Because I had experience with it, I knew I could handle using one again. As you can see from the photo*, there is a small bottle for formula or expressed breast milk, with two tiny tubes that are affixed to the nipples using a soft surgical tape. When the baby latches on, he also gets the end of the tube in his mouth and is able to take in whatever breast milk is available, along with the milk in the bottle. The side benefit is that the more the baby is at the breast, the better the milk supply the mom can build up. While many nursing adoptive moms don’t ultimately build a supply that’s sufficient to nourish a baby alone, the baby is still getting mom’s milk and the mother and baby are experiencing that precious bonding time together.

In the meantime, I read a lot about adoptive breastfeeding and joined an online discussion group on the subject. I found that most of the books and other resources available dealt with newborn adoption, and the discussion group helped connect me with other moms who’d breastfed older babies and even toddlers. I wasn’t sure how things would proceed once we met our daughter, but I knew I wanted it to be an option for us.

About four months later, my husband and I were in our hotel room in Nanchang, Jiangxi, China with our new baby. As foretold by my dream, our daughter had been just 6 months old when we received her referral, and my determination to breastfeed had skyrocketed. I’d assumed that probably have to wait until we were home and settled a bit before I would make my first attempt, but that day, the moment seemed right and I decided to give it a shot. To my amazement, Maizie latched right on and seemed as though she’d been nursing all along. I later tried the supplemental nursing system filled with formula, and once again, we had good success.

Once home, I continued to use the supplemental nursing system until Maizie’s tendency to bite –and hard – became problematic. ;) Even though our nursing time together was shorter than my other children had had, I treasured every moment of it and look back on that time fondly. Even though I found my daughter on the other side of the world, there we were doing what moms and babies do, and it felt so right.

All of our other adopted children have been over 18 months by the time they've come home to us, so this has been my only adoptive breastfeeding experience thus far. I am eagerly looking forward to round two as we welcome our new Ethiopian baby home!

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*photo from www.medela.com