Monday, May 19, 2008

Ezekiel's Birth Story - pt. 19

My milk came in on the third or fourth day, I can’t remember exactly, but I got super engorged again. I was so discouraged! Again...why couldn’t my body just do what it was supposed to?! At the same time, we were taking Zekers in for his check up. His bilirubin was up, but not high enough to warrant him going back into the hospital. Praise you, Lord!!! He also wasn’t going poo. Other than no poo, he was eating just fine and healthy so we just watched it for a couple of days. The engorgement occurred the same way as last time. It happened when I went to sleep in the wee hours of the morning and when I woke up I was soooooo swollen. Scott and White has a team of lactation consultants and let me tell you, these ladies are passionate about their work. They totally have a heart for moms who are trying to breastfeed and are having trouble. The one lady that I really took to was Patty Caplinger. She’s awesome. She’s the one who introduced herself to me while we were still in the hospital, so when I got engorged again, I called her right away. I had already explained what had happened the last time I got engorged so she knew what I had tried already. Last time, the lactation consultant told me to alternate hot and cold packs. I was doing that this time with no success. My nipples were already cracked and bleeding too even though I was administering lanolin. She suggested that I stop doing the hot packs and only use the cold packs. Our aim was to get the swelling down as fast as possible. She also was in agreement with me as far as the cabbage leaves. NO! I wasn’t about to use anything that would inhibit my production. Then she gave me a “recipe” for a nipple cream. She told me to mix equal parts triple antibiotic ointment, 1 % hydrocortisone cream and Lotrimin AF anti-fungal cream. Its safe to use because its non digestible, just in case any of you are like, “WHAT?!” Let me tell you that there was an incredible difference after about three applications. It was amazing. I didn’t even have to use it for a prolonged time, either. Just when they got sore and I only had to use it for a day or so at a time. She also recommended that I try a combination of two herbs: Blessed Thistle and Fenugreek seed. I was to take three of each, three times a day to start out. She told me about an online vitamin store that has very cheap prices. I didn’t want to take the supplements at first. I wanted to see if my supply could be increased without help. Next time....THE FINALE!

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