Hooray for breastfeeding!

[frualeydis]

We went to the big mall in the centre of Gothenburg today, to get some more clothes for Maja and also to visit some toy stores with Vendela and Valeria who wanted to spend their saved money. After walking there (takes maybe 40 minutes with a pram and two ten-year-olds) we divided our little group so that Vendela, Valeria and Rickard went to the toy store and Maja and I were just going to get some body's fast and then catch up with them. It didn't go entirely according to plan. First: Why do they place the children's clothes on the second floor? Wouldn't it be easier for people with prams to do their shopping if they had baby clothes on the ground level? We got in to the small elevator and out of it, without knocking down too many things on the way, it was very narrow. When we cam up, the only way to get into the area were they had children's clothes was completely blocked by a queue of at least 20 people. Apparently there was a sale on top of it being saturday. After a while people actually let us pass and I managed to quickly pick out some clothes and then join the queue, still c. 20 persons long. This is when Maja wakes up and starts making discontent noises. So what do you do in that situation? I pick her up and give her one breast while standing in the queue. A little cumbersome, but you really don't need hands to move a pram forward in a slowly moving queue. By the time we reached the counter it was OK to put her down for a while so I could pay and then she was reasonably calm until I could get to the toy store where there are some benches outside (outside the shop, not outdoors)where I could give her some more food, from both breasts.
But what on earth would I have done if I hadn't had the opportunity to give her the breast?
I know there are people who find the sight of a woman breastfeeding offensive, even when you actually don't see anything of the breast if you don't try very hard because there's a baby in the way. To me the sound of a baby, any baby, but especially my own, crying is much more offensive and/or annoying. But apparently it's not the same for all people. Since you usually don't see a lot of the breast it also seems that people actually find the thought of a breast doing what it's intended to do offensive. Very, very strange.

I'm a bit worried about myself, since my bleeding that had diminished steadily has increased a lot and my womb feels hard and hurts a little. Since it's along weekend (monday is also included) I won't be able to call a doctor until tuesday. Unless it gets much worse, in which case I can call the gynecology emergency ward.
I don't know how an infection in the womb should feel, but I do know that this is not the way it felt last time.

Comments

[amberlaine.livejournal.com]

Eva, try not to worry. But do try and take it easy. You might be simply overexerting yourself, causing the bleeding to speed up. Tha thappened to me. If you can, lay down and have some te with a hot pack on your tummy.

[frualeydis.livejournal.com]

I thought about that too. So, I'll try to rest and then if my belly still hurts on tuesday I'll call the hospital and ask their opinion.
The thing is, I'm now seriously considering having another baby in a few years (this was the last, definitely, I'm quite sure I said that) and I'd like to keep my fertility.

Eva

[ciorstan.livejournal.com]

When you're breastfeeding after birth, oxytocin helps firm up the uterus and helps with the discharge of stuff still left behind. That sounds right to me; oxytocin release is normal with nipple stimulation.

I had a uterine infection after my eldest and was readmitted to the hospital for three and a half days while my son came down with jaundice. From my point of view, the only thing that was wrong was I was feeling exceptionally cranky and I ran such a high fever that my son refused the breast. The dr had checked me out that morning and had smelled the discharge-- she said, at that point, nothing seemed wrong. That very evening I was being given high-dose antibiotics via IV.

Not an experience I recommend, for more than one reason. I spent my first qualified Mother's Day in a hospital bed alone.