by hopefull » 17 May 2015, 18:24
Thanks for sharing :)
A lot of what you are saying resonates with me. I too have an AF from the birth of my wee boy. It is very difficult to get the stools soft while BF ah. I also found prunes to give baby gas, he can manage if I eat two/day. I take the following to keep stools soft: Lactulose stool softener 15 ml twice a day (its not enough on its own, its just a sugar that pulls water into the bowel, very safe), 3x flaxseed caps morning and night, a teaspoon slippery elm 3 times a day between meals, a weak senna leaf tea (Alpine Tea by Red Seal in the morning (some don't recommend this while BF but doctor said ok and seen no effect on baby) also magnesium citrate morning and night. I also need to drink 6 L plus of water a day and drink water throughout the night, which is a pain to keep needing to go loo but would rather that than hard stools. I eat mostly vege and fruit. Oat milk is good as mostly soft fibre, and fresh kiwifruit juice as it contains an enzyme that breaks down proteins. Only then do I have soft stools. I take a prenatal multivitamin and have a half strength protein shake (with oat milk) to help with the BF. I'm currently doing 2 BMs per day with this but I suppose everyone is different. With the addition of the prenatal multivitamin I saw a cut on my leg finally healed, it might be a coincidence or that the breastmilk was taking all the goodness from the food.
Did you take antibiotics after the birth? I took some serious ones so have taken probiotics since then and noticed an improvement in my digestion and babies since then. Are you taking an iron supplement?
It's full on managing the AF and the baby ah. Sounds like you have good support and a very understanding partner.
Keep up those fun outings, sounds like they lifted your spirits :)
Thanks for sharing that your doctor said it would take a year to get healed from the hemmies, it was nice to hear a realistic time frame to work towards. I have heard that the body takes nine months to recover from pregnancy/labour so that was what I was aiming for.
AF since Jan '15 postpartum
Taking: Lax-sachets, flaxseed oil, Mg
Topical: Diltiazem, Sudocrem
Circulation: Warm wheat bag, relax, short walks
Tried: Rectogesic, slippery elm, Lactulose