Grrrr

Okay, I am really working on letting this go, but I think I have to type it out to do that. When is the allopathic medical community going to recognize the importance of breastmilk??? (That is a rhetorical question - I do know the answer is *never*)

Little Joey has an intestinal disease. We know that his intestines do not function properly. But are the doctors promoting breast milk for him since it is the perfect food for him? **** no!

He's back in the hospital and this time they suspect it is reflux unrelated to his Hirshsprung's disease. So what are they recommending for this 6-week-old baby? They want Mom to try adding some rice cereal to his formula. The sound you just heard was my head exploding.

Did you know that in their entire medical schooling doctors get a 2-hour lecture on breastfeeding? And I don't mean a semester class worth 2-hrs credit. I mean literally 120 minutes of someone talking and that is it!

Don't get me wrong, this is not just the doctor's fault. It just doesn't matter to way too many people. And that really breaks my heart. I hurt for every baby who doesn't get to breastfeed. Now I'm not talking about those who try and are not successful. Sometimes, it really doesn't work out, and for those cases I am glad formula exists (still sad, but understanding). I would never judge a woman I see bottle-feeding. First of all, I don't know what's in the bottle. It could be breastmilk and for some reason the baby won't nurse, or mom is not comfortable nursing in public. Or perhaps this mom tried her best and it didn't work out and her heart is broken over it. I am talking about those who really don't want to breastfeed. Those who think it's yucky or it ties them down too much. And I know way to many of them.

I'm starting to feel a tug in the direction of becoming a lactation consultant. I've just done some basic research and it seems harder than I thought it would be. But I still feel the tug. Maybe that's what I'll be when I grow up.

Joey

Once again I call on my prayer-warrior friends for little Joey. He's back in the hospital unable to keep feedings down. I was so sick when I was sick (ages 16-18) that I have watched my own son like a hawk for any signs of gut problems. Thankfully, none have surfaced. It was honestly a bit of shock to hear that Joey was facing gastro surgery. I really felt if it was going to be passed along, it would be to Gregory. But, like me, Joey has IBD on both sides of his family. None of this is bigger than God, and He can make the nerves grow in Joey's intestines just as easily now as when he was in-utero. I know He has a bigger purpose for this, whatever the outcome. He will carry us through.

Hirshsprung's disease

Well, unschooling has proven it's validity once again. This week, my whole family is learning all about Hirshsprung's disease. My nephew's son was born last Tuesday. By the weekend, it was clear something was wrong with little Joey's gut and he was in the hospital. Basically, the nerves that cause bowel movement are missing &/or incomplete, leaving him without the ability to eliminate properly. Treatment involves surgically removing the affected intestine and reconnecting the rest. But docs want to wait until he's 12 pounds, and he's now only 6 pounds. Until surgery, he'll have to have enemas to help him eliminate.

This is in the IBD (inflammatory bowel disease - not the same as IBS, irritable bowel syndrome) family of diseases. And we are an IBD family. I have Crohn's disease. I have one sister w/ ulcerative colitis. My mother has 2 cousins & 1 brother w/UC. My father's brother died of complications from UC 10 years ago. And if that weren't bad enough, little Joey's mom has a brother very sick with Crohn's. This little man's gut didn't almost didn't have a chance. Thank God for God!!

The blessing here is that this could not have been caught sooner. He wasn't even dehydrated yet when he was hospitalized. And his days are getting better. He's able to keep formula down (we won't go there!!) and had a small BM on his own yesterday. They may get to go home today. So prayers for good weight gain are appreciated. And feel free to join me in praying that these nerves continue to grow and develop making surgery unnecessary! AMEN!

My strep story

When I was 8, I had strep throat. My mom says I didn't finish the antibiotic. A few weeks later, I had both Scarlet Fever and then Rheumatic Fever. Very sick - hospital for a week, no school for several weeks. For months I was on high doses of aspirin (I think for the joint pain). For the next 8 years, I took antibiotics daily to prevent getting strep again. Then at 16, I began passing blood in my stool and within a few weeks I was hospitalized and eventually had my colon surgically removed. The surgeons weren't able to tell if I had Crohn's disease or Ulcerative Colitis at the time. There wasn't much tissue left to test. A nurse brought up the subject of antibiotics possibly causing my gut problems and even brought some of her nursing school books for my mom to read. She probably got in trouble for that. The surgeons then said that they sent a sample for testing to see if the antibiotics had caused the ulceration, but that test came back negative (I do not believe any test was done. I think it is a total CMB lie). I refused to take the antibiotics any more. That was 22 years ago, and I've not had strep since (I've not had many antibiotics since either). I've also not had any more ulceration, though I get some autoimmune problems associated w/Crohn's. I did finally get a diagnosis about 10 years ago of "Crohn's Colitis", a combination of the 2 where the ulceration seems limited to the colon, but acts in other ways as Crohn's does.

Sorry, I didn't mean to ramble so much. And if I were dealing w/strep now, I'd go natural/homeopathic first. If that didn't help, I might reluctantly drag myself to an allopathic doctor.

BF soapbox

My father and 4 of his siblings (all in their 70s) were breastfed (dad nursed till he was 3). A fifth sibling was born after a 12 year gap, and he was formula fed (Grandma was told formula was better). He (Uncle Raymond) was sickly, and died 8 years ago from complications of Ulcerative Colitis. His whole body just shut down eventually. The rest of the siblings are as healthy as can be.

My sisters and I were all fed the carnation milk/karo syrup mix. My mom says when her OB asked if she would breastfeed, dad said, "absolutly not! We can afford formula!" My oldest sister is 53, has high blood presure, and is borderline diabetic. My middle sister is 49 and is always sick. She has Ulcerative Colitis and seems to always have something else wrong as well. I have Crohn's disease and all the fun side-conditions that go with it. We all take meds for depression (mine for bi-polar), we all suffer from migraines, and we all battle a weight problem.

How much is because of what we were fed as babies? I guess we can't ever really know. But there sure are a lot of coincidences.

No one in our family knows how long Gregory nursed. They didn't see him nurse past the age of 3. By then he could understand waiting a while or going to another room. He was taught that a person has physical boundaries. And he was taught to ask. The last several months of nursing were just at bed time.

For the record, he self-weaned just past his 6th b-day.