Celebrate World Breastfeeding Week: Breastfeeding a preemie

In honor of World Breastfeeding Week with the Natural Parents Network, I'd like to share a glimpse of our breastfeeding journey. Please forgive the amateurish poetry -- I don't do this often. Sometimes prose just doesn't do the trick. Eventually, I'll be able to really write about it...

Still

I still cry to think how you were too small,

too weak,

too early

to suckle

Still, I held you to my breast,

I let you smell me and fumble around

all the wires,

all the tubes,

all the waiting nurses

Still, I refused the bottle and formula

you sucked

you grew

you came home

Without the feeding tube you stopped growing

because of reflux,

because of weakness,

because of my frazzled nerves

Still, I pumped every few hours and helped you learn to suck

with nipple shields

and SNS

and physical therapy

and kind helpers

Together, we were determined to overcome the

bad latch,

blisters,

bleeding,

plugged ducts,

and sleeplessness

Still, I nursed you at my breast and watched you grow

slowly

certainly

healthy

After 4 months,  breastfeeding was "established" and we could do it

without props

without pain

without interventions

Still, I wondered how long our mamatoto* would last:

six months,

one year,

or two?

Today, at 20 months, I nurse you like a pro

in the bed,

at the table

on a bench

Still, my breast and it's magic milk are made

for hunger

for connection

for easing tears

Still, I can't imagine giving this up anytime soon

we've worked too hard

we've come too far

we are mamatoto,

still.


*mamatoto is a Swahili word to denote "mother-baby". My understanding is that it refers to the nursing mother and infant dyad as a single, connected unit, rather than as two separate individuals.

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I’m celebrating World Breastfeeding Week with Natural Parents Network!

You can, too — link up your breastfeeding posts from August 1-7 in the linky below, and enjoy reading, commenting on, and sharing the posts collected here and on Natural Parents Network.

(Visit NPN for the code to place on your blog.)