I can't pinpoint exactly what I've done, but over the last week, a small niggle has expanded into an ankle to hip situation. Experimental jumping around confirms that this makes it worse, but yoga makes it better, so I'll be doing some of that later today.
What else helps? Raw Fudge:
Recipe forthcoming. I think I'll omit the nutritional stats, because this is the very definition of calorie-packed. Can't you just see them oozing out of it? Delicious little bastards.
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And now for the questions, and the begging, as promised in my previous post:
The questions are for those of you that have had babies; they are about breastfeeding:
Did you breastfeed your baby? If so, for how long?
If not, what were the reasons?
For those that did breastfeed, what did you find helpful (in terms of facilities/information sources/support/policies) and what were the biggest challenges?
Feel free to change your comment name to anonymous if you feel funny blurting this stuff out on the internet. I've gotten a good idea of the barriers to breastfeeding from my research, but I thought that you real-life super-mums might have something to add that I'd not thought of.
Perhaps, say, you stopped breastfeeding because it was hard to blog and breastfeed at the same time? (kidding... although I did read a report where a surprising number of young women noted interference with Facebook time and difficulty of feeding+texting as reasons to stop breastfeeding..).
And now for the begging and pleading bit:
I require some volunteers to complete an anonymous* online survey and watch an instructional video on sports nutrition. In order to be eligible you must be:
* Female
* Resistance training (weights or bodyweight) for 30-90 minutes (and preferably less than 60 mins, at least two times a week. I am looking at nutrition for women who primarily strength train, not those that primarily train for endurance.
If you are interested and would like more details about what is involved and what's in it for you, please email me.
If you have responded to my Facebook request then I already have you in the pool and you don't need to email me.
* although I will know who the participants are, I won't know which answers belong to which participant.
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And last but not least. The Caffeine Wean update:
So far, so good. Next week, the limit is three espresso a day.
Hey Sara, I breastfed both my kids for 14-15 months. I'm very pro breastfeeding and luckily was able to do it fairly easily. A good midwife really helps (this was first time around, second time I was a pro).
ReplyDeleteHTH.
Cheers
liz :)
I breastfed both my tots for 11 months each. My goal was a year but they were both ready to quit the boob at 11 months, so I didn't push it. Honestly I didn't have any problems! Once my milk came in I found breastfeeding to be really easy and natural. My only complaint is that no one told me it would take up to a week for my milk to come in. I think a session with a lactation consultant should be a regular, insurance-paid-for thing for expecting moms if they know that they want to breastfeed. My mom breastfed all six of us (!) so if I had any questions, she was my go-to boob expert.
ReplyDeleteForgot to come back and answer your breastfeeding questions till now..
ReplyDelete3 babies, breastfed them all for varying amounts of time:
#1 - 6 weeks, then I weaned him over about another 4 weeks. Breastfeeding was a disaster, horrendously painful and not the least bit enjoyable. I felt horribly guilty and like a complete failure. :( In hindsight, some additional help in the hospital would have been good and also some open and honest discussion from friends & relatives about how it's quite normal for it to hurt like crazy for quite a few weeks... It was like some big secret "thing", or that's how it seemed to me. I had no close friends with babies at the time, so I was kind of on my own... and there were no internet forums back then.
#2 - I lasted 6 months. We started off well, now that I knew a bit more and had support from some friends/rellos with little kids. He was a cranky, difficult baby with gastric reflux and wanted to feed all. the. freaking. time. In desperation, I started mixed feeding when he was 4 months old, so I could have some respite. He was also started on solids early, on the infant health nurse's advice. I think he was 3 months...
3# - 6 months again. He was another horror reflux baby, but I handled that better the second time around. The main reason I weaned him then was because I went back to work.
I think you have the best chance of success if you have a good network of friends and family who have breastfed. Expert advice is certainly useful too. I think our hospital midwives are run off their feet in general and don't always notice when someone is struggling. Especially if they're the "soldier on and don't complain" type, like I was (idiot!). A lactation consultant should be on hand at every maternity hospital and a session with them ought to be standard procedure at a very early stage.
By the time #3 was born, I was a way more confident mum and both my sisters were breastfeeding babies (we all had babies within 10 months). There was a lot of swapping of stories and tips, and when I developed the early signs of mastitis, I knew exactly what it was because my sister had just had it a couple of weeks before. SUCH a difference to the first time round. :)
Wow. That was such a long time ago now.