The Unexpected Challenge
The odds were stacked against Suzanne Rodriguez breastfeeding when
she broke her leg just before her due date and needed to be heavily
sedated. However, she believes that if women set their minds on something
they can accomplish anything!
Throughout my entire pregnancy I had planned to breastfeed, however
things didn't go as planned come my ninth month. One night about
a week before my due date, I slipped on a magazine and broke through
both my lower leg bones, causing my foot and ankle to make a complete
180-degree turn. I was rushed to the hospital, (with, because of
the baby, no pain medication mind you), where I was informed that
I would need both emergency ankle surgery and an immediate C-section.
My pain was so intense I felt my broken bones through my epidural.
After my baby girl was born I was informed my leg had swollen
so much they couldn't fix it for at least a week. So I spent the
next week and a half in the hospital unable to move, in a state
of absolute agony. All my doctor could do to relieve my pain was
completely sedate me every 5 hours, making it impossible for me
to breastfeed my new baby. I only got to hold my baby a few times
a day when I could bare the pain. I felt as if all my dreams of
my delivery and bonding with my new baby had been destroyed!
Even though it was an accident I felt like a horrible mother because
I wasn't "strong" enough to just bear the pain and breastfeed my
baby. Both time and the medications were drying up my milk supply,
but I was determined to someday breastfeed. I set my alarm and pumped/dumped
every three hours, for the next month and a half until my surgery
was done and I could bear the pain enough to get off the pain medications.
Now my baby is two months old and I am just starting to get full
milk production. Now I breastfeed my baby and when she sleeps I
do my physical therapy to reach my second goal- walking. As a result,
my experience has taught me to treasure every moment with my baby
because I missed out so much in the beginning. This experience has
also taught me that if you set a goal and truly dedicate yourself
toward reaching it, you will.
I believe women are strong and if we set our minds to it, we can
accomplish anything. So push on women! Breastfeeding may seem like
a challenge, but its well worth it and someday you will look back
and be proud you overcame a struggle and gave your child exactly
what they deserve- the best.
In sickness and in health by Kate Woodward
From the first moment I heard her cry, it was the most natural
thing in the world to hold my daughter in my arms and feed her.
She had immediate trust, instant knowledge of what to do, small
dark eyes looking up at me in the delivery room as she lay contented
against my breast. We worked through engorgement and cracked nipples
and developed a perfect symbiotic relationship, which lasted 12
months. All the things I had heard about the benefits of breastfeeding
were true. Always available at the right temperature, I fed her
out shopping, in car parks, on trains and planes, in restaurants,
sitting on park benches, lying down dozing in bed…
This positive experience was to be of more importance than I could
ever have imagined following the birth of my son 20 months later.
He fed beautifully at first but then as the weeks went by things
changed. He fed fretfully, coming on and off the breast, never satisfied.
By the time he was nine weeks old there were significant other worries
and to our horror he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia-
something only found in babies 10 times a year in the UK.
We were rushed to Great Ormond Street Hospital where we began two
years of intense chemotherapy. I was determined to continue breastfeeding.
When he was most ill, I expressed milk and fed it to him with a
1ml syringe, or via a naso-gastric tube. For weeks my relationship
was as much with an electric breast pump as a baby!
Had I not had such a positive experience previously I am not sure
I would have had the confidence to continue. As he struggled to
survive, surrounded by tubes, chemicals and machines, I was encouraged
by my ability to comfort him with human contact. My instinct was
perhaps right- a consultant commented that he had never seen a baby
with as little damage to mouth and bottom from the cell killing
chemotherapy. He shared my belief that my breast milk was so sterile
and pure it protected him. I was told that research has been done
showing that breast milk changes to meet the needs of an ill child.
It also contains a substance shown to help rebuild a damaged gut.
Despite his terrible experiences he remained happy, secure, nourished
as my daughter had been.
