Speaking from my personal experince as well as another medical professional...Three months ago I experienced a beautiful vaginal birth of a 6 pound 14 ounce baby girl only to wake up three hours later in the ICU with no recollection of what took place when I got up to use the restroom. According to my delivery nurse, I went unconcious in the restroom and began to seize as a result of eclampsia. I was on a Mag Sulfate drip and 24 hours later had spinal headaches as a result of a wet tap during my epidural.
As if that wasn't enough...My daughter stopped breathing briefly during her first bath and was taken to the NICU for treatment. I was determined that since NOTHING else was going my way, I was at least going to breastfeed to provide her with something that I knew only I could do for her. I will attest to the use of breastfeeding as medicine in itself because of the power it has to make you feel like what you truly are....The most important person in your baby's life.
I will never forget the first time I got a whole 8 cc of colostrum at one time. My sister put a cap on the bottle and walked it straight to the NICU to feed it to Gracie while it was still warm. She said when she walked in with it the RN was clapping and said "YEAH!" That little piece of information gave me the strength to deal with four more days of headaches, tests, and procedures.
Throughout our weeklong hospital stay, My mother and sister helped me pump every two hours while I stayed laying completely flat. I know without a doubt, that even though I can't tell Gracie someday that I was there for her first bath or diaper changing...I will tell her with pride that I was busy making her milk.
As if that wasn't enough...My daughter stopped breathing briefly during her first bath and was taken to the NICU for treatment. I was determined that since NOTHING else was going my way, I was at least going to breastfeed to provide her with something that I knew only I could do for her. I will attest to the use of breastfeeding as medicine in itself because of the power it has to make you feel like what you truly are....The most important person in your baby's life.
I will never forget the first time I got a whole 8 cc of colostrum at one time. My sister put a cap on the bottle and walked it straight to the NICU to feed it to Gracie while it was still warm. She said when she walked in with it the RN was clapping and said "YEAH!" That little piece of information gave me the strength to deal with four more days of headaches, tests, and procedures.
Throughout our weeklong hospital stay, My mother and sister helped me pump every two hours while I stayed laying completely flat. I know without a doubt, that even though I can't tell Gracie someday that I was there for her first bath or diaper changing...I will tell her with pride that I was busy making her milk.
