Breastfeeding Revisited

 

This is a completely irrelevant picture of a little baldy.

 

Once when I was pregnant, I entered a mosque and saw a woman breastfeeding. At that point, the image stirred up a lot of emotions and I couldn't wait for Farah to be out so that we can start the breastfeeding journey all over again.

But, somehow, the first few weeks didn't turn out the way I imagined it to be. Farah was not drinking that much and I was engorged all the time. I pumped out the excess milk twice a day but that created a false demand for milk and so I was even more engorged and in pain.

Then the medela pump which I just bought became lousier and lousier. That was the third mini electric pump I had bought in my short breastfeeding career. The first two were during Huda's time. And after the second one, I swore I'll never buy medela again. My sister and I bought an ameda double pump but she unexpectedly got pregnant ahead of schedule and was still using the pump. I then planned to buy the avent manual pump after I heard lots of good stuff about it.

But, for whatever strange reasons, on the day I was discharged from the hospital, I went and got a medela mini electric instead. This pump disappointed me from the third week onwards. It simply could not draw out all that much milk anymore. I knew the breasts were not emptied and lumps of various sizes started appearing especially on the right side. Three quarters of the right breast was lumpy and each time I pumped from that side, I managed only a measly 10-20ml, as opposed to the 50-90ml I got from the other side (which also had lumps but not as bad as the right side).

I was going to see my gynae and the last thing I want is to be referred to a breast specialist (and subject myself to another biopsy). So, I started looking up the net for solutions to clogged ducts. I tried the hot towel treatment, ice pack treatment, cabbage treatment but none worked for me. I looked up more solutions and one, which seemed like a hair-brained idea when I first read it, suggested using a wide-tooth comb to comb the blocked ducts away.

And that's what I did. There was nothing to lose, anyway. So, I started combing the breasts each time I fed Farah. (Sounds crazy, doesn't it?)

Amazingly, by the next day, there were no more lumps! Even the super-stubborn lump that was around from Huda's breasfeeding days (the one that necessitated a biopsy) was gone!!

A comb! That's the answer to blocked ducts!

So, I'm now a happier breastfeeding mother.

There are some inconveniences, of course. The number one headache I'm facing is starting my driving lessons again. I would need to introduce Farah to the bottle if I have to be away from her for a few hours. And I am just too l-a-z-y to do that. But it has to be done because my target is to get my license by Hari Raya (then I can drive off with my father's car because I got no money to buy one myself).

Another inconvenience is, I cannot eat less. As I want to make sure that my milk has lots of good stuff for Farah, I have to eat and eat and eat. The way I control the size of my tummy is by eating less but if this option is not available, am I supposed to exercise the fats away? *gulps*

Back to breastfeeding - Unlike the first time, this time round, I'm not setting a long target. I am going to go on unpaid leave til the end of 2010 but that does not mean I'll be breastfeeding til then. If I can, I will. If for whatever reasons, I cannot, then, there's always formula milk. Absolutely no pressure on myself. (But, I think I'll breastfeed for a minimum of 6 months to a year because infant formula is very expensive.)

So this marks the beginning my second breastfeeding journey. I hope I'll enjoy it as much as I did the first time round.