So Fortunate

I've been going over to the daycare center to feed Ella during my lunch break every chance I get.  The other day, a new mom came in with her 8-week old baby to check out the facility.  The main care provider in the infant room went through the standard procedures, which includes bringing in enough clean and sterile bottles for the day (they recommend five).  For babies who take formula, the care providers will prepare the bottles, but they don't clean or sterilize the bottles.  The new mom appeared visibly distressed when she heard that she would need five bottles.  She whipped out her cell phone and called someone and asked them if they could get $10-$20 for her so that she could buy more bottles, explaining that she only had two bottles at home.

Two bottles.  Two bottles for a formula-fed baby.  Even with nursing Ella, I've got to have more than a dozen bottles between the feeding bottles and the pumping bottles.  My husband even suggested that we buy more so that we wouldn't have to sterilize them every night (which I turned down--if we're going to be sterilizing the pump parts, we might as well sterilize the bottles and nipples).

I wanted to offer to run out to my car and get the $20 bill that's hidden away for emergencies, but I didn't think that it was my place.  I had the same urge when I saw her and her baby waiting at the bus stop down the road when I was driving back to work.  My heart goes out to her, and I'm reminded that I am so incredibly fortunate to have the means to provide for Ella.  She might not have every single gadget available to a newborn, but we definitely have more than enough.

(The next day, the new mom apparently showed up with her two bottles, claiming that no one told her that she needed more.  She hasn't come back since.)

Today's blessing was that Ella slept well again last night.  She woke up around 3:00 to eat, but then right back to sleep.  Thank you so much for your kind words and wisdom about sleep regression.  Let's hope that she can move on now.