Dear Andrea, I can really sense the pain in your post about having had to to use formula. I can tell that some of the response posts have made you feel judged. I feel certain that was not the intent of any of us who responded (the posts really have been theoretical, not personal). I know from my years of work with mothers that women are doing absolutely the best they can -- and some (like you trying to pump in the ICU ) are absolutely heroic! We who work in lactation are so use to having our passion for breastfeeding dismissed that among ourselves we lean toward strong rhetoric and absolute positions. Your honesty and your reminder that this is not a perfect world are something we need to hear to help keep us sensitive to the grief that occurs when a longed-for breastfeeding experience is lost due to circumstances beyond a woman's control. I hope you'll consider yourself one of the "goddesses" and keep posting. Barbara Wilson-Clay, BS, IBCLC Austin Lactation Associates LactNews Press www.lactnews.com *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] 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