Almost 7 years ago I had my last child. She came into this world a month early and she was tiny. I was no stranger to early babies and I managed to get her out of the hospital when I got released. She was my little angel face baby. Sweet and cute!! She also did not grow very well and I knew that it wasn’t just one thing but many things that contributed to her lackluster weight gain. I was also in school getting my degree and taking 6 credit hours each semester. If that wasn’t enough my thyroid was not helping matters, I had brain fog so bad I could barely remember anything. Along with that was post partum depression. It was rough. I managed to get through the initial semester and just kept going. Baby’s slow weight gain meant more scrutiny and doctors appointments. I was also committed to breastfeeding her as long as possible. I did supplement some, but only enough to keep the doctors from calling DCFS which they ended up doing anyway. Lucky for me I was in really good with the State office of WIC…so they told me where to go and who to talk to. I remember the night in the hospital with my little girl, I did homework and cried a bit. I knew that Heavenly Father would not let anybody get their hands on my girl, but it was difficult. I prayed that I would know if it was time to hang up breastfeeding. I asked for a clear sign and was given just that. My breastmilk had more calories to it than any commercial formula they could manufacture. I still had to do some supplements but she was 8 months old by then and was doing ok, albeit small. A few months later came one of a couple diagnoses. She had low muscle tone in her cheek, chin and lips and really got tired of trying to eat. The next diagnosis came at 22 months old she had eosinophils in her esophogus which is like tiny blood blisters up and down her throat, so eating was painful one way and the other. I still managed to nurse her until she was 4 (longest of my kids to ever do that). Through all of this was many many assurances that I was doing the right thing. In the hospital I learned that she was nursing every 20 minutes for 5 or 10 minutes and the longest break was 3 hours during the night…this went on until she was 18 months old. Yes, I did finish my bachelors degree with honors when she was 2, I hung in there and kept the faith despite the many sleepless nights and the depression that seemed to linger.