Dear All,

Many of you probably remember the mom I wrote about several months ago who
had the preterm baby -- her house burned down; the baby ended up in the burn
unit (the first bf baby they had had, as well as the first baby that wasn't
even supposed to be born yet!)  Well, I followed that story with the one
about her brmilk being tested for caloric value (27-30 cal/oz).  Baby Alex
was doing beautifully, growing, healthy -- the skin grafts doing well.
 Talked to mom just a couple of days ago about the pump, and she was going to
buzz by this week to show off Alex and discuss how much longer she needed the
pump.

This morning she called me sobbing; Alex died last evening -- apparently a
victim of SIDS.  She put him down for a nap at 4:30 and went to wake him at
7:00, and he was gone -- had been dead for some time.

Most often, the worst part of our job is getting a recalcitrant baby to latch
on, or dealing with colic, or a mom that doesn't want to keep on keeping on,
or getting "dumb reason #58 why mom should quit bf from the health
professionals" -- but sometimes our job means helping mom cope with something
like this that seems SO unfair.  She did everything she was supposed to do --
baby on his back, totally and completely brfd -- fought the docs all the way
so she would provide nothing but brmilk for him -- no smoking -- and yet Alex
died.

"Jan," she said, "I just don't think I can cope with this.  This one is just
too much."

My heart goes out to LeeAnn and her family -- her husband and the two older
boys, as I'm sure yours does too.  I know she would appreciate your prayers
and your thoughts at this terrible time.

Jan Barger