Friday, February 25, 2011

Nursing through Nerosurgery: How I continued to breastfeed after 5 days in the hospital - Part 2

Breastfeeding is a two way relationship, but what if you find yourself running down a one way street?

Being separated from your infant during the nursing relationship is kinda like that. You desperately want to turn around and run toward them, feed them, comfort them, but the sign says no. You have no other choice but to follow the road and look for a way to drive around the block to get back to where you left off.

When I was told I'd either need to take steroids for an extended period of time, or I'd need to have emergency back surgery in August, I looked for the quickest route back to breastfeeding. I opted for the surgery, because I was told the steroids were not a safe drug to take while feeding my infant. This meant 5 days in the hospital away from her, but didn't mean months of steroids, which would have been the end of the relationship at the tender age of 9 months.

I already had milk supply issues and was using a supplementer 3 times a day. This quickly made my little one a boob addict. In the first 5 months, she got donor milk from a milk sharing mom I found on milk share. When the mom said she'd decided to quit work and stay home with her little guy, I was forced to look for another donor. Then I was forced to look for another. The health risk, in my eyes, was too great with more than three donors, so I decided to switch to formula.

The formula changed the flora and fauna on the skin of my areola, and I quickly proceeded to get a horrible yeast infection from the contact of the supplementer tube, formula and my skin. I tried to naturally balance this with white vinegar compresses, grapefruit seed extract, even Motherlove Herbal's Diaper Rash & Thrush Relief. I broke down and asked my midwife to prescribe Nystantin, which I had to wash off before I could feed her, but it kept the yeast under control, if I remembered to use it.

As the solids increased, I was finally able to get rid of the supplementer. It felt so good to be free of my medical device. Then, I lifted my oldest child out of a grocery cart. As the days and weeks went on, pain shot into my left leg, to the point of not being able to stand or sit. after weeks of some pretty hefty pain and numbness creeping up my leg, I found myself in the ER.

This city hospital that, thank God, cared about my breastfeeding relationship, did what they could for me. They even tried to get me a breast pump for me to use during my stay. I was given time and privacy to hand express my milk, and I did this about twice a day. Twenty-four hours after surgery, day five in the hospital, I was discharged.

It was torture being away from my kiddos, especially my little one, so the reunion was sweet. It was heart-breaking at the same time though because I was not permitted to lift anything more than 5 pounds for 6 whole weeks. If I did, I risked re-rupturing my disk. My 9 month old desperately wanted picked up, and not by just anyone, she wanted mama. I felt worthless, but there was one thing I could do. I got back to work building my supply that had dwindled during my stay.

I started my lactation herbs and tea again, and snuggled and nursed with my little one every chance I got. My physical therapist helped me organize pillows as to not put strain on the joint that had been repaired and showed me some good body-mechanics. Since I could not lift the baby, I used the side-lying position. This was great for me because I was still very sleepy from the pain meds, and It gave me a chance to rest.

I used the supplementer again for a short time, and by the time she was 10 1/2 months I was able to put it away for good.Although I was still not able to lift the baby, or walk very well, I felt a triumph. At least I could breastfeed her fully.

In the end, continuing the breastfeeding relationship did me much good. It kept my mood on an even keel, helped me feel worthwhile, and gave me the confidence that, even though I could not care for my daughter, I could do something no caregiver could. I could nurse my little angel to sleep.

If this ministers to you, please let others know. Share this with your friends on facebook. Let me know you were here by sending me a note, posting to my wall or commenting on this blog. Thanks!

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Planned Parenthood is "Doctored?"

Planned Parenthood is the leading abortion provider in America. If you are a mom, that may bring relief or tears, depending on the age of your children and which side of the abortion coin you fall.

In a recent release from Live Action, the "health care provider" was exposed by an undercover investigative team, not unlike what you would find a news organization doing, posing as a pimp and a prostitute. The team attempted to show workers of the clinic aiding in the trafficking of minor children in a series of videos of Planned Parenthood in several states across the country.

When the videos were released by Live Action in late 2010 and early this year, Planned Parenthood was not happy, especially since congress started voting on legislation to defund the organization. In what was a feeble attempt to discredit Live Action, Stuart Schear, Vice President of Communications for Planned Parenthood, "These tapes are clearly doctored and cannot be trusted."

What Planned Parenthood calls doctoring is really editing, something any media does for runtime and content. Unfortunately for PP, the full, unedited versions are also openly available on Youtube. In the same letter on the PP website, Schear sites several articles supporting his company's position, although one of them clearly does not. This situation is starting to look like a desperate battalion scattering for ammo while the enemy hurls bigger and bigger bombs.

As a mom, the deception of Planned Parenthood scares me. What if my daughter was too embarrassed to come to me about her boyfriend, who was say 28 and she was 15, and walked into a Planned Parenthood clinic. I would want the clinic workers to abide by the law and report the sexual abuse. If these videos are any indication, they would instead encourage her to get contraception and send her on her way, without even a phone call to her mom.

I myself walked into a Planned Parenthood clinic about 20 years ago at the urging of a rather "active" friend. They were insistant that I get the "free" hormone laden birth control they were passing out like candy. When I refused, they were shocked and tried again. Again I refused, but as I watched three other young girls walk out with their licence to be used, I wondered if I was missing something.


In their effort to make their place a safe place to go, they have encouraged, not the empowerment of women, but their entrapment. It's created a culture of younger girls loosing their true passion for a imitation, and a horrid one at that. Young girls are in need of support, love and true affection, not birth control, sex and abortion. The latter only prove to drive them further from the first.

"Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.” Song of Solomon 2:7

I wrote this in a poem I recently blogged on just4mepoetry my poetry blog. When I was looking for a referecence for this, I came across a blog about sexual frustration that highlights some very interesting points about why Planned Parenthood is doing no favors to our young people. It also explains some of the practical reasons and statistics why it's not such a good idea allow adults to sexually exploit children. You can read Inhizimage's blog Here.

Does this have anything to do with breastfeeding? You bet! Damaged uterine walls from past abortions are known to cause placental tears when delivering. We know that retained placental fragments are one reason that woman are challened by breastfeeding! There I did it.

Pages