From Failure to Success
Fleeting moments of success
The biggest challenge I have ever faced in my life was not traveling by myself through developing countries or even the moment I gave birth naturally at home. It was when my son went to nurse and had a hard time latching to drink milk. At my midwife’s prompt I pulled and twisted my body in every direction imaginable all to make myself more readily accessible for his little mouth. He was a big boy, born at 9 pounds 14 ounces, and he was hungry. I managed to feed him, but it was such a struggle. The more he fussed the more emotional I became and soon the two of us were crying. This was not sustainable. Yet it was so instinctual to want to feed my son from my own breasts. I never dreamed I would have this problem.
My community came to the rescue. I had fresh, mother’s milk from other mom’s delivered to my door as well as a breast pump so I could pump and protect my milk supply. A lactation consult looked at us and shared her insights. She spoke of a connection between too much folic acid during pregnancy causing tongue-tied infants thus making nursing challenging. She diagnosed my son and I slightly anatomically incompatible. He nursed off another mama and other baby’s nursed off me both successful. It was odd that genetically we would be facing this battle. Nevertheless, I preserved because this was so important to me. And day-by-day we got there, but it didn’t happen over night.
My community came to the rescue. I had fresh, mother’s milk from other mom’s delivered to my door as well as a breast pump so I could pump and protect my milk supply. A lactation consult looked at us and shared her insights. She spoke of a connection between too much folic acid during pregnancy causing tongue-tied infants thus making nursing challenging. She diagnosed my son and I slightly anatomically incompatible. He nursed off another mama and other baby’s nursed off me both successful. It was odd that genetically we would be facing this battle. Nevertheless, I preserved because this was so important to me. And day-by-day we got there, but it didn’t happen over night.
Day 1 - The struggle to feed.
The next place we went for support was the pediatric chiropractor. This amazing woman got my son’s jaw to relax and assessed his tongue. It was indeed slightly tied, that is his frenulum was a bit too attached to his tongue and not allowing him to suck as fervently as necessary to obtain the blessed liquid gold. Through a few simple yet consistently applied techniques, his jaw released significantly in just a few days. She also taught me how to get him to stop snoring, but that’s another post! As his jaw slowly let go, we feed him with an eyedropper and slowly introduced him to a bottle while I diligently pumped every four hours day and night.
Although his jaw had relaxed and he could nurse half the time in an ideal condition, our problem was not yet solved. My midwife found an old school family doctor who could cut the extra skin under his tongue just slightly. It was a minor 5-minute doctor’s visit, and we avoided anesthesia of any kind. We were pleased. After another day of striving towards our optimal goal, we reached it. I remember the moment vividly when he rolled over and latched on effortlessly. I cried - only this time they were tears of joy! We had made it after 10 days of an arduous journey; we nursed 100% of the time. He got his straight from the tap!
Also during these first 10 days after giving birth, I practiced nurturing myself naturally. This was crucial because of the amount of stress I felt, as many new mothers do. Besides protecting my milk supply, I took daily baths. I brewed special herbs to expedite my healing and adding salt in each bath. Directly after giving birth I took homeopathic Arnica internally, super strength 200C. The Arnica aided me in not taking any other painkillers yet still allowed my body to reduce the inflammation caused by giving birth to such a large boy. I took a tincture with cramp bark to help my uterus return to center with far less pain than if I had not taken it. I also did energy work and light Mayan Abdominal Massage on myself. Within a week my body felt healed. After two weeks I was in the flow again.
The synergy of my own Self-Care, mental and physical perseverance, and the support of my community were the keys of making this intense period of time a success story. In fact this is the key to any Self-Care practice becoming sustainable. I am forever grateful for all those who nurtured me and allowed me to for care for myself because this was how I could be my best self for my newborn.
Although his jaw had relaxed and he could nurse half the time in an ideal condition, our problem was not yet solved. My midwife found an old school family doctor who could cut the extra skin under his tongue just slightly. It was a minor 5-minute doctor’s visit, and we avoided anesthesia of any kind. We were pleased. After another day of striving towards our optimal goal, we reached it. I remember the moment vividly when he rolled over and latched on effortlessly. I cried - only this time they were tears of joy! We had made it after 10 days of an arduous journey; we nursed 100% of the time. He got his straight from the tap!
Also during these first 10 days after giving birth, I practiced nurturing myself naturally. This was crucial because of the amount of stress I felt, as many new mothers do. Besides protecting my milk supply, I took daily baths. I brewed special herbs to expedite my healing and adding salt in each bath. Directly after giving birth I took homeopathic Arnica internally, super strength 200C. The Arnica aided me in not taking any other painkillers yet still allowed my body to reduce the inflammation caused by giving birth to such a large boy. I took a tincture with cramp bark to help my uterus return to center with far less pain than if I had not taken it. I also did energy work and light Mayan Abdominal Massage on myself. Within a week my body felt healed. After two weeks I was in the flow again.
The synergy of my own Self-Care, mental and physical perseverance, and the support of my community were the keys of making this intense period of time a success story. In fact this is the key to any Self-Care practice becoming sustainable. I am forever grateful for all those who nurtured me and allowed me to for care for myself because this was how I could be my best self for my newborn.
Peaceful Success