Before we had the baby I asked a trusted source of information, "What is with this first 2 weeks after a baby is born? Why is it so hard? Don't babies sleep?" In response I was told that the stress following the delivery of a baby cannot be explained rather it must be experienced. In retrospect, I think this is true. What I can say however, is that feeding a baby can become an issue rather quickly. As a guy you would think, "The baby is hungry, it will eat..The end". What you don't get though is that the baby has no clue HOW TO EAT. Couple this with the fact that the parents have NO CLUE how to feed the baby because when the nurses were trying to explain it to you both of you were delusional from the delivery, and finally take into account that the baby has a HUNGER EMERGENCY about every 2 to 3 hours. It would leave anyone thinking, "Where's the beer?" I'm not sure who came up with this phase of human development, but I am certain there has to be a more efficient learning process.
Livia was no exception to the above. She is a delight in so many ways, but the feeding times were tiresome especially for Sharyn. Marilyn and I would spend hours hovering above Sharyn with a syringe of formula in our hands to drip food into Livia's mouth but only when she fed according the the ethical standards of breastfeeding (standards only known to lactation consultants) Shown here are some shots of the parphernalia used to feed Livia. Enough said.
1 comment:
Sharyn,
If you didn't look so tired this picture would be funny. My daughter-in-law just had a baby so I can relate to all the stuff involved in feeding. They must have been lying when they wrote books about squatting in the field, delivering and getting back to work (in the field!) the next day. Love KAthy
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