My Breastfeeding Diary: Week 4

*Warning: Detailed documentation of breastfeeding and its related terms ahead. Reader's discretion is advised; please do not read if you feel uncomfortable =)

Breastfeeding has been going well so far except for 2 speed bumps this week:

1) I got a really bad, gut-twisting stomachache on Monday which made it difficult for me to latch baby (I was squirming in pain you see). Turns out my stomachache was due to a lot of air in my tummy and all it took was my miracle medicine Coke Light to cure me of it. True story.

Because I couldn't latch my baby, he had to be bottle-fed while I expressed. Felt my milk supply decrease yet again :(

2) Baby Boy caught a cough and flu from my girl on Tuesday (the overenthusiastic big sister kept coughing into his face while smothering him with her wet kisses). It's not surprising that I also got a really bad sore throat (which developed into a slight fever) since baby shared my immune system.

To prevent a reduction in milk supply, I refused to take any medication except for lozenges. I wanted to allow my body to develop natural immunity to fight off the infection, which could then be passed to my baby through my milk to help him fight it as well. It's times like this that I'm grateful that I'm breastfeeding.

I kept drinking a lot of water to flush out the toxins and asked the mum-in-law to take care of my baby for the night so that I can rest. Thankfully, I was feeling much better the next morning and continued breastfeeding Baby Boy. Initially I couldn't latch him because he was coughing so badly (poor boy!) and ended up having to bottle-feed him while he was in an upright position (so he doesn't choke). Another feeding and a long nap later, he was looking much better.

Hopefully he will recover fully soon! It really sucks when the baby is sick :(

Anyway, other than these speed bumps, breastfeeding has been business as usual: baby cries, I feed. My breasts are no longer engorged and my baby is drinking well and gaining weight steadily. I can feel him grow heavier (he's 5kg now!) and stronger each day and I'm really thankful to God for that.

He's starting to grow a belly and chubby folds on the arms and legs! =)

Will probably update monthly rather than weekly from here on since I'm anticipating breastfeeding to continue status quo. Of course, I could be wrong.. I hope not *cross fingers*

Look out for my future updates to find out :)

Continue to >> My Breastfeeding Diary: Week 8
<< Back to My Breastfeeding Diary: Week 3

This post is part of my series on My Breastfeeding Journey.
Follow me as I battle the perils of milk production and boob-related pain all over again.