Only 30 per cent of babies with acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia survive,
my beautiful son is now nearly three years old, full of enthusiasm
for life. There is no doubt that we have been lucky, no doubt that
we have a lot to thank the medical staff and advances in treatment
for. His survival may not be due to breastfeeding but as he now
cuddles up watching me feed his baby brother, I have no doubt that
it is the best possible thing I could have done for my children.
Breastfeeding with Lactose Intolerance
Claire managed to breastfeed for 6 months and then tried to wean
her son off the boob. He was having none of it as he was diagnosed
with lactose intolerance…
Whilst I was pregnant I thought that breastfeeding my son would
just come naturally to me once he was born, how wrong I was! Matthew
had problems feeding initially and after a week of battling with
him and expressing all hours of the day and night (and being at
the point of tears thinking I would have to give up before I started)
I went to see my local breastfeeding counsellor and walked away
from her house having given my son his first proper feed! What an
amazing feeling, I finally felt that things would now be alot easier.
I fed Matthew successfully for a couple of weeks and then woke
up one morning feeling really awful, went to the doctors and was
diagnosed with mastitis, this was to be the first of several times.
After having mastitis for the third time (my son was now 5 months
and exclusively breast fed) I decided enough was enough and looked
for alternative remedies than antibiotics to treat it and found
that there were things I could do without having to take medication.
I completely understand why women give up when they get mastitis,
it really makes you feel awful but I suppose I had decided very
early on that I was going to feed my son for at least 6 months and
I was far too determined to give up!
I weaned Matthew at 6 months and carried on breast feeding him
but decided to try and give a bottle of formula once a day to give
myself a break. Matthew however had other ideas, he refused to take
a bottle and when I finally did get him to take formula he was very
sick. After a couple of weeks I went to see my health visitor and
he was diagnosed as being lactose intolerant, meaning that he would
not accept any type of regular formula. Initially when I realised
that this meant that I would have to continue feeding I felt quite
low but after realising that his body obviously knows best, to quote
the N.H.S. - "Breast is best!" I started to accept that the benefits
of breastfeeding longer than 6 months for both me and him far outweigh
the alternative and started to enjoy our 'special time' together.
Matthew is now 8 months and I have continued to breast feed him(
including through another bout of mastitis), and feel extremely
privileged to have been able to give my son the best start possible.
When I look back at those first six months it seems amazing that
the only food he had was from me and he developed so much! I think
that feeding Matthew has given us a very special bond, and I am
now looking forward to feeding him until he is at least a year old!
A fantastic experience
Caron Bradshaw was determined to continue breastfeeding her four
children despite returning to work. She just asked her employers to
install a lock on the office door invested in some cooler bags, a
breast pump and other miscellaneous equipment!
When I had Molly my husband and I couldn't afford for me to take
much time off and sadly I had to go back to work when she was 9
weeks old. I was determined therefore that I would make sure I gave
her the only thing mothers could only give. I asked my work to install
a lock on my office door and invested in some cooler bags, a breast
pump and other miscellaneous equipment! Molly had only breast milk
until she was six months old. Thereafter I stopped expressing at
work and just fed her morning and night until she decided she couldn't
be bothered to work at it any more (with my milk drying up) and
gave up just shy of a year.
When I had my second child we were a bit better off. I had managed
to get a few promotions and my husband (who earned a lot less than
me) gave up work to care for our kids. Unfortunately (or fortunately
for me) that didn't cure the boob problem! So I was back to expressing
at work (but unfortunately we had gone to an open plan office!!!).
I therefore had to pop off to the sick bay twice a day - But again
my really great work place (the same one who fitted the lock) were
really supportive. I gave up feeding Liam during the day at 6 months
and, as with Molly, fed him morning and night until he too gave
up just shy of a year.
By the time our twins came along I had been promoted again and
was able to save sufficient money to take 6 months off. Again wonderful
and flexible employer allowed me to work flexibly so I was able
to work up until 36 + weeks of pregnancy. I breast fed both girls
(together or separately dependent on where we were!). I 'expressed
off' an extra feed in the first five months so that I could stock
pile a months worth of milk in order that the girls received the
benefit of 'me' even after I went back to work. I went back to work
when they were just over 5 months old and they didn't have any 'non
breast' milk until they were six months old. I cut out the day time
feeds and continued to feed them morning and night.
