A little expression of my pleasure at my own growth, supported by Lactnet...

I am a rather timid person in many ways, and so am very pleased with myself
for approaching one of "my" pediatricians for approval to suggest a trial
of EBM for the crusty eyes of a newborn.  Mom called for eye drops; I hated
to see her have to come to the office with her new baby and her several
other children; I knew that she was breastfeeding; I felt that she would be
open to the suggestion; and I knew, too, that if it didn't help she could
always come in in a day or two, and that she would be in on Monday for a
complete check-up.  Trouble is, I have to be careful to stay within the
guidelines set by our triage manual, and naturally breastmilk is not listed
as an option for this problem.

The doc on duty is about 60, none of his kids were breastfed, and he's
quite traditional/mainstream -- but he's interested in promoting
breastfeeding.  So I asked.  And he looked a bit startled, but was
comfortable that it couldn't hurt, and willing to believe that it might
help.  He gave me permission to make the suggestion.

Less than 24 hours later, in the course of a routine appointment-reminder
call from our billing department, mom asked that I be thanked for "the
advice" I had given her, and to tell me how well it had worked!  Everybody
who overheard the curious biller passing the message along wanted to know
what advice that had been, and reactions ran the gamut from "my mother used
to say that when I was a girl" to "you gotta be kidding!".  What fun -- I
love an opportunity to surprise my colleagues and co-workers about
breastfeeding!
Now to make that my own routine recommendation in non-severe cases of
draining eyes, and keep track of the results...

Willow