Prayer for Milk

We receive the Answering the Call http://www.answeringthecall.org/ newsletter at our house. In the latest newsletter, there was a call for help because of the global food shortage. I read it and thought - a food shortage? I'm so spoiled. I'm vaguely aware of the shortage of food in our world and barely affected. I see the high prices at the grocery store and so I buy the off brand. I stay away from buying red meat often and try to buy my vegetables from a local market rather than the grocer's high prices. It affects our pocket book, but not to the extent of what I saw this morning when I read Yahoo's home page. http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20080627/wl_csm/odrought



As I read that story, I cried. I just can't fathom not being able to help Loralai. I mean really, I can't begin to put myself in the shoes of these mothers and fathers who are staring at death themselves, but then worse, are staring at their babies who are dying in their arms. These are moms who would give any food given to them, to their babies. And their babies are just as adored as mine is. And so I looked at my chunky 16pound 18week old Loralai and just said, "God, what can I do?" I don't have a crop of corn in my backyard (darn those evil garden eating squirrels) and I don't have a lot of money to give. And as quickly as I asked the question, it came to me: your milk.

Loralai will finish a meal and lean back and immediately start giggling and talking - with milk oozing down the side of her face. Most times I try to push the falling milk back into her mouth. I have to believe that's some sort of instinct: to make sure our babies get all of the food they can. But even better is when I go to the pediatrician and she says two things to me...one is that she is so glad that I'm still breastfeeding because it's the best nutrition for Loralai and the second is the same thing I just wrote. She always emphasizes, "you're STILL breastfeeding?!" It makes me sad that her reaction is STILL. We live in a culture of convenience - if it doesn't fit into our schedule, then we don't do it.

Breastfeeding is hard, at first. But once you establish your milk and make up your mind that this is what you're going to do - I truly believe that it's the greatest gift to your baby (and it's precious to be able to feed your baby with your body). Now I know that some moms can't breastfeed: their milk didn't establish well or their baby was hospitalized and a pump just couldn't stimulate like a baby's mouth could. So please don't think that I look down on the non-breastfeeding moms. I know that there can be snags and sometimes it doesn't work.

But today it hit me and I realized how absolutely blessed Loralai and I are. I get to stay at home with her - which means I have a little bit more time (private time away from a work environment anyway) and I do get to solely breastfeed her without having to pump. I am so incredibly grateful. I remember talking to a friend about her milk and she said that she had heard that you can donate milk. I didn't think twice about it until this morning...

So I took a look around and found an awesome organization http://www.breastmilkproject.org/

They collect breast milk from mothers and deliver and donate it to diseased and HIV/AIDS infected children in Africa and the United States. Because diseased children are born with such a compromised immune system (and infants have very little immunities when born anyway), breast milk has proven to be the greatest asset to the start of their lives. In fact, it's helped some get past those first few months that are so hard for all infants. It simply helps to give them a chance to live.

If you didn't know, know this: breast milk has been proven to fight disease, it improves immunity, it helps digestion, it aids in neurological development and there was even a case that i was personally told about where a baby was formula fed. His esophogas had a small tear in it (though his doctor or parents didn't know this until later) and with each sip of formula, the formula would seep through his esophogas and poison his body. The formula was looked at as an antigen throughout the rest of his body - he was dying. When the doctors finally figured out what the problem was, there was no way they could do surgery. They told the mother that the baby's only hope was breastfeeding. So she worked and worked to get her milk to come in. And it did. And she breastfed. And don't you know that her milk healed the tear in her son's esophogas and he was healed - and fat.

I know that breastfeeding isn't a choice that all mom's make - but it is for this mom. I consider my milk to be honey flowing straight from God. I prayed and prayed that God would help me to be nourishment enough for Loralai and that she would receive my milk and grow hardy from it. But some moms don't produce enough milk, or they die after childbirth, or they aren't able to establish and their babies are desperate for life.


So I'm asking you to pray with me. I have filled out a form to be a milk donor. Please pray that I will be chosen as a candidate and be able to help continue giving life to these precious babies who just want to live.


thanks!