The weekly “little of this, little of that” feature from Like Mother, Like Daughter!
I've been meaning to tell you: thank you again for responding to my request for prayers for Amy's mom several weeks ago. I'm happy to say that she is doing much better – she is out of a coma and her family is joyful!
This week I've been a little sad, as my dear friend lost her brother (a young man about my age) when he was hit by a vehicle (in South America) that ran a red light on Wednesday. If you could take a moment to pray for his soul and for his family, I'd appreciate it!
- If you're a mom of an infant or might be one at some point, or if you ever hang out with moms of infants, or if you ever babysit… you might be interested in knowing how to identify a tongue-tie. This one little issue can certainly cause trouble in the eating and thriving department! This blog post from Mommypotamus provides a thorough walk-through.
- Apparently – and mysteriously – the North Star is getting brighter!
- A friend shared a link for A Screwtape Letter for the Unappreciated Mom and boy did I find it a truthful jolt. It's always a helpful thing to be reminded that it's a daily task, as another friend of mine once put it, “to roundhouse kick satan in the face.”
- Of course if you're not already familiar with the original C.S.Lewis work The Screwtape Letters, then do get your hands on a copy! It's a classic.
- Speaking of good ole Clive Staples, Auntie Leila suggests The Christian Cosmology of C.S. Lewis from the American Conservative.
- Do you know someone who might benefit from, you know, an apprenticeship in swordsmanship? Pretty appealing, one must admit. The Artist suggests that this might be a good occupation for a teenage son you don't know what to do with – send him off to learn the craft and then he can come back and defend the home.
- By the way, juuuuust in case you missed the big news from this week: the book by Auntie Leila and David Clayton (with some drawings by yours truly) is available for pre-order!
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Kathy@9peas says
We will keep your prayer intentions with our own. I am happy to hear Amy’s mom is doing better.
I also read the screwtape letter to an unappreciated Mom and even posted in on my FB feed because it really spoke to exactly what the enemy does to bring discontent to the home, marriage, family!
Thanks for adding these links, I look forward to them each week!
Lisa Rose says
Thanks for sharing so many of these wonderful things most of us would never otherwise see. That Screwtape letter is fantastic! Just as pithy as old C.S. himself. Have you heard the John Cleese audio version of the Screwtape Letters? I listened to it twice last summer before I had to give it back to the library but I would like to get a copy for myself; I know I could hear it over and over and continue to find new food for thought. C.S.Lewis has such a gift for making deep ponderings so accessible.
I also think the link about tongue-tie will be really helpful to many. I had a moderate tongue-tie fixed when I was about six. It makes me wonder what my mother went through nursing me.
I wondered if you have seen this
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151105878257457&set=a.348715942456.197869.288343847456&type=1&theater
My Mom recently passed away after being very ill in a nursing home and this is such a beautiful reminder to look behind the facade of old age to see the person inside. I might even be us one day “in there”. Heck, it’s easy to only see the superficial things about people at any age.
Thanks for sharing with all of us.
Kelsey says
Wonderful links, as always!
Thank you, especially, for that tongue-tie article. My daughter was born with a moderate posterior tongue tie and lip tie, and it was caught early, but we needed two different procedures to correct them. Even after that, it took two full months of trying very hard to finally nurse successfully. I am grateful to say that now, at six months old, she is nursing exclusively, and has been for four months.
I know plenty of other young mothers who are facing this. There are many theories as to why there are so many diagnoses all of a sudden – some people think it’s a fad, others think it has to do with toxins in our environment or too much folic acid supplementation, there are many ideas – but it must be dealt with somehow or other. I will say that cranio-sacral therapy performed by a pediatric chiropractor helped my daughter immensely. Renting a hospital pump and using that for those first few weeks was a lifesaver – my daughter has never had anything but my milk, and I didn’t have to deal with a declining supply due to inefficient sucking. Ultimately, sheer perseverance and the grace of God – plus lots of support! – was what got us through. La Leche League was very helpful.
Nursing difficulties can be so very, very upsetting. Facing the problem and overcoming it is extremely worth all of the (literal) blood, sweat, and tears, though!
Amy Leigh Horan says
Hello! Amy here!!
I can’t thank you all enough for those strengthening prayers. Her anuerism – which are normally measured in millimeters – was 1.5 CENTIMETERS and the doctors at Tufts Medical told us, quite frankly, “it was the worst they’d ever seen,” her heart, because of the trauma, was down to 10% of its functioning, I could go on but why? There are so many unexplainable things that make my mother’s recovery a miracle – like the random EMT passerby that just happened to be the first one to see her collapse! Praise God, she is alive and well, already nagging her three daughters that she thinks she’s survived this because she’s just “got to be a grandmother!” *nudge nudge* It’s SO good to have her back :)!
Sidenote- My mother’s account of her weeks in the coma is this – she thinks she remembers a few things people said (/ sung! I’m sure the nurses don’t miss my accompaniment to John Denver’s Christmas CDs…) but she KNOWS that she felt the power of others’ prayers and the presence of God with her every moment. In fact, she tells a pretty lovely story about remembering her ICU room as one with hardwood floors and chandeliers and big bay windows (what a wonderful image for God to put in her mind!)
She has now turned her attention to pray for Deirdre’s friend’s brother, also my friend’s brother-in-law. She welcomes the opportunity to use her (now copious amounts of healing free) time at home to be praying for another family, as we are so, so sure that prayers are what helped us through our tough time. We are hoping to give them similar comfort and strength.
Again, I can’t thank you enough. Not only for the prayers, but browsing the LMLD archives was a great distraction during that month in the waiting room. I LOVE LMLD and can’t wait to read Aunt Leila’s book!! God Bless you, LMLD. You’ve created an amazing community and I am blessed to be a part of it.
Jessica says
Deirdre, thank you for the tongue and lip tie link. I have a 5 month old daughter and hadn’t really thought about some of her nursing behaviours, but when I read that and checked her upper lip, it looks exactly like the class IV lip tie. I am fortunate to live not too far from the dentist the author used and am going to make an appointment. I want to cry thinking that the pediatrician and I missed it so far!
Tamara says
Deidre, that Screwball Letter was excellent. Thank you so much for sharing. I will be passing that around.
Kelsey says
Thank you for sharing my Screwtape Letter, Deidre! I appreciate the good word. Happy blogging!
Karen says
My second daughter was tongue tied. We didn’t realize that she was until our dentist mentioned it when she was a few months shy of four years old. It affected her speech, but didn’t keep her from nursing. Although after reading that article I can see why she was such a biter once her first teeth came in, which ultimately brought breastfeeding to a quick end. I did notice from the start that her cry was different from her sister’s and she had what looked like a heart shaped tongue when she tried to stick it out or cried. When the pediatrician took a look he was surprised at how bad it was and that none of them ever caught it. I’ll never forget the ordeal of having to hold an almost four year old down while they snipped the frenulum. Awful, awful, awful! With our most recent baby it was one of my first questions as soon as she was born and it will likely be one of the first things I check out when our son in born in three months.
Dixie says
We didn’t find out about our daughter’s lip tie or reflux until 13 months into nursing, in spite of having seen pediatricians and lactation consultants. It really is hard to think to look for it! It doesn’t really look that unusual because lots of people have some sort of frenulum, so the bigger ones just don’t get noticed.
I’m praying our little one due in June won’t have these problems, but at least now we know how to look for them and treat them aggressively!