Breastfeeding
Our Miracle Baby
By Marlene Thoms
Duncan, British Columbia, Canada
From NEW BEGINNINGS, Vol. 11 No. 1, January-February 1994, pp. 11-12.
We provide articles
from our publications from previous years for reference for our Leaders and
members. Readers are cautioned to remember that research and medical information
change over time
Our son, Nikolas, was born
at Grace Hospital in Vancouver fourteen weeks prematurely. He weighed
two pounds, two ounces. Within the first week he required surgery to
repair a diaphragmatic hernia which interfered with the development
of his lungs and bowels. Only when he had survived surgery did I begin
to hope that he might live, because he had already beaten so many odds.
For six long weeks he was
on full life-support, ventilation, IV feeds, and heart and respiration
monitors to rest his delicate respiratory and digestive systems. A second
surgery was required to correct a bowel obstruction. During this entire
time there was little I could do for him. I carefully observed his body
language in order to learn his signs of fatigue or distress, and I taught
him to suck his thumb so that he could comfort himself and maintain
this important reflex. I kept pumping my milk four times a day and at
night if I awoke feeling uncomfortable. I found massage really helpful
in getting the milk to let down. I was afraid the amount I produced
would eventually decrease so I pumped out more than was necessary.
I had nursed my other two
boys and knew that after Niko's long hospitalization I was going to
need the nursing to establish the feelings of closeness and normalcy.
I also knew he would need the immunities and easy digestibility of breast
milk because any infections could be serious in a baby whose lungs and
digestive systems were healing. Later I found that breastfeeding diminished
the stress for both of us in coping with painful medical procedures
and disturbing hospital routines.
After the second surgery,
Niko finally began to wean from the ventilator and the IV feeds, starting
with l-cc. feeds of my milk by nasal tube. At nine-and-a-half weeks
I was finally allowed to hold him for the first time and have what I
called "a fake breastfeeding"--just for the taste--because he was too
weak to suck, swallow, and breathe all at once. Some nurses really cooperated
by giving him my milk fresh (instead of frozen-pasteurized). They also
encouraged me to persist with feeds at the breast even when I thought
it was almost too much for him. The frightening alarms of the monitors
went off frequently due to his heart-rate slowing and his choking on
the milk. But his oxygenation levels proved better when nursing than
when bottle-feeding or even resting--an encouraging sign to me. We often
tube-fed part or all of a feed just to save his strength and kept bottles
to a minimum.
In spite of my determination
to breastfeed him, once he was transferred to our smaller, local hospital,
less-knowledgeable nurses wanted to bottle-feed him entirely. With the
support of a more enlightened nurse, the head nurse, and the pediatrician,
I finally got orders to stop using bottles and use tube feeds to rest
him at night so that he could breastfeed during the day. I accomplished
this with the help of my La Leche League Leader. Her knowledge and encouragement
allowed me to concentrate on what I knew was best for my baby.
Around the time of Niko's
due date I became discouraged. I had thought he would be home by then,
but feedings were still a struggle for him. There was again more pressure
to increase bottle-feeding. I finally insisted that they bottle-feed
him for twenty-four hours to prove to me their claims that he could
do better bottle-feeding than breastfeeding. Of course he lost weight
and wasted his meager strength fussing. That convinced me that I couldn't
do much worse at home with him. Fortunately the pediatrician agreed,
and Niko came home at sixteen weeks of age, weighing six pounds, three
ounces. He was still on the heart monitor, and I was armed with Infant
Resuscitation Training.
I fed him whenever he stirred
or squeaked at all. At the end of the first week home he had gained
seven ounces--seven times what he had gained the previous week in the
hospital! I was thrilled and relieved--he was fully breastfed--no gadgets
or bottles were necessary. Nikolas was so glad to be home--I think he
figured he had gone to heaven. I finally felt he was really "all mine."
His progress since then
has been just fine in every area. He is the happiest, most loving little
guy you could imagine. Although nursing was still not easy for the first
few weeks at home (he needed small frequent feeds and extra naps), he
has barely had a sniffle in spite of leading a full schedule around
our two other sons, Peter, six, and Konrad, five. Everyone else in the
family has had a flu, cold, or ear infection but Nikolas has been very
healthy. Was it worth it? You bet it was!
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:30:42 UTC 2007.
