Nourish the baby
I have been breastfeeding Adelynn for 15 months strong. These past 3 months we have been slowing down. It's the natural progression of weaning her from my milk. She loves nursing. I love it too. We get to spend a few minutes just the two of us snuggling together in quiet calm. Even though in regards to her nourishment she is relying on food more than my milk she still requires that emotional connection of the breastfeeding. When she's having a lousy mood I know it's time for her and I to get an attitude adjustment. A re-set as we call it. It's amazing to see how a fussy dare I say angry toddler can completely change her attitude after 10 minutes of nursing. Where she was once grouchy and crying she becomes cheerful and giggly, even charming. That is the amazingness of that bond you create with your baby. Those few minutes convey to your baby that there is love and tenderness just for her. You are taking that time just for her to comfort that need of hunger for security.
Because our nursing frequency has diminished I have been faced with the pains associated with that change. I have been experiencing severe pain in my breast and was wondering what may have caused it to be so pronounced. Completely sore all over which makes those times when I nurse Adelynn painful. That is never good. At first I thought it was from her biting me. Darn those teeth! But when the pain lasted more than a day I was suspicious that it had to be something other than a nibbling nursing baby. Especially when the pain was not isolated to the point of contact. The pain is concentrated in the line of the milk duct for sure. I think that if I didn't know otherwise I'd say someone punched me in the boob. I continued to push through the pain next thinking it was a result of her sucking causing some blistering. It's happened before, only that was when she was a newborn. My pain has not been the result of an abrasion blister, but I was close in my assessment. It's a milk blister. Ouch! And possibly a blocked milk duct. Double ouch! I just feel bruised and very sore. After I figured out the problem I'm feeling better. It has been a painful 4 days though. I didn't know what was wrong other than I had major discomfort when Adelynn nursed. Good news: after following the treatment suggestions I'm feeling better. The pain is less (yay!) and I'm feeling more willing to nurse without dread. Good thing I kept nursing her even though that pain was terrible. Despite that pain that was exactly the thing to do to help dislodge that blocked duct. That's the problem with blocked milk ducts you don't want to nurse but you have to so that the duct can get cleared out and back to normal. I never had these problems with my other babies, so I guess it was about time to experience some problems.
Now that I have determined the solution I'm going to be able to look forward to nursing her more. Another suggestion of the treatment is to nurse more frequently to keep the milk duct flowing. I'll have to dig out my pump to get that breast emptied so that the blister won't return. If only I could remember what I did with it.....hmmmm...haven't seen that pump in months.
Because our nursing frequency has diminished I have been faced with the pains associated with that change. I have been experiencing severe pain in my breast and was wondering what may have caused it to be so pronounced. Completely sore all over which makes those times when I nurse Adelynn painful. That is never good. At first I thought it was from her biting me. Darn those teeth! But when the pain lasted more than a day I was suspicious that it had to be something other than a nibbling nursing baby. Especially when the pain was not isolated to the point of contact. The pain is concentrated in the line of the milk duct for sure. I think that if I didn't know otherwise I'd say someone punched me in the boob. I continued to push through the pain next thinking it was a result of her sucking causing some blistering. It's happened before, only that was when she was a newborn. My pain has not been the result of an abrasion blister, but I was close in my assessment. It's a milk blister. Ouch! And possibly a blocked milk duct. Double ouch! I just feel bruised and very sore. After I figured out the problem I'm feeling better. It has been a painful 4 days though. I didn't know what was wrong other than I had major discomfort when Adelynn nursed. Good news: after following the treatment suggestions I'm feeling better. The pain is less (yay!) and I'm feeling more willing to nurse without dread. Good thing I kept nursing her even though that pain was terrible. Despite that pain that was exactly the thing to do to help dislodge that blocked duct. That's the problem with blocked milk ducts you don't want to nurse but you have to so that the duct can get cleared out and back to normal. I never had these problems with my other babies, so I guess it was about time to experience some problems.
Now that I have determined the solution I'm going to be able to look forward to nursing her more. Another suggestion of the treatment is to nurse more frequently to keep the milk duct flowing. I'll have to dig out my pump to get that breast emptied so that the blister won't return. If only I could remember what I did with it.....hmmmm...haven't seen that pump in months.
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