Jean,
What a WONDERFUL post! Are you a writer in your spare time (if you have any)?
THANKS,
Renate Rietveld, IBCLC
Rijswijk, The Netherlands
At 23:33 14-8-00 -0400, you wrote:
>Maybe yes, maybe no. Anyway, let's look at it from the baby's view, and
>see if perhaps we can read her mind, at least a little.
>
>A very short while ago, this baby was feeling as if she was in the Garden
>of Eden. Floating like an astronaut, no sense of gravity, therefore,
>never experiencing the fear of falling. Mom was always there, breathing
>and swaying as she walked, always just a fingertip away.
>
>No bright lights. No loud noises. But never any silence. Just rhythmic,
>reassuring regularity of heartbeats and digestive sounds, and muffled,
>lyrical voice of mom. Never hot, never cold. Always just right.
>
>No hunger, ever. No strong need to swallow, except maybe a gentle one,
>for thirst. Maybe sucking a thumb once in a while, just for the fun of
>it.
>
>No need to breathe. No need to work. No need to coordinate suck, swallow,
>breathe. Never before knew any sensation of choking or lack of oxygen.
>
>Idyllic, eh?
>
>And then, compare that with "getting kicked out of the Garden of Eden."
>It's been a tough 6 weeks trying to get used to it. She doesn't mind
>working hard for her "bread and butter" because she REALLY gets hungry
>and thirsty, but she knows there's SOMETHING SHE CAN DO ABOUT IT!
>
>But she keeps having this RECURRING NIGHTMARE. The harder she tries to
>work like she's supposed to and do her part, the more her experience
>reinforces her premonition that something AWFUL is going to happen.
>
>Fear raises its ugly head, even as she first starts to chow down.
>Catecholemines pour into her blood stream, making pulse race, her blood
>pressure go up, and all her other fight or flight defenses react at peak
>level, knowing that inevitable feeling is about to happen and helpless to
>prevent it. There it goes! Oh, dear, oh dear, oh dear! She tries to back
>away to escape it, and her uncoordinated recoil makes her feel like she
>is falling!
>
><Her mother takes her off and tries to soothe her as soon as she seems to
>start this choking but it doesn't seem to help at all until after she has
>caught her breath and cried; then she is breathing again normally and it
>is
>just a matter of soothing her in an ordinary way.>
>
>PTSD at the preverbal stage?! Maybe she has to work through it mentally
>in her attempt to survive?Who knows?
>
>Who cares if it's oversupply? Whatever this monster's name, she knows
>it's going to start all over again trying to suffocate her, and she's
>AFRAID AND ANGRY! IT'S NOT FAIR! SHE'S BEING A GOOD GIRL, AND THIS IS
>WHAT SHE GETS!
>
>So let's start by agreeing with this little lady that breathing is truly
>more important than eating, if one must make an exclusive choice. Let's
>stop the assault on her pharynx, her gag reflex, and her epiglottis.
>
>Let's trigger the MER by hand 2-3 minutes before we let her near the
>breast. Then, let's put her UPHILL from the tide, so it's as if she is
>drinking from a drinking fountain, trickling gently upward against
>gravity.
>
>Her nasopharynx will be above the flood, so her breath can travel
>unimpeded where it will, rather than UNDER NIAGRA FALLS where the torrent
>thunders to the back of the throat flooding all nooks and crannies in
>between, leaving her helpless to do anything but try to protect her
>trachea from aspiration, wonderful as this physiological stuff must be!
>
>Well! Whaddaya know! Miracle of miracles! She was all steeled for it to
>happen, and guess what! It didn't! Oh what joy! Now, at least this once,
>she can breathe easy and let her pulse slow down, relax her neck and her
>shoulders and unclench her fingers, put away her fears, and swallow to
>her heart's content, and let mommy worry about supply issues!
>
>It's almost like being in the Garden of Eden again!
>Oh, Mommy! I LOVE YOU!
>
>Jean
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--------------------------------------------------------------
Renate Rietveld, IBCLC
E-mail : [log in to unmask]
Homepage: http://www.casema.net/~rietveld/index.htm
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