A Month Already?

Wow! That went kinda fast. By way of a boobjuice update, Jackie is gaining weight nicely and going through diapers like a champ, so the most important things are all good. But the yeast is still with us. Grrr. Nothing like last kiddo, but not fun. When let down feeling changed from achy to prickly (it's hard to write a blog entry while pointed towards my husband's computer showing The Hulk. Edward Norton is a genius. I swear watching him eat breakfast cereal would be interesting.) Anyway, as I was saying. When I felt prickly I said "oh no you DIDN'T" and called my physician. After discussing my case history with Robert, she said she ordinarily wouldn't skip to fluconazole (diflucan), as being the Big Guns, but given my history, she would be willing to do so. I said I wanted to nip this sucker in the bud before it spoiled all my fun. So guess what I've got? Yep. Seven days into the prescription with a refill for seven more on the way. Not. Messing. Around. Plus I think the topical anti-yeast salve I was using was making my nipples itch. So I switched to coconut oil. I love coconut oil. I use it on baby bottoms, on mama nipples, and there's a really tasty recipe for a spread made out of coconut oil in Hilary Jacobson's Mother Food.

Supply seems to be fine, which is nice. I want to get the pumping going now before my supply calms down from that after birth make milk and lots of it reaction. But I don't want to freeze milk with yeast in it. So I've pumped and dumped a couple times, which sort of breaks my heart, but I'm not getting that much yet anyway. Soon, though, yeast or not, I'll want to start freezing to build a stockpile for my return to work.

And then more broadly - it's easier the second time around, or it has been for us. Some of that is likely just knowing what we were in for. Some of it is being able to relax and enjoy, and having (so far knock wood) a much milder case of post partum anxiety this time to spoil the fun. And Jackie seems like a pretty easy baby so far, although of course she has those afternoon/evening fussy periods where she wants to nurse all the time but won't stay latched on. My midwife suggested putting her in the carrier and going for a walk, so next time we'll give that a shot. Last night when it happened, my brother in law took her and I got to go take a hot bath. Ahhhh.

Which brings me to the biggest thing that is making it easier this time around. Help. My sister and her hubby are in our building. One time when Jackie was about a week old, Cathy came downstairs and just did the dishes. It was the day before my birthday, and that is the best birthday present I've gotten in a while, I must say. Friends have stopped by with food. And I got a birthday check, which I promptly turned around and spent on post partum doula services. This was a stroke of sheer genius. My birth doula also does post partum doula work, so she has been doing most of the hours. She comes over and does dishes or folds laundry or holds the baby so I can take a sitz bath (ah, hemorrhoids...) But she's also a mama and a lactation-friendly source of lots of interesting info on birth and new parenthood. So we can talk about yeast or is this a plugged duct or whatever, and she checks in on me and is smart about what to look out for in a new (again) mama.

If I was composing my first baby registry today, it would have way less stuff, and more services. Lactation consultant, doula services, massage, house cleaning... that's my latest splurge by the way. I am determined that we are going to clean up our own mess on an ongoing basis, but we had gotten far enough behind and are spending so much of our not-holding-a-kid time on laundry that I went ahead and had a service come in once to get us caught up. I figure it will be easier to try to keep it that way than get it that way. Not easy, mind you, but easier.

So that's the haps from boobjuice central over here. In a final note, recently heard from Mama Suzi to her eldest: "That's right. We don't put stickers on Mommy's nipples."

Much love,

Suzi

Not. Messing. Around.

Hello Dear Boobjuicers and Friends!

My little nursling is sleeping (for now) on my lap, and I am typing with my arms awkwardly aloft over her, laptop on my knees. We'll see how long that lasts. I still want to write up a comparison of the care surrounding a hospital birth and a birth center birth. But first I wanted to share some steps I have taken after Jackie's birth to make sure things go as well as they can.

Robert and I had latch challenges, yeast, and post partum anxiety (well me not him on that one) and this time I am determined to nip all that crap in the bud. After Jackie was born it looked to me like her jaw was pulled back a bit, which I suspected was contributing to our latch problems. So I got her some cranial sacral therapy - on her second day of life, in the birth center, from a fabulous woman who came the same day one of the post partum doulas called her. This made an immediate, visible difference in several ways, but we still had latch problems. So I had a lactation consultant come see us on day three, again, still in the birth center. Interestingly, she teaches latching totally differently from the woman I saw in Southern California. Could be a change in standard practice, or regional, who knows. But her way is easier, and is working pretty well now. She also suspected yeast and got one of the midwives to confirm this diagnosis. So I'm on crazy amounts of probiotics, and grapefruit seed extract, and Jackie's on probiotics too. The LC came to my home a few days later for a follow up. This has been tremendously helpful, and we are doing much better.

Then about a week, maybe nine days in, I noticed I'm scared of the balcony again. Smells like post partum anxiety. I am not having this crap this time thankyouverymuch. I immediately called my acupuncturist's office and got a next day appointment. It's helping too, and interestingly, the hypnobirthing techniques really help me to push the crazy thoughts away more effectively than I could before. I also discussed my placenta medicine with him and got dosing instructions. Yes, you read that right. Placenta. As in, I had that thing cooked, dehydrated, powdered, and encapsulated, and I'm swallowing it. "Eeeeew!" right? Well, not to me. Most mammals eat the placenta as sushi right after birth. This is much more innocuous - it actually looks a lot like the grapefruit seed extract capsules. And traditional medicine practices have used it for millennia for post partum anxiety and depression, to boost milk supply, and even to treat menopause. Frankly at this point if someone came up with some studies to show that PPA could be warded off by wearing banana peels in your hair, I'd be happy to give it a shot.

"Geez, Suzi, what did you spend on all this?" Well that's a good point. A non-trivial amount, although the cranial sacral was complementary with the massage that was part of the stay at the birth center (which is SHEER GENIUS). It's more than worth it to me. But then I am in a position to say that. A lot of women in this country don't have the option of just picking up the phone and calling some specialist at the first hint of trouble. And that doesn't feel right to me, particularly in the case of the lactation consultant. Some insurance companies will pay for LCs, and a lot of hospitals offer support in the form of one hopelessly overscheduled RN who is an IBCLC as well. I think we can do better. Every mama deserves a doula, an LC, whatever the heck it takes to ward off PPA and PPD, and a massage. And ice cream. This is one of the many, many ways we can, without guilt-tripping anyone, improve breastfeeding rates in this country, not to mention women's health generally.

Spread the word.

Much love,
Suzi