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NewsA helping hand to a new mom, babyAugust 5, 2007The News Tribune Katie Cortman is having trouble breast feeding her eight-day-old daughter, Megan. "If it hurts, it's because she's not latching on right," says visiting nurse, Tanya Baker. "Lower your arm, she's higher than your nipple. If you tickle her lip, she goes on." Tanya, 58 and a mother of three, works for Tacoma-Pierce County's new Nurse Family Partnership program. This is Tanya's 11th visit. She's been coming since Katie was six months pregnant. Katie, 23, qualifies for the program due to poverty and past trouble with the law and drugs. She wears sunglasses in her hair as she nurses Megan. "My biggest concern is her," Katie says. "She's my number one everything now." Katie and Steve Apodaca, Megan's 28-year-old father, have been friends for 13 years, but Megan was not planned. The couple splits the living arrangement between their mothers' houses. Steve has cerebral palsy and has difficulty talking. He participates in the Special Olympics, and works as a recycling sorter. He's gentle with Megan and pays attention to Tanya as she talks. Katie looks down at her nursing infant. "I let her go as long she wants," she tells Tanya. "Great," the nurse says. "My sister says, 'I don't know why you don't give up,'" and use a bottle, Katie says. Tanya's back straightens. One of the major points she drives home with new mothers is that breast-feeding is best because of bonding, nutrition and sickness-fighting antibodies passed through the milk. She knows that if women nurse their first child they'll likely also nurse the rest. "She's not a good support person," Tanya says of the sister. "Call me first." Today, Katie and Steve are at Katie's mother's house at the end of a cul-de-sac in a run-down section of Puyallup. Inside, a pack of diapers and a baby's outfit are tossed onto the back of the couch. Somewhere, a television is on. Megan finishes feeding and fusses as Katie adjusts her in her arms. The newborn has a wisp of dark hair, the color of her father's. When she leans out from her mother's arms, she seems like a flower bud whose stem could snap at any moment. Katie's still getting used to holding her baby. She reads the infant's fussiness as defiance. "She's like telling me, 'Don't tell me what to do. Get that hand away from me,'" Katie says. Then Megan climbs up her mother's arm and nuzzles her neck. She dozes for a moment. Tanya turns the talk to feeding schedules, a particular worry because Megan has lost weight. She's gaining it back and weighs 7 pounds, 3 ounces. The nurse is alarmed when she hears the infant went a day without a bowel movement. "At least once a day," Tanya tells Katie. "That's really important. If not, that means she needs more feedings." Tanya pulls a portable DVD player from the bag that also holds a scale she used to weigh Megan. She wants Steve and Katie to watch a program about newborn care. Katie's alert, good-humored and enjoying the interaction with Tanya, but she doesn't want to watch the DVD. Instead, she looks down at her baby, who's waking up. "Don't poke your eye," she says playfully. Katie's 28-year-old sister, Jennifer, bursts into room with her three young children. Yelling, they race around the house, getting ready for the trampoline and hot tub out back. Jennifer mentions that a tractor ran over a 3-year-old cousin in March at another house. No one was keeping a close enough eye on the child, she said. Tanya pulls a toddler's plastic bench from a corner and puts it under Katie's feet for a footstool. She kneels down by Katie's side, and asks softly, "How are you doing otherwise?" Katie says the bleeding from her delivery is getting better. That's good, Tanya explains, and says it's because her uterus is shrinking to its normal size. A 2-year-old flies by. Jennifer yells up the stairs. "Brice, you don't have your underwear on." Megan starts to fuss. Katie works a pacifier into her mouth, soothing her. "When should the cord fall off?" she asks her nurse. "One to three weeks" Tanya says. Katie says she and Steve have been cleaning it with rubbing alcohol and explains how they try to multitask the baby care chores during changing. "Megan doesn't like to have her clothes off," Katie says. Tanya tries one more time with the DVD. She'll leave it for them. "You might want to watch the video really soon," she says. "Maybe tonight. It shows baby-bathing." There's no response. The infant begins to cry. "Oh, I know," Katie says to her daughter. "It's so hard to be you." She passes Megan off to Steve, who scoops her up gently and smiles. Tanya continues her questions about how the new mom is doing. Katie says she almost gave in and had a cigarette the other day. Tanya goes through the things she can do to fight the urge. The best one, Katie says, is holding her daughter; she forgets about wanting a cigarette then. Steve's mother, Rita, comes through the door. He hands her the baby. After a moment, she's in a full cry. "She needs her mother," Tanya says. |
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