I am sure most of you have had a cold before. In fact I have one right now, which is what spurs this post. And I am sure most of you have not been concerned because you knew you could take all those lovelies medicines for congestion etc.
Well if you plan to breastfeed or are breastfeeding, be prepared for you to feel like your head will explode.
When you are breastfeeding, there are certain things you can't take that could affect your milk supply. I know that after spending 12 weeks getting my supply established I sure as hell wasn't going to let that go down because my nose is a bit stuffy.
Like I said before, I am currently sick. My husband was sick for 2 weeks and now it has passed on to me. My daughter has not gotten sick and I would like to think that is because of my breast milk. I have the headaches, sore throat, coughing, and nose so congested that standing in a shower for an hour doesn't loosen it up. All I want to do it take some sudafed. But I can't! And you can't either! Here are some DO's and DON'Ts of breastfeeding while being sick.
DON'T take Sudafed or anything with pseudoephedrine in it. Basically don't take anything that has a nasal decongestant in it no matter what it is called. The idea behind a decongestant is that it dries up your sinuses, but a decongestant isn't picky and it dries up everything else in your body, including your milk. I have read that you can re-establish your supply afterwards but that is not a risk I am willing to take.
DO try using a Neti-Pot instead. They have these all over the place now, but I remember the first time I saw
these they looked absolutely ridiculous. This GIF makes me giggle. Make sure to follow the instructions correctly and when it says to not blow your nose afterwards for quite a while, for god sakes don't blow your nose. It will make you feel ten times worse. Now you can't use one of these if your nose is completely blocked but a dinner of spicy food or hot shower might loosen it up enough to use it. I use it randomly for my allergies and I really do think it helps out.
DO drink Mother's Milk tea or any tea with Fenugreek in it. Fenugreek can help with colds and congestion and it can also help with your milk supply at the same time. The only down side is that it can give you wee-one some gas. Drinking tea in general is good with honey. The honey soothes the throat.
DON'T take too much zinc. The Food and Nutrition Board recommends no more than 13mgs of zinc daily for nursing mothers.
DO research any medicine you are going to take before taking it. Check out Kellymom.com for more information on this.
DO stick with it. I know you don't feel good and I know you just want to lay in bed. But if you don't pump or nurse your supply might decrease, which would lead to your child possibly needing formula and not getting the antigens that keep your babies immunity up.
What are some ways that you do deal with being sick while breastfeeding?
You get lots of advice. You read lots of books. You scour Pinterest and the internet for information. Yes, I will admit that some information is helpful and some information you read ends up being true but most of the time it is so generalized that truth has fallen to the wayside. Having a baby is an individualized experience and every baby is different. I will be creating new posts as she gets older with the new lies we are told as she grows up. These are more about a newborn or preparing for a baby.
I am just going to jump into them without spending too much time flooding you with too much sarcasm.
1. PINTEREST....
How dare I? Yes yes, for the most part the beautiful nurseries and extreme organization ideas are lies. These are lies spread either by photographers who set up the most perfect scenario or by Stay-at-Home-Moms who really have nothing better to do with their time than make Pinterest posts to make us feel bad about our pitiful lives. I have an entire post on just being a Pinterest parent.
Some of the organizational posts for nurseries can be helpful if you take them with a grain of salt. When I was designing Inga's nursery, I had so many Pinterest inspirational pictures that I ended up using that ended up being completely pointless and actually cumbersome. There really is no need to completely overhaul a closet and make it the children's closet to beat all children's closets. Most clothes are thrown in drawers or in our situation, we pretty much live out of her laundry basket of clean clothes. We really only hang sweaters or jackets and all you really need is this Closet Doubler from Bed Bath and Beyond. Don't waste your time with adorable velvet hangers either...they are the most obnoxious things to use for smaller clothes. They just stretch the clothes and I knew my husband, Matt, would HATE them. Buy the 10 for $1 at Target ones.
One thing on Pinterest that was a HUGE TRUTH and I am so happy with the decision was instead of getting a changing table, buy a dresser instead. What are you going to use a changing table for after they are out of
diapers...a liquor cart? Hmm...I am sure you could find a pin for that. Otherwise, why not get a dresser and actually have it serve a purpose past potty training. The IKEA Hemnes dresser seems like the go-to dresser and that is what we got and love it. The top fits a changing pad and wipe warmer perfectly.
2. Diaper Bags
Diaper bags have become quite a fashion statement. Quite an expensive fashion statement. Marc Jacobs has one for $300. Vera Bradley has one for $150. Even Coach has a diaper bag for $180. Why? Why? WHY!? It is a bag! I did a ridiculous amount of research into the "best" diaper bags and I went through the phases of wanting the best and most expensive bag possible down to the most practical. A lot of the expensive bags are pretty but they are not the most functional or practical. For a budget family a new backpack would actually work awesome but if you don't want to walk around with a backpack I would suggest a shoulder bag or a bag with a messenger strap. The bag I ended up getting and am very happy with
is the JJ Cole Satchel bag in black canvas. It is ginormous inside and it has a messenger strap and an obscene amount of pockets for all your jazz. And it is not obnoxiously girly that my husband will happily carry it around as a messenger bag if he has to go anywhere. You need to think about that. Are you buying a diaper bag for you or are you buying a diaper bag for your family? You are not the only one going places with your baby.
3. Clothing
Buy footies....buy zippered footies....trying to put onesie bodysuits on your newborn feels like cruel and unusual punishment for both of you. If it is colder outside and you need to put a onesie on under footies, then get the side snaps. This is a lie perpetuated by all the stores selling you those adorable must have onesies for newborns.
4. Needing to have a ton of newborn to 3 month clothes.
You can really get away with like 5 onesies and 3 pairs of footies. You will be doing lots of laundry and like I said before, we pretty much just live out of a laundry basket. Spend more money on these bibs from Target then the clothes won't get dirty as fast or as stained with breastmilk. This lie is coming from all those newborn checklists telling you that you need 50 of every item.
5. You have to breastfeed to feel connected with your baby.
Don't misunderstand me...you should always try to breastfeed your baby first. The idea that you have to breastfeed to be a loving mother is completely untrue and kind of damaging to mother's self esteem if that does not happen with her. I tried breastfeeding for a couple weeks and it was possibly the most painful ordeal emotionally and physically for me personally other than actually giving birth that I had gone through. BUT, I wouldn't give up and decided to pump my milk instead and I can guarantee that I feel just as connected with Inga as if I was actually breastfeeding. That feeling of accomplishment that you get when you know that you are giving your baby the best nutrition they can get no matter what is awesome and deepens the connection just as much with your little peanut. If you and your baby have a hard time breastfeeding, please try to stick with it or else get a pump and start pumping. Your insurance company usually covers a free pump.
6. You need to have a glider/rocking chair in the nursery.
HA! My mom and I were at IKEA today and I said to my mom that I was glad I didn't pay full price for my POANG rocking chair for feeding because it has barely been used. You know where you are going to be sitting or nursing your baby? The couch or in the living room. So I wouldn't even spend the money on a glider/rocker unless you plan to just have it in the living room.
Some of the other lies we were told or read about have been covered in other posts I have done.
What are some of the things that you were told or read about that were lies. Comment below! I want to hear them!
