I can totally understand how you could feed the wrong baby!!
Fifteen years ago this week I gave birth to my youngest daughter,
Sari. I decided to spoil myself and have a private room and asked for
the possibility of having my baby with me all the time, a concept at
that time unheard of in Israel and the response was similar to the
response if I had asked for a poisonous snake in my room. "What for?"
with this face of disgust, as they walked away muttering "crazy
American!"
In fact, due to the fact that my second baby had died within 24 hours
of her birth, of hypoplastic left heart, I wasn't allowed to have my
babies in my room even for feeds so that they could be "observed" in
the nursery. As a matter of fact, after the death of my baby, I totally
lost all autonomy in subsequent births.....The first two births were
natural with no meds and when Elana decided to emerge 8 months after the
death of her sister, ( there were rumours that I had gotten pregnant in
the recovery room) I was told that I HAD to have an epidural because we
didn't know the "quality" of this baby. I hated it. It was like
watching someone else give birth. And don't think that I am such a
high-pain-threshold person.....I need a shot of novacaine just to read
the magazines in the dentist office.
Sorry, back on track. I had to go to the nursery to feed Sari every 4
hours and in the early morning feed the morning after her birth, I
noticed that her little face was much less swollen and that her
abundant hair had calmed down and was no longer standing up. Just as I
was opening my gown to feed her I suddenly noticed that she had a blue
bracelet instead of a pink one. Only then did I get the feeling that
something was wrong. I only do girls!
I managed to read the name on the bracelet which was Unis instead of
Grunis, so when I had said my name to the nurse, she heard only part of
it.
Thus, I made a big scandal and guess what, I was probably the first
woman in Israel to have Rooming In !!! My compensation was to have my
baby with me at all times!!
The point of the story is that babies change so much in the first days
that it could happen....especially if the general coloring is similar.
Or the epidural which they forced on me, or the fact that I had limited
access to my baby. Perhaps all of the above. Yet another reason in
support of keeping moms and babies together. Perhaps we should stress
this point in pre-natal classes. Maybe that would work better to
counter " You are tired dear, you need your rest!"
Esther Grunis, IBCLC
Tel Aviv, Israel
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