Thank you all for your comments on the last post. Especially you de-lurkers I really appreciate you taking the time to offer your support and advice. Thank you.
This is a roller-coaster, there is no other way to describe it. Yesterday - around 1pm if you want to get specific - things took another turn. It was that sudden - Whooosh! - and I felt normal again. No urge to cry at every thing. The fog lifted. I even slept some last night. I swear to god, this is the strangest thing I have ever experienced. Clearly, some biochemical thing - neurotransmitter, hormone, whathaveya - is going on here, because is was like yesterday someone injected me with whatever I was lacking, and suddenly I evened out again. I said later to Mr. P that it is like someone slipped me crazy pills in my tea on Saturday, and then yesterday gave me the antidote. I feel like I was on drugs, and then they wore off.
The boob issue is still ongoing, so I reached out to the LC again to see what she has to say. I'm waiting to hear back from her. I would really like to stop squirting breastmilk all over the critter, me and all of my clothes and furniture. I had an initial goal of 6 months of BFing, but now if I can make it 8 weeks, I will see it as a victory. That means 4 more weeks. I think, today at least I think, I can make it til then.
Thanks again for your support. It really does mean the world to me to know I'm not alone in this.
Making Bets
1 week ago
Yay for the antidote!
ReplyDeleteI really do think that once you get the BF supply-and-demand sorted out, it will suddenly be SO much easier -- in the same switch-like way. I'm willing to bet that if you can make it to 8 weeks, you can make it to your original goal of 6 months as well.
ReplyDeleteBF was challenging for the Spouse in the beginning in exactly the same ways you're reporting, but it got MUCH LESS HARD once her body realised that it did not need to feed twins, upon which point she could go longer between feedings without pain or leaking. But I hear you that it's SO HARD right now - on the spousal anger-meter, I'm not sure anything registered as more infuriating than being awake while one's newborn is sleeping because one's body is sure that it's time to feed a baby, but the baby in question disagrees.
Some silver linings: Oversupply is easier to deal with than undersupply, at least from what I've seen. A tendency to oversupply meant that the spouse actually DID feed another infant for a substantial chunk of time, by donating frozen milk. And, milk production burns calories like woah, so you'll likely have an easier time losing the baby weight.
Hopefully your LC will help you find the right amount of pumping to relieve your discomfort but NOT make your oversupply issues worse. Good luck!
I am glad things evened out a bit for you yesterday!!! I hope the LC has some good advice for you. Hang in there!
ReplyDeleteSOOO good to hear this! Hormones are such weird and powerful things. I hope this is the start of a more stable period and the rollercoaster goes away. I can't help but feel slightly frightened when you say things like "squirting breastmilk all over..." This is my future and I wonder if I can handle it...
ReplyDeleteHi, apparently I missed some posts. But I blame that on sleep regression.
ReplyDeleteAs an oversupplying mother, I promise, it gets better. Can't remember exactly when, but I think it was before or around 8 weeks. The engorgement will pass, and you will be able to stay even 5 hours without 'activity' if needs be. I think peppermint tea could be helpful to tone down the enthusiasm, but myself I was afraid to try it, I only used cool compresses. And I always nursed with my nursing towel at hand. I kinda hate pumping and it was easier to slow down the flow in the towel. Plus it caught the stray squirts efficiently. Now I do not need it any more. The lovely cheese smells is here to stay though, and the leaking will probably stop when it is weaning time. But I got used to it and it is no longer bothersome. And I am using a LOT of nursing pads.
The crying also gets better before the 8 weeks mark. What I did was to think in small chunks of time, actually I was measuring time in feedings. And the long days and nights were no longer that daunting. Of course, sleeping makes everything better. Take a bath, try to relax, and sleep will eventually come. Of course, this means that you need someone else to take care of the critter and remind you when you need to nurse or something. Don't plan ahead, as in I will sleep tomorrow, if you can, do it now, because everything changes so fast, you'd better take advantage of what you have right now.
There, my share of assvice. Hope you are feeling better.
And you are never alone, don't you know this by now? ;-) This is what I love about this community, we all share our experiences and then we can chose whatever advice suits us.
You will see, everything does get better. Hang on. And live in the moment, because it all passes away so quickly.
We're here for you, Pie!
ReplyDelete