This is the place for moms In The Making, who smile with the messes, embrace the unexpected, and know that every day is a blessing.

Monday, March 25, 2013

Going green a nursing miracle


Finding the perfect bra is always a challenge but I never thought I'd find the perfect one in the grocery aisle!! I grew up around nursing mom's so I always just assumed that you grew up got married popped out a baby and nursed. 

I swiftly discovers that nothing was further from the truth. We struggled with nursing from the start, but my efforts were further complicated by a nagging breast infection, yeast infection, general iteration... call it what you like. I saw a Lactation consultant, two midwives, my primary care doctor, none of whom could find a solution :-)  but don't worry, I got lots of creams and antibiotics which were promised to help but didn't. 

It was hard to choose a favorite... There was option #1 which clearly stated do not let this come in contact with mouth... Which is very reassuring to a new mom, I won't eat it but I'm just letting my baby nurse with on it, then we switched to Nystatin which is basically like cough syrup so everything I put it on I had to wash everything because it was so sticky. Oh and all the lovely antibiotic pills.

Then finally on health provider #6 we found our answer! Cabbage leaves! I couldn’t believe it when he told me that. My directions were to go buy a cabbage wash the leaves, cut out a small circle for the nipple then stick them in my bra for about 10 minutes until they wilted 4x a day. Shockingly enough I began to get relief almost immediately. The heat in my breasts went away and the red rash and tenderness began to fade. Cabbage leaves worked the miracle for me. It was like a blast from the past and suddenly I was cabbage patched for my kid.


UPDATE:
My OB recommended cabbage leaves for my situation... As pointed out by Lenetta in the comments cabbage leaves can also decrease supply so check with your OB to see what is best for your situation. Kellymom.com has lots of great information on nursing, cabbage leaves etc

Good luck nursing!

7 comments:

  1. I've never heard of this before!

    Nursing can be extremely painful. Glad to hear you didn't give up though!

    -Cole
    http://youngmommymemoirs.blogspot.ca/

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  2. I've heard of this. I'm so glad it worked!! I'm sure you appreciate nursing much more now!!

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  3. Great post - would absolutely love for you to link up at the Friday Baby Shower a linky party for all things pregnancy and new baby, Alice @ Mums Make Lists xx

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  4. Alice, thank you so much for your comment. I love your blog. I wish I would have found that when I first got pregnant. I love reading everyone's stories. I will definitely be linking up again!

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  5. So glad you got some relief! Nursing babies is awesome, but soooo not easy. Please note, though, that cabbage leaves can decrease supply. That's great for engorgement, but you might want to point that out when you recommend this in case the mama has supply issues on top of everything else. Here's some more info, with more links: http://kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mother/engorgement/#cabbage Happy milk making! :>)

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  6. Lenetta, Thank you for your comment... I added an update the post. I struggled with supply issues in the beginning so I know what a nightmare that can be. I LOVE the Kellymom.com website

    Thank you!

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  7. So very glad you got some much needed relief! And, thank you so much for sharing with the Tuesday Baby Link Up Community!

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