Catie's First Fever and the Power of Breastmilk

 
Yesterday, at 4 1/2 months old, my baby got her first fever.

It started Monday night.  Catie slept very restlessly and stirred all through the night.  This was very unusual for her.  She usually sleeps soundly through the night and just wakes up a few times to nurse and she will then settle back down.  She was awake about every 45 mintues and could not be consoled with just nursing alone. 

Tuesday morning I took her to my mom's while I went to work.  When I am working, Mom usually gives Catie frozen breast milk that is about a month old.  Catie usually plays, laughs, drinks about 3 ounces of milk, and then crashes.  I usually arrive to mom's house after work while she is still sleeping.  But Tuesday was VERY different.  Catie did not want to be anywhere other than in someones lap, she didn't want to play and we couldn't get her to smile.  Mom checked her temp throughout the afternoon and she kept running a fever. 

To head to the pediatrician, the nurses really want you to wait till you get a really high fever before bringing her in for an appointment.  So Mom continued to comfort Catie and feed her till I was able to get home.  During that time, my little tall glass of water, who usually only eats 3 ounces while I am at work consumed 12 ounces!!  We pretty much knew that at that rate she would not dehydrate, but even with the extra milk and fluid, she was still running a fever and acting very sick.  She usually took LONG naps during the day too, but yesterday she only would take short 10 minutes naps and stirred through the nap.

After 5 hours with Mom, I finally got home and immediately nursed Catie.  She nursed for about 20 minutes and then fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.  While she slept, her fever broke.  She continued sleeping for about 45 minutes.  Soon there after, she woke up and immediately smiled and gave Mom and I a big ole grin.  We grabbed a few of her normal toys and she started laughing and giggling like our normal Catie Bug.  Shortly after, I fed her again and that lasted her through the rest of the evening where she laughed and played and squealed like her normal, bubbly self. 

This morning we woke, and the fever is still gone and she is 100% back to her normal routine and I have my happy baby back.  With that said, I am AMAZED at how my body produced the antibodies that Catie needed and it only took one feeding and about an hour to get through her system to eliminate the fever and destroy the virus.  The frozen milk that Mom was feeding her while I was gone was helping to sate her hunger but was not the antibodies that she needed.  She needed the living antibodies that weren't in the frozen milk, because I hadn't been exposed to this virus at that time.  Formula or frozen milk would not have provided the antibodies that my baby needed. Catie is now 20 weeks old and I can't imagine if I had chosen to quit breastfeeding by now. 

The most recent breastfeeding statistics show that 3/5 women start out breastfeeding in the hospital, when they have the assistance from a lactation consultant.  When the infant is 3 months old, those stats drop to 1/5 women are continuing to breastfeed, and at 6 months it drops to 1/10 women are still breastfeeding their infant.  I know it is a personal decision and there are other factors that weigh in, but after seeing the first hand effect that continuing to breastfeed has had for my baby is such a great motivator.  There have been a dozen times when I was emotionally 'OVER' breastfeeding because of the time and effort it consumes, but I am so thankful for the resources and family that I've been blessed with who continued to encourage me and now I have seen the benefits of continuing to provide this blessing for my baby. 

At most recent pediatrician checkup at 4 months, our doctor told us to continue exclusively breastfeeding and these past few days have defiantly been motivation enough to do that! 

I am still AMAZED at how He made the woman's body to grow a baby in our womb and then provides the means to feed and sustain life for our baby for months and months on end once they enter this world! AMAZING!!!