Daley Ponderings

A woman I know has been having breastfeeding troubles with her three month old. She firmly believes in the superiority of breastmilk and nursing, and so has persisted through the discouragement (implicit and from other people, including pediatrician) and is using a lactation supplementer instead of bottles. She used donated breast milk in it until she ran out and now is using formula in it. As we talked this morning, I volunteered to pump some extra so that her baby can have real breastmilk.
She mentioned her friend who was surprised at how hard it was to pump extra after having an established supply (that lady is also nursing a toddler, I believe) so I told her I would at least try.

So try I did, just 10 minutes ago. Forgetting that I preferred expressing by hand to that miserable pump (the memory is so short...) I got out the pump and gave a few go rounds. Jonathan was very interested and helped me pump some, too. Then I remembered that I wanted to hand express and I switched strategies.

I double checked with Jonathan that he does still get milk when he nurses, and he said yes. (He only nurses 2-3 times a 24-hour period now, and hardly ever in the middle of the night.) So I persisted a bit, until I got five or six drops in my bowl. Those drops were very thin, seemingly almost water, though they tasted a bit more substantial (as much as one can taste five drops of anything.)

Fascinating! Jonathan's primary nursing need is now definitely comfort, and he's getting his nutrition from his food. My breastmilk has accomodated, as they say it does - changing all the time to meet the needs of the nursing one. My personal suspicions as to its makeup are: water, antibodies, maybe some vitamins, hardly any fat.

And to think that in 3.5 months, I'll be bursting again with a plenteous supply of high-calorie, high-fat, thick white goodness! Beautiful, the way God made our bodies.