Following the last post of contest entries that made me laugh, here's are the stories I found moving. Thanks again to everyone who entered the contest.
A story from my daughter:
When Lance was a few weeks old,
he is now 11, my neighbor died
while going to work one morning.
She had a baby girl a few weeks
old. My daughter knew she nursed
her baby exclusively and went over
and knocked on the door. She went
in and explained that she was a
nursing mom and would be happy
to nurse this baby girl also, until
they could either wean her to a
bottle or decide what needed to
be done. I think this was a selfless
act of kindness and mercy and I
will never forget her act of love
to my grieving neighbor and his
baby daughter. She now 11, and
her name is Gigi (Regina after
her daddy, Reginald). Thanks, Vickie
My daughter, Rainy was born over 3 months early, weighing a scant 1 pound, 6 ounces. My mother and sister got me some motherwear nursing tops right away. Just wearing them made me really FEEL like the breastfeeding mom I hoped to become. It's so challenging to try to put your very tiny, sick baby to breast in the busy environment of the Neonatal intensive Care Unit. Those tops gave me strength, discretion, and comfort, when Rainy and I needed it most. It took many months of me pumping milk, and Rainy and I working together to master nursing at the breast. She struggled, I struggled, and I kept wearing those shirts, and still do. After Rainy was about five months old, we finally got it down, and the nursing continues to this day. I have the white cotton boatneck on as I write. Rainy is 22 months old, and has NO major lingering effects of her prematurity, or prolonged hospitalization. Breastmilk and nursing has been a huge part of why she has done so well. Her team of doctors and I feel strongly about this, and in fact, she is a part of research on the subject. Rainy is also an ambassador child for Easter Seals in our area. She has come so far, and as we know, there's nothing like the magic of breastmilk. If anything gives a struggling mother a little more confidence to continue with nursing, it ought to be shouted from roof tops! Motherwear is the only brand I wear. Thanks for all you do. -Lisa and Rainy
Dec. 1st 2005 was one of the best and scariest days of my life. My gorgeous daughter was born as result of an emergency c-section. She was my first baby and I wanted to do everything right. Breastfeeding was extremely important to me. While I was pregnant I read books and talked to friends I was ready. The first 4 weeks went wonderfully then it happen. I began to have pain in my right side. By the the time she was 6 weeks a tumor was found on my pancreas. There was few weeks when we didn't know if it was benign or malignant. Nursing my daughter was calming. I had to focus only on her not put the stress I was under out of my mind. The tumor turned out to be benign but it was recommend that I get it removed as soon as possible because if it did become malignant it could be deadly.
When she was 3 1/2 months I had
surgery. I felt to guilty leaving
her. But by taking supplements
I was able to store enough milk
to feed her while I was in the
hospital. I ended up having 40%
of my pancreas removed and skeletized.
It was an intense surgery. I continued
to pump while in the hospital in
order keep producing milk even
while I was in ICU. After my week
long hospital stay there were so
many family and friends around
to help during my recovery which
was helpful but the help didn't
allow me reconnect with my baby.
Everyone wanted to help but
nursing was the one thing no one
could help with. Those moments
were the only time that I could
have quiet time and hold my daughter.
Those moments reminded me how much
it was worth. Those are moments
that I will always cherish. While
nursing her I would tell her my
hopes and dreams for the future.
I was lucky enough to be able to
continue to nurse for the first
year of her life. I feel that I
gave her the best possible start
because I breastfeed. -Anonymous
I discovered ecological breastfeeding
while still pregnant with my
first child. At the time I had
no idea how much the information
and lifestyle and practices would
come to mean to me. With my first
son, we enjoyed a happy,
healthy breastfeeding relationship
and realized all the many benefits,
included extended natural breastfeeding
infertility. My first son nursed
for nearly 3 years-until he weaned
on his own during my second pregnancy.
As the years passed, my second
son came along, nursed for 3 years,
until HIS baby brother, Jonathan,
was born. We enjoyed the closeness,
the warmth, the attachment, not
to mention the health benefits.
All went well and by the time our
third baby was born, we were pretty
much in a rhythm.
