To be or not to be the breadwinner for someone else's child? To feed or not to feed your child with donor milk? I didn’t think about it even once, although I managed to visit my milk mom twice, which I have no regrets about.
No doubt breast milk much more usefulthan a mixture: it is ideal for infants, its composition is constantly changing, adapting to the needs of the child. Well, of course, do not forget about the psychological component: the baby knows that her mother is nearby, feels her warmth and care. I knew about all these pluses before giving birth, so I didn’t even think about feeding with the mixture, and as soon as my baby was born, I began to establish breastfeeding.
The first two days everything went just fine: the baby sucked and fell asleep peacefully. And on the third day of milk, I got so much that I was ready to climb the wall from aching pain in a crowded chest. In between feedings, when my baby was sleeping, I rushed to the sink and tried to unhide the stone chest. I knew that you couldn’t do this, but I didn’t see another way to deal with the problem.
My roommate, trying to calm her screaming daughter from hunger, cast envious glances at me. Now I don’t even remember which of us came up with this thought - to put it on me for feeding, I know for sure that this thought roamed our heads (I was terribly sorry for her child, but I was embarrassed to offer it). The baby greedily grabbed my chest and finally calmed down. And I was very surprised at my feelings of a nurse, because when I was feeding someone else’s child, I almost didn’t feel anything - that is, physically I felt that I was feeding, but there were no emotions. It is completely different to feed someone else’s child. Just mechanical feeding - a baby sucks a breast, and you lie and think: "Is it all or not all?" Everything is different with yours: during feeding you feel intimacy, unity with the baby, all-consuming love - you literally enjoy these moments and really enjoy it. I fed the neighbor's girl until she was discharged from the hospital, and then we just went home.
The second time I became a milk mom at the request of doctors. I gave birth very early - at 26 weeks. My daughter and I went through all the circles of hell: resuscitation, incubator, food through the probe. Not every parent is able to endure this, and the mother of the girl lying in the next incubator, apparently could not stand it. She did not come to the child, and her condition was extremely serious, critical: mechanical ventilation, weight 700 grams and more, the child did not gain. Doctors asked me: "Help, you have a child of the same age and with the same weight." And I agreed.
It was necessary to strain by hands, after thorough processing of the skin with solutions.They gave me sterile bottles, one for my child, the second for a stranger, and I tried to get enough to last two kids for a day. I expressed myself for hours, literally until the blue of the chest, until the skin peeled off. These were already completely different sensations, not similar to those that I experienced for the first time. Only one thought was spinning in my head - it is vital for this baby. After all, with my milk I give this child a piece of love, warmth and affection - I hoped that this would help her to get a little stronger and begin to gain weight. But, unfortunately, it did not help: in the two weeks that I fed her, the child did not begin to gain weight. My daughter and I were transferred to another hospital, to the department for premature babies, and that girl remained in the incubator. Apparently, it is of great importance not only that the milk is suitable for the child by weight and age, but it is much more important that it is from her mother - her native, loving.
I often recall these dairy children of mine, even though I don’t remember their names anymore and I don’t know how their future fate came about. But I never regretted my decision to feed them - I want to believe that with my milk they got at least a drop of health. So to be or not to be the breadwinner for someone else's child? Definitely be! To take or not to take a nurse? For myself, I have not yet answered this question. What do you think?
I, too, was once the nurse of someone else's child. He drank milk from my chest, as from my own. But I didn’t notice such a problem in myself that the breast was overflowing with milk and became stone.
Almost all mothers go through a period of expressing milk. If this happens in the hospital, they take him and feed the children. At home, of course, this is problematic. Decantation is the health of a child, a woman. Help a woman during this period - this is a mandatory procedure, it cannot be postponed, postponed. Free her time for this.