I will preface with whom I use to be... I use to be the person that every time I had any sort of ailment I would run to the advil bottle or the doctor. I placed my whole trust in the doctor I was seeing when I was sick, never questioning anything they prescribed or any advice they warrented.
I was that person until I had a very disturbing event happen to us as new parents. We had Noel and when I had her I knew I wanted to breastfeeding. I had read information and talked to my sister in law about the benefits of breastfeeding and it was my opinion that that was the very best I could do for Noel. Theres no need to really go into benefits of breastmilk, but if you dont know it yet it is God's gold juice and its worth your time researching that option if your expecting. Back to the incident. I had Noel and little did I know this information:
This I attribute to the fact that the hospital I delivered at did not have a lactation consultant...:/ What I didnt know then was that by the nurses pushing formula because she wasnt getting enough when ultimately making it take longer for my milk to come in all the way.... however, she did get colostrum because her diapers said so.... That was my first mistake that I regret.... I regret that formula ever touch her little lips. She lost a pound after she was born this I attribute to the nasty formula she was eating and the acid reflux it gave her. This scared our (I have many select names for the crappy*putting it nicely*) nurse practitioner. She immediately forced us on this special kind of formula, that Noel did not tolerate at all. She also scheduled us with an appointment with a GI doctor in Knoxville. ((IMPORTANT FACT))During this time Noel had more of that crap formula then breastmilk. Id say 90% 10%. The GI dr did some tests and when I called the nurse (*they never gave me the actual results to the tests they did*) she told me that it looked like she was allergic to my breastmilk and that I should stop breastfeeding her. WHHHHHAAAAATTTTTT!!!!!! I cried.... I cried ALOT! I called my sister in law I talked to my husband and I cancelled any further appointments with that stupid GI doctor. Obviously, if some nutritionist and or doctor or nurse was going to tell me to completly quit breastfeeding then they obviously were IDIOTS! I was at the end of my rope..... Fortunately we had a Drs appointment within the next few days.... Our doctors appointment resulted in very minimal weight gain.... This concerned the Nurse practitioner so she finally called to ask the results of the GI test Noel had done.... The results were that she was her gut was severly inflammed and that was the result of the breastmilk. The advice to my doctor was that I should quit breastfeeding and continue on this crap formula. Now explain to me HOW they could get that answer, that her gut was inflammed because of the very miniscule amount of breastmilk she was actually getting????? Wouldnt it seem more correct that the formula that she could barely stomach was at fault??? Christopher and I were getting scared... she wasnt gaining weight... So even though I didnt trust the crap nurse practitioner we were seeing we called for advice and the receptionist or nurse that we talked to us scared us with thoughts that her head wasnt growing properly because of the breastmilk, that she would be behind developmentally etc.... So on a very cold day Christopher and I packed up and went to Childrens Hospital with Noel :( We did tests like crazy.... we did a ultrasound of her stomach, x rays, blood work, etc... When we told the ER doctor the situation he said, "Breastmilk is the best thing I could do for our little one. I needed to drop the formula and up the breastmilk" Thus, I dumped our first pediatrician like a bad habit and made a appointment with a new pediatrician. (((SIDE NOTE: LETS JUST SAY THE DR HAPPENS TO BE IN SEYMOUR.... I did not trust the nurse practitioner that I was seeing... So we cancelled our next appointment with that doctor and made a new appointment with a new doctor. That and the fact that I wanted to continue to breastfeed prompted this crappy doctors office and crappy nurse practitioner to call DHS and reported us for neglect and malnutrition... got that cleared up obviously it was a stupid decision on their part and they should have known from the get go how much we were worried and how much we loved her that there was no way we would ever be harmful to our child))))((((SECOND SIDE NOTE: THIS crappy nurse practitioner that reported us goes to our church.... it makes my skin crawl every time I see her...thats another story for another time though)))))
This next Dr was somewhat pro breastfeeding... I told her the situation and she told me to document her intake/outake and to nurse on demand... that next we when I took her in for a appointment she jumped up a whole pound...(crazy right?)..... However, with the doctor I was more knowledgeable of what I believed.... I happened to believe these folks:
"Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended up to 6 months of age, with continued breastfeeding along with appropriate complementary foods up to two years of age or beyond."
&
"The AAP recommends that babies be exclusively breastfed for about the first 6 months of life. This means your baby needs no additional foods (except Vitamin D) or fluids unless medically indicated. Babies should continue to breastfeed for a year and for as long as is mutually desired by the mother and baby."
However, this new doctor told me(these exact words),"If I didnt start Noel on solid food between 4-6 months not only would she not know how to use her tounge it would prevent her from speech development." PSH that lady was cuckoo bananas!!!! My belief on that topic was this: http://kellymom.com/nutrition/starting-solids/delay-solids/ I also believed that noel would tell me when she was ready for food. How would she do that? By doing these 5 things:
Signs that indicate baby is developmentally ready for solids include:
- Baby can sit up well without support.
- Baby has lost the tongue-thrust reflex and does not automatically push solids out of his mouth with his tongue.
- Baby is ready and willing to chew.
- Baby is developing a “pincer” grasp, where he picks up food or other objects between thumb and forefinger. Using the fingers and scraping the food into the palm of the hand (palmar grasp) does not substitute for pincer grasp development.
- Baby is eager to participate in mealtime and may try to grab food and put it in his mouth. -Kellymom.com
She told me at around 7 months that she was ready to start solid foods.
These two medical professionals failed me and my family. The first one took my trust and completely crushed it... and the second one showed me that even though they may have a DR behind their name they may not really know what the heck they are even talking about... maybe because they are outdated maybe because they are getting formula/flu shots/etc kick backs....
I write this to explain why I ultimately feel this way.... I feel that if God didnt grow it such as natural herbs/remedies and if it is not impartitive for my daughters survival I do not want any thing foreign in my daughters body. I do not want aluminum clad(which has studies that say leads to alzheimers) in flu shots in her body. I do not want meds when there is elderberry syrup or echineacea for immune support. As a matter of fact, I do not want anything but organic cage free food in my babies belly. The thought of her eating food clad with GMOs and fruit and veggies with pesticides all over them or meat pumped full or steroids makes me quite sick. Call me crazy.... but Im going to breastfeed her until she stops... Call me a hippie because I think natural remedies are better then things large companies give doctors without taking thought to what kind of side effects there are.... call me a over analytical parents but in my opinion if you cant take the time to research stuff for your own child and you are a "sheep" to the BIG man and the social norms then where is you heart really?
BTW I forgot to mention if you need a pediatrician I have found a amazing one!!! I am so thankful for Lisa Ross Breastfeeding Center of which I called crying in the first doctor situation and also in the second situation and they quickly told me that I need to find someone new and that my momma instincts are right on point! What a great community of mothers and professionals in my area to be a part of!
This is a recent picture of my little princess reading a book! :) Love her so much more then words can describe! -<3 Kim
