You may know me, or you may not.
We are possibly friends; or we are just seeing each other in a public place.
And when you see me feeding my baby a french fry or a chip you are probably judging me.
But what you may not know is that up until this point my child has not eaten anything.
What you do not see under his clothes is a feeding tube that he has been pumped into for most of his life. You do not know the struggle it has been inside our house to get him to even put food to his mouth.
You share all of your healthy, freshly made baby foods and how your child will eat anything you put to his mouth.
I see sadness, longing, a desire for my baby to be able to eat like that.
You see a mom who is maybe lazy in her parenting, a mom who just goes to fast food and doesn't care what she feeds her child.
But know that I am there because my child is on strict orders from his doctor to not lose any weight, he needs to gain all that he can. So, if a french fry is going to help him bulk up a little, then that's what I'm going to feed him!
You may know me, we may be friends.
But please don't think that you know the struggle. The fear of your child not wanting to eat. The pain it is to see him struggle with just a bite. The sadness that comes with turning on that pump one more time because he didn't drink enough from his bottle again.
Let's rejoice together in the little things of parenting!
Let's celebrate our children and rear them to love, respect, and honor others.
Sincerely, A Mom to a CHD survivor and tubie owner
