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Sunday, March 28, 2010

"Wetness is Opportunity"

Kathy Abbott of "The Curious Lactivist" might be suffering from ADHD- as her eldest daughter asserts- but it in no way hinders her ability to write beautifully or to bring us excellent information on one of my favorite topics:  BREASTFEEDING!!! Her article on Wetness is lovely and stirs an emotional response.... especially from a mother reading her blog while nursing her 6 week old boobie baby!!

Keep writing Kathy!!  I know that the hours are long and sometimes arduous, but we all appreciate it!!


“Wetness is Opportunity”


“Wetness is opportunity.  It represents the openness of nature to what falls from heaven.”

 (From the book “Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth” by William Bryant Logan)

The wetness of a kiss brings two people closer.  The vagina moistens and lets in the penis to accept the heavy wet sperm.  The sperm enters her waiting egg which is then enveloped by a warm watery sac.   A laboring woman’s bag of waters breaks open moistening her birth canal.  Even the wetness of her blood helps her baby to slip outside of her.  Her wet baby lies on her chest and slides over towards her nipple.  The mere smell and touch of his mother excites the babe and soon he drools his wet saliva onto her skin.  He licks his lips in anticipation of what he does not know – something is coming, something wet and good that will make the move from his pickled womb to this dry, arid world easier to swallow.  The first yellowy drop of colostrum appears enticing the baby to come closer.  Come closer.  “Wetness is opportunity.”  Wetness is the beginning of life. 

We tell mothers that her breast milk is important.  It contains calories and vitamins, fats and protein.  It has antibodies and immune factors; it has “pre” and “pro” biotics.  Scientists have spent millions of dollars analyzing tiny drops of milk constantly updating the ever growing list of important things they have found within.  We have come to attach a certain scientific aloofness to the value of human milk.  It can be measured and scrutinized, it can be bottled and contained, it can be put on a shelf and held till needed.  It can be produced at will.  But we forget that inherent in its wetness is opportunity, the chance to connect mother and baby together again. Like the wet kiss that spurred the conception of this little one’s life, the moment a baby suckles on its mother’s breast the two are reminded that for this moment ’you are mine and I am yours, yours alone.’
HERE to Read the entire article on "The Curious Lactivist"