After reading through a weeks worth of Lactnet digests I feel it is time to
share a little fun with my new lactnetter friends.  First of all (this is a
true story) a colleague of mine called to tell me of her recent telephone
experience with a breastfeeding mom.  The mother had telephoned my friend to
inquire about obtaining an electric rental pump.  During the conversation,
the mother tells my friend that she has weaned her son but needs to obtain a
rental breastpump.  What's the confusion here?  If she has already
weaned...why on earth would she need a rental pump?  It seems the mother is
an exotic dancer and her breastmilk supply is part of her act.  She wanted
the pump to maintain her supply.  We laughed for days over this phone call.
 No she did not provide her with rental information, she felt it was
unethical and told the woman so.
Now for the animal story.  My cocker spaniel (now almost 10 years old) was
born late one afternoon after the vet had assured us that the mother dog had
delivered all the pups.  My friend (who owned the mother & father dog) and I
went shopping to soothe my disappointment when I realized that I wasn't going
to have the female puppy I had planned for Christmas (all the others were
males).  After several hours, we arrived home to find the most tiny little
female "runt" which had been delivered in our absence.  So much for good
medical advice from our vet.  Anyway, this little puppy was so tiny that it
was impossible for her to find her way to nurse.  My friend, who was nursing
her 6 month old daughter at the time had a suggestion.  Her husband (a big
burly guy who vowed to kill us both if we ever told this story...and now I'm
sharing it with 1100 of my closest friends) took her manual breastpump and
every two hours collected enough milk from the mother dog to feed this
scrawny pup.  We fed her every two hours around the clock for 3-4 days until
she was strong enough to push her way through the other pups.  I've read the
research about the correlation between IQ & breastfeeding...this also seems
to be true for other animals as well.  The little pup became one of the
smartest dogs I've ever had..she was top in her class in obedience school
(all the others were Dobermans), remembers everything perfectly and can
outwit all of us at home.  She is a delight & we love her dearly.

Finding humor all around us,

Mary Lou McGee, RN, IBCLC
El Paso, Texas