A girlfriend of mine recently told me that she was breastfeeding when she got a clogged duct which lead to an infection and pain and cracked nipples and to ending her breast feeding experience of her now 2 month old. It sounded like she was sad about it, and vaguely mentioned relactating. So I looked it up. I had heard of some women who adopt and breastfeed. OMG, right? That's cool!
On week #2 after Atlas was born my left side went flat. Like, pancake flat. There was nothing coming out of it no matter how hard I tried. I called my doula and my midwife who told me to start Fenugreek and keep a pump on it every time Atlas nursed from the other side. For me, that worked. The bottle of Fenugreek says to take one pill twice a day. I have heard of women taking as many as 3 pills, 3 times a day. I took two a day for about a week and even now I take 2-3 pills a week, but once my supply was back I wasn't needing to rely on Fenugreek. I was luckly. To this day (4 months pp) I am pumping 20-35 ounces EXTRA a day and donating to Get PUMPed (they provide milk to Central Florida babies in extraordinary circumstances.) So that is my only personal experience with milk issues.. that, and I wake up nearly nursing on them myself each morning and when I pump at 5am I get 20+ ounces each time!
So I started looking for resources and groups to help encourage my girlfriend, if she was interested. You have to be careful. I don't want anyone thinking that I am a know-it-all and that I think EVERYONE can breastfeed and if they cant then they are being lazy and not sticking it out. Nope, that is not what I want to sound like. One of my lifelong best friends was unable to BF due to PPD, and a happy and healthy mommy makes a happy and healthy baby regardless of where that nourishment is coming from. The alternative can be detrimental.
So I went to BabyCenter and searched for a group and found one! ONLY ONE. Which kinda shocked me... are there really that many people who have to stop and never look to start back up? Does our society just say its now or never and once you stop it's over? It doesn't have to be! How awesome is that?! You can relactate and get back to that intimate bonding with baby!!
Anyone have an experience like this they can share?
Also, if you are looking for baby clubs and free baby coupons, check out THIS POST for a round up of a bunch of them!
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