My third son, Jonathan, nursed
easily right away, just as his
brothers had. But something we
never expected happened to him
when we was just 2-and-a-half years
old. He was diagnosed, at that
young age, with leukemia.
The leukemia diagnosis was a huge (and awful) surprise to our family. Up until that time, Jonathan (a champion nurser like his brothers before him) had been perfectly happy and healthy. He had never had so much as an ear infection, never been hospitalized (not even for his birth-his was a normal and healthy homebirth!), never taken an antibiotic, not even once. It seemed to creep up quietly over the course of a few weeks, he seemed tired, just a little under the weather. He didn't want to run around so much, wouldn't climb up his play structure, wanted to be carried up and down the stairs. But there was no dramatic change in his health. We were sure it was only a virus-a "bug" going around. Finally though, after a week or so, I decided to call the pediatrician "just in case." As soon as we arrived, the doctor performed some blood work and told us that Jonathan was very seriously ill, and we would need to be transported immediately from her office by ambulance to the main teaching hospital in our region. I asked if Jonathan was going to be okay, and she replied, "I don't know."
Terrified, we climbed into the
ambulance. And while the EMTs were
starting Jonathan's IV, he asked
to nurse. I looked at the EMT to
see if it was okay, and he said, "My
wife is still nursing our 9-month-old,
and no telling when she'll quit!
Please, do nurse him. It will be
the best thing for both of you." We
nursed in the ambulance, then in
the Emergency Room, then through
the ordeal of being told by the
doctor that our baby had leukemia.
We nursed day and night, in the
hospital (where I was blessed to
be able to stay 24-hours a day
due to the support of family and
friends who stepped in to care
for my older children full-time)
where his condition was stabilized
and his chemotherapy started. Except
for when he needed to fast in preparation
for a surgical procedure, Jonathan
nursed frequently, almost like
a newborn again. My milk supply,
which had been waning, began to
rebound. As the medications and
the process of his body eliminating
the dead leukemia cells made him
feel sicker and sicker, nursing
became his main comfort”and mine
too.
In the first days of having a child
diagnosed with cancer, the worst
feeling I think for a mother is
one of helplessness. You feel that
this thing has attacked your child,
and that there is NOT ONE THING
you can do about it. But the good
thing about breastfeeding is that
you ARE doing something. Even if
your child is very, very sick,
you are providing him with the
stability and comfort that he has
known all his life, even in the
midst of great upheaval and pain
and fear. You are giving him some
(even if only a very little bit
of) nutrition and fluid, and plenty
of closeness and comfort-not to
mention all the good hormones you
stimulate to make him (and you!)
feel calm in the midst of the storm.
In one of the worst and scariest
moments of mothering, nursing my
critically-ill toddler turned out
to be the one thing I COULD do
for him. And I thanked God for
this blessing. After his initial
intensive treatment, Jonathan's
continued treatment suppressed
his immune system and made him
vulnerable to infection. After
he came home, we continued to nurse,
still day and night. And his oncologist
commended me, telling me that the
antibodies my milk was able to
pass to him were probably really
helping him avoid fevers and infections
common to leukemia patients.
Now his treatment has continued
for six months, and he is through
the worst. We are in a long-term
maintenance phase, in which he
still receives chemotherapy. His
prognosis is, so far as we can
tell, excellent. And in July, he
turned 3, and he is still nursing.
We will let Jonathan lead the way
in weaning, as we have done for
his brothers before. But this time,
we see him nurse and we see how
even in a critical time, the nursing
relationship has infinite value.
I hope that no other breastfeeding
mothers ever have to see their
children suffer with a cancer diagnosis
or any other serious illness. But
I do have to say that as much as
I have always appreciated the general
benefits of breastfeeding, I have
never appreciated them more than
I have in the past six months.
I'm so glad that I had the information
and support to continue breastfeeding
past the first year of Jonathan's
life-I never knew what nursing
would mean to both of us in the
future.
I hope that Motherwear's nursing
story "competition" will encourage
and embolden many mothers to nurse
their babies, and to stick with
it for a long time! -Pam
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