The pain I was dealing with when my nipples were cracked was like nothing I’ve felt before. I would start crying before Evan even latched anticipating the pain. I would dig my toes into the ground when he finally did latch and would burst into a stream of profanities. In that moment I never thought I would get to the point where I am now. Breastfeeding no longer hurts, in fact I find it very relaxing*.
I’m heading back to work soon which means I have to wean him and I’m sad about it. I’m going to try to keep my milk supply up so that I can at least continue to give him his bedtime snack. Believe it or not I think it’s the middle of the night feeds I’ll miss the most when the time comes. As much as I would love to sleep through the night I know that once he doesn’t call for me any more at 1am…3am… 4am that a special bonding moment will be over. There’s nothing sweeter than seeing the outline of his shadow as his warm body forms to mine in the dark of the night… Then again he looks pretty cute in the daytime too… Ya Evan, you can go ahead and sleep through the night any time now. Ha!
*For those of you dealing with nipple pain, I think what finally healed mine was the Dr. Newman nipple cream. It took me far too long to actually get the prescription and use it, but once I did it honestly took affect within days. My advice to you is, don’t wait! If you’re hurting get the cream now!
Here I am bottle feeding Evan. Did I ever tell you that the first time I fed Evan formula like this I sobbed. I felt so guilty about it I almost couldn't do it. I still feel a bit guilty, but not so much that I'm reduced to tears. Thankfully.
Hey Josie you look great in this picture! It was nice meeting you on Saturday for Culture Shock as well :) To your previous post I agree, parents should love their kids no matter what. That's what parents are suppose to do.
ReplyDeleteHey Josie! I love your blog. I listen to you every morning and love how open you are about nursing. I went back to work when my son was 12 months and only weaned his day time feeds. I continued his morning and bed time feeds until he was 16 months. I am so happy that I kept those. I missed him so much during the day. Best wishes!
ReplyDeleteSnif, I understand...
ReplyDeleteIt might still work out, especially the nightfeedings might keep your production at a high enough level. But no matter how long you can continue, you deserve a medal for nursing through the pain. Very stoer!
It's so true. Breastfeeding is short term pain for long term gain. I felt the same way. I hope you can keep your supply up! There are some herbs that can help - Blessed Thistle and Fenugreek.
ReplyDeleteAllison
Hey Josie, have you considered pumping during the day when you're away from him? You could either pump and dump and refrigerate/freeze it and give it to Evan in the following days. Is he having cereal yet? You can used the expressed breastmilk in his cereal.
ReplyDeleteI went back to work when my son was seven months old but pumped during the day for another five months. I left the sitter with the expressed milk so that's what he had during the day. I continued to breastfeed until he was 17 months old.
Good luck!
Hey Josie! I'm currently dealing with thrush and I've been thinking of you and your purple mouthed Evan :)
ReplyDeleteI'm early in my BF journey (3 weeks) and it hasn't been easy but encouraging words and shared stories like yours certainly help
Elise*