Saturday, July 28, 2007

eczema and mama's milk


the doctor at the outpatient department at the sanitorium & hospital referred us to a pretty senior paediatrician to take up rafael's case. we grabbed the chance to ask this dr leo chan about rafael's eczema. dr chan said his eczema is mild (but it's bothering us so much already!) and the mildness is attributed to my breastfeeding (his exact words are 這都是你餵人奶的功勞), and that if he had been on formula, his skin would have been much worse.

knowing that both mac's sister and my elder brother had asthma when they were young, the doctor said that rafa had probably inherited the allergic genes in our families, and that we'd better just accept this fact about little rafa.

becoming complimented by such a senior doctor is one thing, but knowing that i was all along helping rafael with my milk really feels great. there had been times i query about breastfeeing, particularly when rafael's eczema was really bad. luckily i didn't give up at those times.

a letter to rafael:

dear rafael,

time flies and next sunday you will turn 6 months old! i want to thank you for working with me in the past months. though i didn't have the chance to nurse you in your first few meals, your willingness to suck on my breasts has enabled me to provide you with the best food for you in these days.

i know that starting from 6 months onwards, you will no longer live on purely my milk and you will also need other nutrients and vitamins from solids. soon you will be tasting all sorts of new food, cereal, apple, congee, vegetables, fish, pork.... you name it! as you embrace all these new flavours, i hope you will continue to take my breasts and obtain all the nutrients and antibodies from mommy's milk, as much as you want and need. and please also remember that, no matter if you are hungry, sleepy or just need to suck for a little comfort, mama is always here for you with open arms (and open shirt, of course).

with only one week to go before your 6-month birthday, i'm pretty confident that i can attain my first goal to feed you exclusively on breastmilk in your first 6 months of life. my next goal is to continue this until you turn 1, just as the doctor recommended! and i count on you for your cooperation!

love, mama

p.s. and i need to thank you for your daddy's support all along too, for making me all those nutritious soup that helps lactation, for taking up the bottle feeding/training, for staying up late with me to do the pumping, and for all the sweet words of encouragement. let's do it in a team, papa, mama and rafa!

1 comment:

SoCow said...

i feel really touched when i read this letter. Mom is surely the greatest!!! No kidding,but make me wanna cry... in fact is the second time i read this letter on this blog, how come this letter also works for me... is it because i haven't been fed on breast milk?

sandy