladder, and swollen feet.
The American mother opened her heart to vent about the period she breastfed, and it was emotional. Maya said when sharing what happened:” I didn’t know that one person could feel so proud and so broken at the same time, right now I am a hormonal, emotional, and mental mess.” Maya’s post shows two photos.
She breastfed Hazel for the first time. Correct the last time. She makes an effort to smile in each one despite her tears flowing down her face.
She said: “Raising my arm in this picture was very difficult for me as I had to fight through uncontrollable tears: this picture meant that I would never breastfeed my daughter ever again. I have been breastfeeding for so a long time that I have no idea what it’s like to stop.”
In a viral Instagram photo of her feeding Zoey, 13 months, and Hazel, 2 months, Maya shares her journey down two different paths that are often in the parenting world.
She wrote:” I always dreamed I would breastfeed my child as long as I could. I’ve seen so many beautiful and amazing journeys through the bonding and comforting experience that it is. I breastfed my first daughter exclusively for six months, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It was a very unique time we had together. and that was something I could not lose. She was 2 months old when I became pregnant, and by the time she was almost 6 months old, my milk had dried up and basically vanished.”
She added:” We had to start bottle feeding and I thought our bond would disappear. But, It was still our time, she’d still grab my hair and smile at me with her eyes. She was so happy. Loved. Fed. My thoughts went back over everything we had experienced. I was so thankful to be in a good place today since it was such a potent recollection. I believed it was improbable that other ladies weren’t experiencing similar things. To let other mothers know that they will be OK and to save them time from worrying about their feeding decisions, I came up with the concept of publishing a picture that symbolized my journey.”
As the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” These images represent the joy and not so happy moments of motherhood. Since they are no longer a part of the mother’s routine, the tender moments during the seemingly ordinary dawn will also be in the mother’s mind.
Thousands of people have commented on and applauded Maya’s publication, praising her for giving her daughter the best upbringing as well as for beautifully and poignantly capturing the conclusion of such a significant period in their life.
Making the decision to wean a child is never easy, because it is not just about stopping giving breast milk but about stopping having that precious ritual that only exists between the mother and her baby, something that is undoubtedly a great moment and an emotional experience that many mothers have gone through.
