I am thankful for lots of things, but today I want to talk about my 3 daughters. I am so thankful for them. very proud of them. I think about them and how they do things and how they live their lives, and I feel overcome by awesomeness. my 3 girls.
I can put lots of things they do into my 'file of proudness'. Maybe one day I will actually list all the characteristics that define my daughters as good people, good daughters, good human beings. Today, I just want to list one thing, maybe one of their latest 'things' that make me so proud of them.
My oldest - Jenny
To see her struggle with breastfeeding. To see her so determined. so heartbroken when it was 'not working'. so frustrated. getting so worn out. so sad. and still. still. she kept trying. she tried so many different things. she researched daily on the subject. she ran to the store often to get the latest gadget to maybe aid in making breastfeeding her baby a 'success'. She never gave up. She tried and tried and tried and never ever even thought of giving up. Why would she? She loves her baby. She wants the best for her baby. I love her way of fighting for what is totally worth it in life. for what is best for her baby.
After struggling with breastfeeding at the hospital after giving birth, and then struggling for about a week after she was home from the hospital, she finally got some milk in, thanks to the fancy hospital pump that came home with her from the hospital. Those pumps are awesome. So, she finally was able to at least pump that milk. At first just a few drops, and slowly, day by day, that milk increased. Hooray. We would get so excited when she got maybe 10 drops. As mama's milk was coming in, baby Luke was fed those few precious drops, and then some formula. Sometimes - about once a day - he got aunt Tammy's breast milk. Yes, Tammy would come over and nurse him herself or else she provided some of her milk in frozen little pouches. See, my Tammy has got a baby of her own that she is nursing. Sarah. Sweet girl is one year old now. Thank you my good mama wonderful middle child! for sharing that precious milk of yours :)
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*a funny story related to the subject here:
While at the hospital, the second day of Luke's arrival, Tammy, Lisa, and myself were visiting Jenny and Luke at the hospital. In conversing, we all decided that Tammy would try to nurse Luke. Yeah, it felt a little weird at first to think about someone else nursing him besides his mama. But that weirdness didn't last long. We all got used to the idea real quick. First, we wanted little Luke to get him the BEST nutrition, he needed some breast milk, plus we also were curious to see if he would even know what to do with a breast! This is the funny part: We didn't want the nurses to know what we were about to do. We didn't want to ask permission. We knew what they would say - NO - so we didn't ask, and as Brian went outside the room to be our lookout man, Tammy and baby got to work. Yes he did. he took it. with no hesitation. He took auntie Tammy's milk. just like that. He gobbled up that milk. We were so excited. and so relieved that yes he was able. yes he got some wonderful breast milk. and so scared we were going to get FOUND OUT! didn't happen. Still, the next day Jenny and I told the lactation specialist what we had done. She smiled real big and told us that she didn't hear a thing we said. **wink, wink**
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Finally, the day came when Jenny was able to pump enough milk to feed her baby a full feeding. That was a very happy day! But you know what was an even happier day? The day little Luke decided to latch on to mama and drink his milk directly from her. YAY! It happened after a daily struggle. every single day beginning with a full dose of hope. Every day, every feeding, try and try again. and when it happened, when he latched on - pure happiness and such a sense of success! It was all worth it! It was one day, at about 6 weeks of age, when Luke decided he would latch onto mama and drink his wonderful mama milk directly. ALLELUIA! Happy day! a happy day and what a great relief. Now that little baby boy is a healthy, growing, adorable 3 month old that is taking his nourishment from his mama, happily.
I'm so proud of my Jenny.
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| Jenny and her son, Luke. This picture was taken in July around Jenny's 30th birthday. Lukey is over 3 months old now and looks so much bigger now :) growing healthy happy boy! |
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| Here's little Luke at 3 days old. |
**** to be continued with something about Tammy and then something about Lisa ******
1 comment:
So happy I kept trying, and Lukey did too for that matter. :)
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