In a recent posting, Cheryl Parrott mentioned needing some positive
experiences.  I know those days when every baby seems to have
trouble altching, several moms you've worked hard with throw in the
towel, and you get flack from staff.  We keep a file folder titled
"Boquets and Brickbats".  Fortunately, most are the boquets.  When
I'm having a discouraging day, it helps to review the positive
feedback we've gotten.  Sometimes, we never realize the impact we
might have had.  A number of years ago, we were visiting a then
single friend at her apartment.  On the way down the hall to her
apartment, we met a neighbor of hers with a new baby.  I didn't have
the nerve at the time to ask this stranger if she was nursing (today
I would probably work it into the conversation in some way.)  A few
days later, my friend commented that the new mother had been nursing
but quit because of some problem or other and was missing nursing.
I mentioned to my friend that I'd be glad to talk with the mother,
and that it was possible to resume nursing.  That mother never
called me, but 5 years later my friend had married and had a baby.
She had moved several states away and we had little contact.  When
she came back for a visit she told me that she had quit nursing,
regretted it, and because she remembered my comment years before
about being able to resume, she started nursing again and went on
for several more months!  Sometimes the seeds we plant take a long
time to sprout and then grow in places we don't expect. So rest
assured, you may not always see positive results, but they do
happen.

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html