Baby Toes
by Barbara Dehn - 22nd July 2007
I love baby toes! Ok, I confessed. These little niblets of teeny tiny soft round corn kernels at the end of petite and soft feet. Oh my gosh, I go wild for newborn baby toesies! They are perfect. I also love their little tiny matchstick fingers, but that’s another story. I was a pediatric nurse for years, so I’ve had lots of opportunities to rock and cuddle little ones. Whenever I go to a delivery, counting fingers and toes is fun to do with the baby’s parents or big brothers or sisters. Don’t even get me started on playing “This little Piggy.”
I’m rambling on and on here because I was talking to a patient of mine about all the wonderful things that mommies do with their babies. She was sleep deprived and getting a bit depressed. Despite almost daily trips to the lactation consultants at our hospital, frequent pump sessions, taking medication to help milk supply and to help with let down, and resting and fluids, she wasn’t producing enough milk for her baby. She was able to get about 2 ounces TOTAL each day, despite pumping 8 times day. She was 8 weeks postpartum and still waiting for her milk to come in.
Thankfully, this is rare and most women are able to produce plenty of milk for their babies. Unfortunately, she was in the 3% or so of women who, for some reason, just aren’t making enough milk. She told me that she just couldn’t take it anymore, and she had decided to stop pumping so much. I recommended that she continue to put the baby to the breast as many times each day as she wanted, pump 2-4 times/day and continue to supplement.
Any amount of breastmilk is good for the baby and the experience of feeding at the breast is something many women cherish, so I encouraged her to continue that. The reality was that there were diminishing returns from her pump sessions despite lots of good advice from certified lactation consultants. Then we talked about what motherhood is all about. Is motherhood about spending every waking moment breastfeeding, pumping or preparing to breastfeed? Is motherhood about all the ways that we nurture a baby, changing their diapers, and kissing their little tummies. Is it about tickling their little toes? And singing to them, rocking them? Loving them?
This mom gave it everything she had and then some, and it didn’t work out for her. So should she feel like a failure? Of course not. She can feel great about all she has done and is doing to nourish and nurture her little one.
Comments
Past Entries
This Week's
Question
Sign the Petition
Do moms know best? We believe they do, but the government may not..
Your freedom to choose between breast and bottle-feeding could be in jeopardy.
