Mom who gave up breastfeeding to battle breast cancer poses with son
- Natasha Fogarty, 29, from St. Louis, Missouri, was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer shortly after giving birth to her son Milo
- Part of the treatment of the cancer was a mastectomy, which meant that Natasha would no longer be able to breastfeed her son
- On the last day before her surgery, Natasha and her husband James posed with their son for a photographer during her last breastfeeding session
Valerie Siebert For Dailymail.com
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A woman on the cusp of a cancer battle marked the very last day she could breastfeed her son by posing for a touching photo shoot.
Natasha Fogarty, a 29-year-old mom from St. Louis, Missouri, shared her story on the Breastfeeding Mama Talk Facebook page, explaining how she went through her pregnancy with certain ideas of how her early months of motherhood would go.
‘My breastfeeding story stopped just Sunday. There are heavy tears in my eyes,’ Natasha wrote. ‘I was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer and I am only 29 years old. I had to have a single mastectomy.’
Cherishing the moment: Natasha Fogarty, 29, from St. Louis, Missouri, was diagnosed with stage 2 cancer shortly after welcoming her son Milo, and decided to document her final breastfeeding session
Holding him close: Natasha noticed a lump in her right breast while she was pregnant but initially thought nothing of it
She added: I wanted and planned to breastfeed for a year. Unfortunately to save my life I had to stop.’
Speaking to Cosmopolitan.com, Natasha explained how she noticed the lump in her right breast while she was pregnant with her son, Milo.
‘I just thought it was my milk coming in,’ she said. ‘My boobs were getting lumpy and different, and I was like, “Oh, I’m not going to worry about it.”‘
But after Milo’s arrival, the lump became difficult to ignore as she began to breastfeed and see how it simply would not budge. He eventually sought a medical opinion.
First it was an ultrasound, then a mammogram, then a biopsy, which all lead to one nightmare phone call Natasha received at work telling her: she had breast cancer.
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Blue eyed boy: After receiving the diagnosis, the mom was schedule for a mastectomy and chemotherapy, meaning she would no longer be able to breastfeed her boy
Meaningful moments: The news was especially hard as Natasha loved breastfeeding, saying that ‘the fact that I had to stop was extremely hard’
Remembered forever: Do mark her last chance to breastfeed her son, Natasha put out a call on Facebook for a photographer to document it
The doctors made it clear that they intended to support Natasha’s battle by working fast. A single mastectomy was scheduled, which meant that the mom could no longer breastfeed her baby.
‘I loved breastfeeding more than anything in the world,’ she said. ‘It was my favorite thing to do. I still get choked up about it – the fact that I had to stop was extremely hard.’
Natasha decided to cherish every moment that she could still spend bonding with her son during feeding time, and had the idea to mark her last feed in a beautiful way.
She eventually booked the shoot with local photographer Kari Dallas of Vintage Lens Photography, who answered Natasha’s call out on Facebook and even offered to do it for free.
Sharing the resulting photos on Facebook, Natasha wrote that she did the shoot and shared the results because: ‘I want any other mom out there going through this to stay strong and positive’.
Milo and mom: Kari Dallas of Vintage Lens Photography answered the call right away and offered to do the photo shoot for free
Another step: Also in preparation for her cancer battle, Natasha dyed her hair pink ‘because I will destroy this cancer!’
Team effort: Natasha’s husband James also appears in some of the touching images alongside his wife
She added: ‘Sunday I decided to have a photo shoot to remember my last day breastfeeding. 2:05 am on Monday as my son fell asleep on my boob I was sad, but it was peaceful. I was lucky to be able to cherish the last week of our breastfeeding journey.
‘Oh and I dyed my hair pink because I will destroy this cancer!’
The images show Natasha in a bright set of leggings to match her newly-tinted locks wearing an unbuttoned shirt so she could feed her blue-eyed baby boy. Natasha’s husband James also appears in some of the images.
The mom is currently lined up for 24 weeks worth of chemo, but is lucky enough to have the unwavering support of friends and family as well as three friends volunteering to donate breast milk for Milo for free.
I am so blessed to have three breast milk donors in my life. That are giving for free.
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