Day 3 of the 7-Day Devotional for new parents/mothers. Be Blessed!
By the God of your father who will help you, by the Almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that crouches beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
Genesis 49:25 (ESV)
The newborn must eat to stay alive. To stimulate lactation, your newborn must learn to latch. As the child’s mother, you continue to give life by feeding your newborn. Studies show that breastfeeding reduces the risk of ear infection and boosts the newborn’s immunity (my experience validates these propositions). Breastfeeding also promotes mother-infant attachment. Thus, breastfeeding plays a role in the biological, social, and emotional development of your baby. Breastfeeding is not insignificant to God. Ask God for wisdom to know what to eat for lactation. God created your body, He knows if oatmeal, dates, milk, water, etc. would help you best. Don’t wait till “all else fails” before you talk to God.
I was nervous when my lactation was extremely low for the first two- or three-days post-partum. It felt like I was failing my newborn. He was crying a lot and refused the formula or whatever some nurses tried to feed him through a syringe. I can remember crying because I was in pain and failing as a mother. God was merciful. He intervened by giving me wisdom. We continued learning to latch, ate good food, I stopped worrying, then milk came.
God is the one who gives us life. Like a newborn learns to latch, we must learn to hold on to God. We need God in order to raise godly children and make a lasting impact. When we talk to God about everything, we acknowledge that we cannot do things in our own strength, and we give God permission to intervene. Yes, we can do good things without God, but without God, we cannot do anything of eternal value.
Prayer: Thank you Father for your faithfulness and grace. You are the source of life, so I ask that you give life to my body and every organ in my body begins to function properly as you created them. Thank you that my breasts produce milk like they should, and I know what to do for my baby’s nourishment in Jesus name.
I pray that God will open the eyes of your understanding as you meditate on Genesis 49:25
I breastfeed and I wouldn’t change that experience and bond for anything. I thank the lord that I am able to be a SAHM in a time like this and raise and feed my child the way I want and the way that is only natural for humans. I had the same issue with my baby not wanting to latch. She would only latch to one breast and I felt like I wasn’t going to be able to feed her the way I wanted to. People barking orders on how I needed to feed her. (Her father because he was trying to be supportive and nurses who just wanted their shift to end) it was embarrassing but it was a huge learning moment because I still tried until my baby got it and now she’s so healthy and growing well. I am thankful for that in so many ways.
This was beautiful to read. You made a great decision and I am glad you count being a SAHM a blessing. What joy!♥️
Thank you Temi! I always read your posts and can relate to most of them in some type of way. For me it really is a blessing to be a SAHM. In all honesty I wouldn’t even have my blog if it wasn’t for that blessing.
I actually started blogging as a SAHM. I like the frankness of your blog posts.