Cabbage Leaves

As I mentioned in my last post, I recently suffered from Mastitis. My goal was to make it through nursing without getting Mastitis and since I only planned on nursing a year, I thought that I had lucked out. Well, turns out I didn't! Fever, chills, aching body, vomiting, swollen breast, clogged ducts, painful letdown, even itching=MASTITIS!

Let me start by saying that Josiah has not been nursing well. 1. he never completely drains me, and 2. a pump never drains me. That means CLOGGED MILK DUCTS! Andrew and I had gone away for the weekend and I started out clogged and ended even more clogged, painfully clogged. By Tuesday Mastitis had rolled it's way in and I was miserable. However, it seemed that no matter how much I pumped, or nursed, or painfully massaged, or compressed that NOTHING would clear me out. My supply dropped tremendously and I had to start nursing and then finishing Josiah with a bottle so that he wouldn't be starving all day/night (which we discovered was why he's been so fussy lately, he's just starving because I can't fill him up!). So I turned to what seemed to be my last hope before death....cabbage leaves! Let me tell you what...20 minutes of cabbage leaves sitting in my bra was the best remedy I've ever had for anything EVER! After only one session my ducts were 90% softer (and trust me when I say that I thought maybe I had an abscess or maybe even breast cancer because my lumps were so big)! It maybe smelly, but that cabbage is gooooood stuff!

Unfortunately since my supply has dropped and I had only planned on nursing for a year anyway, I have decided rather than going through all the trouble of trying to up my supply again to just opt for the formula. I am rather tired of pumping anyway and I wouldn't want to up my supply only to have to decrease it in another month or two. Why go through all the trouble when he's not interested in nursing anyway?? I've been using Baby's Only Organic Formula and it seems to work well for him. He's so calm when he drinks it (a big difference from when he nurses) plus it will help him sleep better at night. For you other mom's out there that are planning on nursing, keep it up as long as you can! It's FREE, easy, and so good for the babe!

So I know it may seem weird, but if you are nursing and you even have a hint of a clogged duct, bring on the cabbage!