I guess I should have realized that every time a mama comes to you with a breastfeeding hurdle to overcome, the end result is not always a perfectly breastfeeding mama and baby. Sometimes, you have to find the solution that works best for both mother and baby, that makes them comfortable and that something is not always something that you, the counselor, would choose.
Even though I have known, on an intellectual level, that breastfeeding counseling is about meeting mamas and babies on their level and giving them the options so that they can make a decision, I have been oh so caught up in how excited I am to be doing this, all the women I am going to help, all the breastfeeding love that is going to change the world and bring about universal peace.
Ok, right, a little much. But seriously, very much emphasis on the me.
Today, I had my first taste of the "real" world of breastfeeding counseling and a real kick in the chest reminder of how its not about me at all.
Its about a mama. Its about her baby. And its about helping them make life work for them.
There is definitely no "I" in breastfeeding counselor, or even a "me," and I'm ever so grateful for the reminder.
Perhaps, even more, I am grateful for the opportunity to see as God sees, and to love as He loves - each one of us, on our level, despite our flaws and imperfections and failings. And, how He loves us so completely that He calls us to something better than ourselves.
Hopefully, today, I was able to do a little bit of that, and will be able to do it again in the future.
You're perfect just the way you are! :) ps - look, I can finally comment from my phone!
ReplyDeletesupporting a breastfeeding Mama is the easy part - supporting anything less is the hard part. Both are equally as important. Yay for a new post!
ReplyDeleteI have a question for you! Due to severe milk and soy (and maybe more!) intolerance, I stopped breastfeeding my baby at around 6 weeks old. I pumped for a couple of weeks, but stopped after seeing her thrive on (yikes) medical food. It was so hard to make this decision, but after watching her older brother struggle for 6 months with the same issue (and he lost 2 pounds from his 5th to 6th month), I decided to stop. The question is this: I have the breastmilk frozen in our freezer. Has it been too long for it to be any good? I was thinking of challenging her now that she is 10 months old. So basically, it has been frozen for 9 months. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteI can see why this would be a hard step to take. Those of us who are passionate about our careers do so because we love and believe in the world as we envision it, and that is what makes us great at what we do. What makes us useful is walking away from that vision when it gets in our way! You're awesome and I wish you had been around that first morning in the hospital when I literally didn't know what to do to breastfeed PJ! :D Ryann
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