When breast squeezing is NO FUN!

Yes. There comes a time when that happens. For some reason, my wife breast’s was engorged for the last couple of days. It was a painful experience. I could feel hardened lumps at several places and she was crying out in pain each time she tried to express the milk out for Ryan. I have always known my wife to be one who has very low pain tolerance. She is horrified of the needle and will whine over a simple paper cut. Yet the endurance she went through childbirth amazed me.

I can not comprehend the pain but I could certainly see that it must be painful. Each squeeze and stroke she took to try to unblock the blocked milk ducts was pure agony as I can see tears welling up in her eyes. Yet, being known as one totally dreadful of pain, she persevered and squeezed harder. When her hands grew tired, I helped and believe me, although many men might disagree, breast squeezing in moment like this is certainly NO FUN. With each stroke, as she grits her teeth to endure the pain, I could almost feel the pain too.

Breast milk, undoubtedly the best and most natural milk for babies with the correct amount of nutrient and antibodies certainly comes with huge sacrifices. Among the many obstacles a breastfeeding mommy has to endure include:-

• Cracked and painful nipples.
• Engorged breast.
• Discipline and stress of expressing breast milk regularly to ensure continuous flow or risk engorgement and reduce and ultimately complete stop of supply.
• Discipline to refrain from eating food that might not be healthy for the baby since it will affect the nutrients and quality of milk.
• To constantly ensure eating the right and nutritious food to ensure quality of breast milk produced.
• To constantly drink lots of liquid and soup to maintain or boost the supply of breast milk.
• The stress and concern when breast milk supply runs low.
• The inconvenience of wet shirt as a result of dripping as a result of not expressing overflowing milk.

I certainly hope that when Ryan is old enough to read and understand this post, he will begin to appreciate what his mommy has to endure to ensure that he gets the best. Meanwhile, there is little that I could do but to support and learn to appreciate her love for our baby.