Ummm....

I'll be the first to admit I don't have great social skills--I never think to introduce people, never offer drinks when people come over, etc... Counseling skills has by far been the hardest thing for me to learn since I started down the lactation consultant pathway. Tonight though, I came across a really akward situation. I was checking out at a store and had Sedona (in the moby wrap) and Sierra with me. The clerk made a comment that I had a really cool baby carrier and then asked if Sedona was a boy or a girl (she had a pink shirt, but a blue pacifier and only her head was sticking out). I said she was a girl and Sierra chimed in with, "that my baby sister!" The clerk says something about what a pretty baby sister and that he used to carry his baby like that when she was little too. Then he starts crying. Pretty significantly. What do you do in that situation?!?!? I can think of lots of very appropriate reasons for someone to break down into tears in that conversation....maybe his daughter died, maybe her mom has custody and he never gets to see her, maybe he's just a really loving and sentimental dad and she got married recently or something, maybe he and his partner are fighting infertility (he had gray hair, but didn't look old--hard to judge the age), who knows, but it's not completely out there for someone to start crying. But, living in the society we do, I was shocked to have a man suddenly start crying and even if it had been a woman....what on earth do you say to a complete stranger in that situation?!?

In happier news, my box from the milk bank arrived this afternoon :-D It had my packet of info; forms to fill out saying I don't shoot up heroin after the kids go to bed, etc...; a release for them to request test results from my midwife; my pre-paid order for blood test for infectious diseases; my donor ID labels and all my collection bottles. Wheeeee!!!!! I still feel incredibly lucky that we didn't face any life-threatening problems with Sierra even though she was a month early, but was barely getting my milk supply to match her needs through our whole nursing relationship. I'm so very excited that I have a chance to give back and help preemies. I'm looking forward to taking pics of all the filled bottles and putting up a bulletin board at work too. I'm always giving moms info about the milk bank, but I'm hoping a highly visible bulletin board and a "practice what you preach" example will increase interest both for those able to donate and those interested in requesting milk from the bank for their NICU babies.