The only nightmare was that with a freezer full (literally) of
breast milk we suffered a two day power cut. I rang around relatives
and friends and took freezer boxes of breast milk to various people
to store - I didn't care what happened to the frozen peas but I
was damned if I was going to lose all that milk!!
I figured that like the two eldest children they would give up
around a year...however I am still feeding them a bit morning and
night now (at 14 months) although they are on the wind down.
I found breastfeeding the most fantastic experience. I cried when
my older children gave up and I suspect I will when the girls finally
decide they don't need the breast anymore.
I was lucky enough to have no problems - boobs didn't hurt, I didn't
get cracked nipples or anything like that. The only thing that I
did suffer from was the distinct feeling, especially with the twins,
that I could have hung a bell around my neck and called myself 'Daisy'!
I am asked by friends how I managed - my answer is how would I
have managed without breastfeeding? It stopped me feeling guilty
when I had to go back to work, it saved me a packet (its free after
all), it forced me to eat well and drink plenty of water and I didn't
have to get out of bed in the middle of the night to sterilise bottles
and make up feeds - I could just pop the babies on the boob and
grab a few more winks of sleep.
What could be better?!
Learning a new skill
Yvonne Alexander can now say after her first go at breastfeeding,
"if at first you don't succeed try, try and try again".
Like most mums-to-be I had imagined an idyllic scene after the
birth of my child. Me (looking radiant!) cradling my delightful
infant and tempting him or her with a luscious milk-filled boob.
Junior would latch on and suck contentedly.
Er…. No. 6lb 5oz Evan Dance wasn't breathing when he made his entrance
into the world. Although his heart was beating he didn't respond
to the slaps of the midwives and an alarm alerted the emergency
team. It was horrendous and more like a scene from "Casualty" than
the blissful tableau I had imagined. Evan was rushed down to the
hospital's intensive care unit and put on breathing apparatus. It
was here that his father, Martin and I saw him about an hour and
a half later. He looked fragile and was on a drip but the doctors
were confident he would make a full recovery.
As I was keen to breastfeed I was told to express some milk that
Evan would be fed through a tube into his nose. I was pleased when,
a day later, I was told that I could try breastfeeding. Once again
I imagined Evan gleefully latching onto my boob, glad to be taking
a source of nourishment from something altogether more cosy than
the rubber tube up his nose. But it wasn't to be. I tried to get
Evan to feed but he would just nuzzle my nipple then fall asleep.
He wasn't allowed to feed on demand, because of the trauma of his
birth, so I would sit feeding him my expressed milk through the
tube.
For three days I trudged down to the Special Care Unit every two
hours, from six in the morning to after midnight, to try to get
Evan to feed - without success.
Sometimes Martin used to accompany me on these visits, and, it
was his involvement that finally encouraged Evan to take an interest
in my breasts. A two-pronged attack was needed. Martin tickled Evan
to keep him awake while I manoeuvred my nipple temptingly in front
of his mouth. Success!! He managed to feed for about ten minutes.
Enough time for the Special Care Unit to decide that the tube could
be removed and Evan could accompany me back to my ward.
It was before we left hospital, a day later, when I realised that
Evan and I had already been on a journey together. We were at a
baby bathing class and, being a svelte 6lb 5oz, Evan was the smallest
baby there, although at five days old was more senior than his classmates.
As the class started he wanted to feed and, as Evan latched on,
I thought to myself: Here he was, five days old and breastfeeding
like a pro in front of a class of people. He had already learnt
a skill.
Evan is now nine weeks old and an enthusiastic breast-feeder. My
advice to anyone finding breastfeeding difficult would be - if at
first you don't succeed, try, try and try again. When you and your
baby get the hang of it it's well worth the effort.
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