I don't usually post here very often because, due to a breast redux I had in college, I have no mammary glands and am a "bottle nurser"...however, I am VERY pro-BFing and like to think of myself as a FFing lactivist. This week I had a chance to educate my DH's cousin's gf about BFing and was so excited I had to share!
We were visiting family in Alabama this week and decided to take the little ones to the zoo. My son is 2 and her son will be 2 in June. They are big buddies. Anyway, on the way out there, we somehow got on the topic of BFing. My MIL was in the car and she was saying something about how my DH (her eldest) couldn't BF because of a severe underbite. He was a 34-weeker born in 1970 and they just didn't know how to help her fully. She tried and tried but eventually turned to formula. She BFed her second, but with her 3rd, she had a major blood clot 2 weeks after delivery and had to go back in the hospital and they wouldn't let her bring the baby. She basically had to wean because of time spent away from him and all the meds she was pumped full of.
Now, she and I know all about the benefits of BFing and share a sort of lingering guilt about the circumstances that caused us to not be able to BF. My cousin's gf, however, had some major misconceptions about BFing and I was able to correct her! yay! She had a HARD time delivering her son...pushed for HOURS, then had to have an emergency c-section because when his head crowned, something about the umbilical cord cutting off his oxygen and both his and her BP plummeting...Not sure about the specifics. Anyway, she was put under (totally out!) when they got him out and took him to the NICU. By the time she saw him, the nurses had been giving him formula and he would not suck. She tried and tried, but no one was there to help her so they gave up.
She said she thought that her "bad diet" meant that formula was better than her BM. MIL and I both told her that BM far surpasses any other artificial food, no matter the diet...unless, I guess, she was smoking crack and drinking alcohol like it was water...She said she didn't have milk, so he was "starving"...I told her that after a c/s it was possible for it to take up to a week sometimes for milk to come in and colostrum was soooo important, and he would have been fine. Am I right?
I told her I didn't want her to feel guilty, because obviously BOTH our boys are happy, healthy and VERY loved...but I hoped that next time she would have a better birth experience and BFing would work out for her. Did I do right? I hope I didn't hurt "the cause" or misspeak...I try to encourage BFing among ALL my friends, so please let me know if I did anything wrong!
We were visiting family in Alabama this week and decided to take the little ones to the zoo. My son is 2 and her son will be 2 in June. They are big buddies. Anyway, on the way out there, we somehow got on the topic of BFing. My MIL was in the car and she was saying something about how my DH (her eldest) couldn't BF because of a severe underbite. He was a 34-weeker born in 1970 and they just didn't know how to help her fully. She tried and tried but eventually turned to formula. She BFed her second, but with her 3rd, she had a major blood clot 2 weeks after delivery and had to go back in the hospital and they wouldn't let her bring the baby. She basically had to wean because of time spent away from him and all the meds she was pumped full of.
Now, she and I know all about the benefits of BFing and share a sort of lingering guilt about the circumstances that caused us to not be able to BF. My cousin's gf, however, had some major misconceptions about BFing and I was able to correct her! yay! She had a HARD time delivering her son...pushed for HOURS, then had to have an emergency c-section because when his head crowned, something about the umbilical cord cutting off his oxygen and both his and her BP plummeting...Not sure about the specifics. Anyway, she was put under (totally out!) when they got him out and took him to the NICU. By the time she saw him, the nurses had been giving him formula and he would not suck. She tried and tried, but no one was there to help her so they gave up.
She said she thought that her "bad diet" meant that formula was better than her BM. MIL and I both told her that BM far surpasses any other artificial food, no matter the diet...unless, I guess, she was smoking crack and drinking alcohol like it was water...She said she didn't have milk, so he was "starving"...I told her that after a c/s it was possible for it to take up to a week sometimes for milk to come in and colostrum was soooo important, and he would have been fine. Am I right?I told her I didn't want her to feel guilty, because obviously BOTH our boys are happy, healthy and VERY loved...but I hoped that next time she would have a better birth experience and BFing would work out for her. Did I do right? I hope I didn't hurt "the cause" or misspeak...I try to encourage BFing among ALL my friends, so please let me know if I did anything wrong!
: I have met many ladies who cover their own guilt feelings by degrading BF (sour grapes, so to speak). Your situation is what formula was invented for, and your cousin got sabotaged. With good info and suport like yours, maybe she can have a better time if she has another!!
