Breastfeeding : the good, the bad & the ugly.

Psalm 91:1-3 "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence." 

March 4th : Breast milk (BM) is said by doctors & all medical experts to be the best a mother can give to her newborn. Well I do not deny it as its nature’s way of providing for a baby – a God-given priceless provision! What we've just gone through recently just opened my eyes that with all good things, there are always some not-so-good points too. This time around, my breast feeding (BF) effort is bearing good results – with more than sufficient supply for baby Ivan. Thanks be to God for answering our prayers to provide the best start to Ivan. Well, as simple as it sounds, supply equals demand when it comes to BF. The more I feed/pump, the more the supply. The key to this is being hard working & preserve from the start. The first few days after delivery will be tough as milk supply is often way too little, making most mums worried that they are not providing enough for her baby. The common mistake here is when we supplement with formula then supply will start to diminish from then onwards. Plus when the milk comes in on 3rd or 4th day, breast engorgement is really painful..! Warm press and breast massages plus of course prayers will help to alleviate engorgement. Continue to nurse (best to allow baby to suck direct from breast) and engorgement will leave soon. 

The good about BM : I read an article that BM contains over 400 nutrients that NO ‘super’-formula in the world can ever match... none of the A+ or A+++ mind you. Like mentioned before, when God provides He always give the VERY VERY best. BM is a gift from God to mothers, of course without a doubt, it's the very best! Well I'm sure most mothers out there are aware of the other pros of BM – it helps mother & baby to bond better due to the close body contact; the mothers are able to shed the pregnancy weight faster via BF; it helps to resume the uterus back to its original size; etc etc etc. 

The bad about BM : Like every good thing, there’s something not-so-good lah. Well, BF is a very demanding task. Newborns typically feed every 2 hours (if you are unlucky, they might feed every hourly). This almost reduced the mother to being a ‘cow’ during her confinement period (haha..!)..well not like there is most we could do during confinement lah right, so it’s a small price to pay to being a cow for 1-2 months ya. I’m not sure if every other mother faces this problem I have, BM leaking. It can get uncomfortable wearing a bra as the nipple can get a bit sore after such frequent feeding. But if you do not wear one, chances are BM leaking as and when – not a very pleasant sight. And most definitely it’s quite a mess also lah! No choice but to wear a bra plus nursing pads to absorb BM. Immediate upgrade from a C-cup to D-cup!.. haha. 

The ugly about BM : Most mothers would not know about this – well I didn’t until both my sons are diagnosed with high jaundice & later jaundice relapsed at the 3rd week. Isaac had high physiological jaundice from birth, he was put under the photolight for 4 days before we were both discharged from Assunta Hospital. After a few days at home, we discovered that he still looked very yellow. We got him checked and yes he needed to be admitted to get under the light once again. He stayed another 4 days in the nursery and I was worried sick. This was when I found out more about newborn jaundice and then stumbled upon breast milk jaundice (BMJ). Ivan had a similar experience too... his physiological jaundice was only discovered after 1 week. 80% of all newborns tend to have jaundice after birth, so I was cool about it. Of course I was a bit disappointed that it still happened to Ivan despite our continuous prayers. Well… Then upon his discharge after 2 days in the nursery, we were so happy that he was free from jaundice as the reading went really low. But to our dismay, he still looked yellow over the next 1 week and we took him back to dr. Mary on 2nd March to get his blood checked. Yes he was admitted again as the jaundice relapsed and the reading was as high as the 1st time. I couldn’t contain it anymore, I broke down to tears. Why must it happen to both my sons!? What haven’t I done to prevent this? What could I have done to avoid this? I can’t stop asking these questions to myself and to God. A still small voice within me told me that God is ultimately in control and I should rest in His finished work on the cross. Not easy but I tried... Dr. Mary suggested getting Ivan’s urine & blood checked to see if there are any abnormalities. I got more worried when she told us this, as it sounded very serious this time around. Many what ifs crossed my mind... “God, I know you are in control and You have the last say. Thank you Lord for you are Ivan's healer.” Pray was the only thing I could do. After all those tests provided normal results, dr. Mary diagnosed that Ivan’s having BMJ too. I was relieved but then started to question – could it be ME ie my breast milk that created so much discomfort for my babies..!? How can such a great creation like BM have such side effect? Dr. Mary assured me that BMJ is not harmful to my baby and the jaundice level will take slightly longer to taper off as compared to formula-fed babies. No one is sure what causes BMJ – perhaps it’s what I ate during pregnancy/confinement. I managed to research more about BMJ and found out that there is a substance in BM that slows down the removal of bilirubin in newborn’s blood. http://www.bflrc.com/newman/breastfeeding/jaundice.htm Though BMJ is not harmful to babies, it caused enough worry for me and to certain extend a bit of unrest too. But now I'm glad, it's all over. Pls don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating that BM is not good... definitely the pros outweigh the cons. I still insist of breast feeding Ivan right after he's completely cleared off his jaundice. As suggested by dr. Mary, we should feed him formula milk for this week then alternate feeding between BM & formula in the next weeks. Upon his 6th week or so, we can resume to full BM. 

Hallelujah! Thank you Lord for healing Ivan from jaundice. I was wrong to have worried and even for a split second, doubted you. Forgive me O Lord..

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