Wednesday, December 27, 2017

How I wean off my 2 year old daughter

The underlying issue of my-not-ovulating-thus-not-pregnant-and-not-having-period was high prolactin. Did you know that? Are you one of those people too? Don't be afraid to seek for help. InsyaAllah, there's always a way... 

As soon as I delivered Amni, I’m determined - I’m gonna breastfeed her and Alhamdulillah I never had any doubt that I will have problem with my-milk. Thanks to the same hormone that didn’t allow my menses to come back, prolactin. 

Alhamdulillah… nikmat susu ibu yang berpanjangan for Nur Amni. 

So, we went to see the doctor in August – just before Amni turned two. We told him that we want to try for another baby as we are not getting any younger and ‘usaha’ is always in our dictionary. The doctor, looked at my history and immediately said I had to stop breastfeeding. 

That same dilemma - Dilemma of wanting to nurse Amni and also wanting to also try for another baby – both are a painful yet meaningful experience. 

Even after 24 months of nursing Amni, I still feel full at the end of the day. Sometimes so full (from not nursing effectively the night before), I was basically in pain throughout the day until Amni’s time for bed when she finally wants to nurse. This is after more than 2 years of nursing!

Mommies who struggle to fulfil the 2 years nursing target would feel envious with this achievement, I would probably appear ungrateful for wanting the nursing to stop... But every breastfeeding journey is different.

So, one day - Mommy nekad. Mommy just want to be done with it and deal with the consequences – Mommy took the table per doctor’s prescription.

I was given Dostinex in August, and one fine morning in December - I took it per prescription:
Day 1 – 2 tablets (stat)
Day 2 -  1 tablets, 2 times
Day 3 – 1 tablets, 2 times

After so much screaming before she finally dozed off with the help of pacifier, she dozed off with her Abah for 2 nights. But in between, she still woke up and searched for me to nurse! Mommy kesian… 

What do I do?

This was how dealt with the consequence - with heavy heart and hands, I had ‘asam jawa’ spread on my nipple and allowed her to nurse. She took it and had a moment for a while but she, like me was determine too – after dealing with the taste, she continued like it was no biggy at all. That continues for 2 nights!

I think by the 4th or 5th night, I changed to coffee paste smear. Just for that one time, she took it - had a taste and turned over. After that coffee paste, I had to sleep outside and let her Abah took over the tuck-her-in/sleeping job. It used to be my thing, now no more...

So, it's been 2 weeks now... She's getting there, understanding but still screams her lungs out when Abah took her at night.

One of the advise I received was to be strong. Don't give Amni hope that she will get to nurse again, by settling-in and feed her when she screams so loud that you wanted to cry with her too... So, I just don't. I kept myself busy while the scream is going on (it gets shorter now, much shorter when we first started) - so that I don't pay as much attention, my brain is occupied.


If you're in the same journey, Stay Strong Mommies. We can do this!