Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Nursing through Nerosurgery - How I continued to breastfeed even after 5 days in the hospital Part 1

Breastfeeding while your baby is separated from you for an extended period of time is difficult, especially when you are taking all sorts of drugs. But when the doctor says you need to stay in the hospital, you usually have no other choice.

This is what happened to me last month. I was quickly diagnosed with a herniated disk that caused my left foot and calf to go numb, not to mention it was almost impossible to walk, sit or stand. I'm not even going to tell you what it was like to visit the potty. After being sent home from one hospital, I was sent to another, fully expecting them to do the same. They didn't. I was left full of milk and no one to feed.

This was less of an issue for my 8 month old, especially since she was already getting supplements of formula through the supplementer. But I was not ready to let go of the relationship just yet, despite the urging of my mother. Concerned about the undue hardship that breastfeeding would cause on my healing body, I was told to "just stop!"

It did take some work to get things going again, but I'm so glad I didn't listen to my mom. What she may not have taken into consideration is the hardship the hormonal drop would have caused if I did stop nursing. I'll detail how I did this in my next post!

2 comments:

  1. Way to go! That makes me happy, because breastfeeding is so important for mom and baby.

    Nicholas Hundley

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  2. Thanks Nicholas! We are at the 18 month mark and still going. When she was 13 months a horrible flu went through the house with 103 fevers for both children and adults. My little one did not get nary a sniffle though. Antibodies work AFTER 12 months too!

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