If I would have written this entry three weeks ago I would have been able to tell you how I have always had the most amazing experiences with nursing.
I’d tell you how I nursed both of my daughters with no hiccups. How my now four year old magically weaned herself from nursing on the day she turned nine months old. How I always had enough milk for my babies and even extra to pump, freeze and donate my milk to women all over Israel.
Three weeks ago my ten month old baby got sick with a temperature, ear infection, sores on her lips and thrush on her tongue- all whilst teething like crazy. I ended up with open sores which made nursing absolutely agonizingly, excruciatingly painful. I went to a doctor who said it was A and gave me cream A but it didn’t help. I went to skin doctor B who gave me cream B but it didn’t help. I went to lactation consultant C who gave me cream C but it didn’t help. Then I went to doctor D who was an expert in what A, B and C said I didn’t have and gave me cream D that didn’t help. Three weeks later I’m still only nursing on one side because the other is too painful to touch and I still have sores although they are (slowly) healing. Did I mention I started a new job the day this started? That although my husband took a ton of sick days I had to take one on my third day of the new job? That my parents who are usually able to babysit were abroad when this happened? There is only so much we can plan in life…!
I would never have thought that I would experience something like this when my baby was ten months old. Everything had been so perfect until now. I’m hoping that within a few days everything will be back to normal and I’ll be able to nurse comfortably until I or she decides we’re done nursing. I’m sorry to say how disappointing it was that none of the doctors were able to help me. Doctor D even saw me crying as I nursed and said to me that she nursed all four of her children till they were two years old even when she was sick with a forty-degree temperature and I should therefore persevere through the pain. Others told me this is my chance to wean my baby and I should just drop nursing immediately. Some people are supportive and some aren’t. We need to surround ourselves with the former.
We need to know that we’re not alone and no matter how we chose to feed our babies, there are challenges and these don’t always arise straight after the birth and they don’t always happen to new mums with their first kid.
I’ve made the decision that nursing is important to me and I know I’ll pull through with the support I have from family and friends- sharing is caring ☺
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