My Second Family
Jennifer R.
VA USA
From: NEW BEGINNINGS, Vol. 18 No. 2, March-April 2001, pp. 57, 59
I attended my first La Leche
League Series Meeting when my twins were six weeks old. I had just gotten
home from Michigan, where my husband's parents lived. During my visit
there, many people told me that Brianna (the smaller of the two sisters)
was not fat enough and I needed to feed her formula to "fatten
her up." I began to doubt my ability to nourish my babies as I
had nourished their older sister for 18 months.
When I walked into that first
meeting, one of the Leaders came up to me and told me how beautiful
my babies were. For the first time, no one mentioned the size difference
between my babies but looked at each baby individually. I expressed
my concerns and my family's concerns about Brianna's weight gain. The
Leader looked at me with such caring eyes and said that I needed to
remember that they may be twins but they were different babies. They
were still okay and I was doing the right thing. The other women offered
words of encouragement and wonderful solutions for everyday problems-from
fussy babies to a toddler who was feeling left out. They even had ideas
about managing while my husband was deployed at sea with the US Navy
for six months. Their suggestions helped me find ways to keep our family
ties close. I felt I had found a second family.
This family parented the
same way I did. They gave me the confidence to nourish my babies with
my milk, and they were there when I had concerns. BethAnn and Brianna
thrived on my milk until their little sister arrived 23 months later.
By that time, I was hooked. I started using the Group Library and devouring
every book I could about parenting and breastfeeding. I was still going
to the same Group's meetings, with the same Leaders. They taught me
how to be proactive, caring, patient, and how to express my feelings
to other family members. They let me know it was okay to sleep with
my baby, to delay feeding solid foods until she was ready, and to raise
my children with love, respect, and understanding.
They taught me how to be
a better wife and appreciate my husband who was and is a wonderful mate.
I was warmed by their support and understanding and wanted to acquire
those attitudes. I wanted to give back and share with other mothers
the things I had learned: the art of breastfeeding, patience, love,
commitment, understanding, and the abgity to balance other tasks while
breastfeeding your child.
I finished my training for
leadership and became a Leader when I was pregnant with our fifth daughter.
She was born in the same hospital as her sisters. By this time the doctors,
nurses, and most of the staff knew who I was. I had gained respect.
My baby never left my side. Nine months later, she is still nursing
happily, as did all of her sisters. I am thankful to those Leaders who
helped me to become who I am today. They taught me things that helped
me be a better person in all my roles as wife, mother, friend, and LLL
Leader. They will forever be in my heart.
Last updated November 13 2006 by njb.
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:29:42 UTC 2007.
