Saturday, September 23, 2006

Breast milk: the elixir of life

Did you know that breast milk provides complete nurishment for a baby up until 6 month of life. Breast milk is even so clever as to start out watery and then towards the end of a feed, fatten up its content so as to fill up the baby. Did you know I had to squirt breast milk into Micah's eye during his first few weeks of life? Why, you may ask, did I hover over my son's eye frantically trying to both express some milk and aim it directly into his eye while he peered up in bewilderment, tracking my roving nipple with his open mouth? Full of antibodies too, that breast milk. You see Micah was suffering from a gunky eye that would get so crusted over he couldn't open it at times. Presto, a few squirts in the eye and it cleared up over night. I bet that was more than you wanted to know.

I am reminded of the beneficial powers of breast milk at present because I am sick, sick, sick and yet I must still feed Micah. I am comforted by knowing that while I exhale my germ infested breathe over my son and expose him to bouts of microbe dispersing sneezes and coughs he is being provided lasting protection from my milk. Now we can all sleep better at night.

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