I feel like every post I make, I am finding more of my voice again. I never in my life felt like I would have a voice to share about some of the more body related posts that I have made, but here I am to share about another personal body part- lol! I realized I had not shared about my breast feeding journey and I feel like it is something that might help someone.
So the journey starts on a very cold day in January 2018. As I have noted in previous blogs, I had a c-section which was not 100 percent my goal but 100 percent perfect in every way. I was told going into my c-section that it may take a little longer for my milk to fully come in but it was not going to be impossible. So when my little guy was able to join me in the room we would be in, we went to work. I was still very medicated and he made his wiggly way to the source. I knew not much was coming but he was happy at the end of each feeding attempt, but his blood sugar was low and the nurses wanted me to switch to formula and were coming in very frequently to test is blood- BOO. We nursed and nursed because my sweet boy must have known that it was his way to get away from the pokes. We were able to pass the blood sugar test and we all calmed down a bit.
The second day of our little guys life the city was iced over and by the end of the day they realized that not all of the services had made it in for the day including lactation support. That evening a pediatric nurse thought that our little guys Bilirubin numbers were off and made him lay in the machine in our room. The problem was it being so cold he was crying when he was under the machine-- so mama to the rescue we NURSED and NURSED because that was the only way he could be out from under the machine. The next morning the Pediatrician said he had no reason to be under the light- UGH.
So now we go home-- and the real fun begins.
I am a vegetarian, and the whole time I was pregnant I was nervous about getting enough nutrients for both baby and me-- and now this journey continues. We were hit with a few hard days because hubby had to leave us during week two to fly to interviews across country while I was still being pretty timid about my c-section spots. That weekend taught me that I can do anything :) especially if it means taking care of a bum me and a cute baby.
Heres where my TMI comes in: I bled for about 6 weeks postpartum and my periods restarted about three weeks after that. During the time leading up to periods, I could tell they were coming because little guy cluster fed. So I had to learn to combat the ebbs and flows with diet.
Speaking of diet: I had to cut cucumber early on because it upset little guy but it didn't last too too long. I cut all brussels and cabbage in the first year to help keep milk flowing. I ATE A LOT OF OATMEAL. Early days I also cut spice, dairy, and soy but those didn't last much past maybe four months. I did give up all things peppermint for the first year and a half.
Things I learned:
- Not everyones milk is affected by the same things: I did really well with Brewers Yeast and Nutritional Yeast but others have said it plummeted their supply.
- Pumping: works for some, did not work well for me. Electric pumps ( tried a few different ones) did not get me anywhere. I got my best "pumps" by manually squeezing my breast milk with my hands into a cup ( not a manual pump).
- Sunflower LECITHIN: this helped thin the milk fat enough to pass through the ducts when they started to clog a little. Pineapple juice also helped me when I started feeling a clog coming on.
- You have a nursing work horse - my left was mine. The right did make milk but not as much or as "likeable" to my little guy
- No one else's opinions or thoughts matter. I was told I could not do it, I was told that it would not last long - but 2 years and 5 months latter, I PROVED THEM WRONG. In the same respect, if it does not work- it does not work. FED IS BEST.
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