Breastfeeding Makes Such a Difference
Christine D.
ON Canada
From NEW BEGINNINGS, Vol. 18 No. 2, March-April 2001, pp. 51-52
I breastfed my first two babies, so when my son, Marten, came along,
I knew I would breastfeed him, too. Marten was born at home at 4:30
in the morning. During delivery, his shoulders were stuck for a few
minutes, so at birth he needed a couple puffs of oxygen, and then he
was fine. Before the midwives left that morning, they noticed he was
breathing a bit faster than normal. When they returned that evening
for a routine visit, they were concerned because his breathing was still
fast, and we went to the hospital for a checkup.
He had a chest x-ray
that showed his lungs were clear, and he also had an oxygen saturation
test in which a device that clipped onto his toe used light to measure
the oxygen level in his blood. The level of oxygen in his blood was
a bit low, but when the doctor came in and noticed how healthy and strong
our nine pound, thirteen ounce baby was, it seemed reasonable to dismiss
the oxygen readings. So we went home reassured that everything was all
right. Marten nursed and got lots of my milk.
We went to the midwife
when he was eight days old and learned he had gained plenty of weight.
The midwives were concerned because his breathing was still fast and
looked a bit labored. Things didn't seem quite right to me, either.
I had noticed Marten's breathing was obviously odd and the way he nursed
was a real challenge. I would have to latch him on repeatedly, up to
20 or 30 times during a feeding. It wasn't because of poor latch, either.
I'm glad I was already experienced at breastfeeding, because I may not
have succeeded otherwise.
The midwife made an appointment
for the next afternoon with a pediatrician at the hospital. Marten had
the oxygen test again and an electrocardiogram which pointed to a heart
problem. By evening, we were seeing a pediatric cardiologist an hour
away in Toronto. He did an echocardiogram, an ultrasound of the heart.
We were shocked by the results! Marten was born with such major heart
defects that he needed to go immediately to the Hospital for Sick Children
where he had the first of three open-heart surgeries when he was 13
days old. They told us that the way his heart was when he was born,
he would have been lucky to live two more weeks. The hospital staff
was surprised that he had done so well for nine days already.
Two days
before his surgery he was getting weaker, and they started tube-feeding
my milk to him. He would suck on my little finger for comfort. After
his surgery he was still tube-fed, but because of all the medications
and the nature of his operation, there were restrictions at first as
to the volume of milk he could have. The nurses mentioned the possibility
of adding some high calorie formula to my milk, but weren't surprised
that I refused this. Instead I decided I would pump off the milk from
the beginning of the pumping, and save the milk higher in fat and calories
that comes at the end of a feeding to give to Marten. Since I was still
nursing his older sister as well, I had plenty of milk and was always
able to provide Marten with the freshest milk possible. Marten recovered
well and nine days after his first surgery, we went home.
When he was three-and-a-half
months old, it was time for his second surgery. By then, we knew more
about what to expect and I had recovered from childbirth, so this experience
was a bit easier to handle. The most reassuring thing for us was that
aside from his heart condition, we knew our baby was very healthy and
strong. At three-and-a-half months, he weighed 16 pounds. The nurses
told me that most of their babies with cardiac problems have a lot of
trouble gaining weight. Doctors would review Marten's chart on the door
outside his room and then walk in, look at our chubby baby, and be very
surprised that this thriving baby had been born with a severe heart
defect.
Now Marten is one year old.
He walks confidently around the furniture, has tons of energy, takes
no medication, and weighs an incredible 26 pounds. He is not developmentally
delayed in any area at all - something we were concerned about. We recently
went to a Cardiac Support Group meeting and I was disturbed to hear
other parents talking about the difficulty their children with cardiac
conditions had with weight gain. Of the group, Marten had the most serious
heart complication by far! So now I am convinced that breastfeeding
has made a big difference! His third and, we hope, final surgery should
be in about a year. I still plan to be giving him the most miraculous
food nature has to help him recover and continue to do so well.
Last updated November 13, 2006 by njb.
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:30:42 UTC 2007.
