I feel so sad, have to give up bf

[namechangea]

I feel like such a sap but just typing this with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat.

Over the last 2/3 months I have been hit by a massive flare of arthritis. Just seen a rheumatologist this morning who has given me a steroid injection in my bum (c'mon steroid high I've been looking forward to you) but we need to look to long term medication. The type we're talking I can't bf with. He's talking 6 weeks from now.

I have an older dd that I bf till 22 months (never expected/intended to do it that long it just worked for us that way) and DD2 is just 6 months. I expected to do a minimum of a year for her. She won't take a bottle to date so we'll have to conquer that as well. She is a typical ebf baby that she loves it, it calms her, she bf's to sleep. I feel so sad that I'm taking it away from her. And have no idea how I'll get her to sleep, handle her when she's cranky etc

I know it's for the best, I want to be able to be a mobile Mummy for my 2 beautiful girls but feel like I need a little Moment to mourn.

Sorry it's so long, just know there will be other people who have done it not through choice who live to tell the tale.

[chocoluvva]

Poor you. Having to stop BFing must be very disappointing, especially when it's going well and you enjoy it.

I'm kind of bumping your thread for you as I didn't have to stop when I did, but it did occur to me that you could perhaps express some of your milk in the next few weeks and freeze it so that your DD will get the nutritional benefits of it after you've stopped.

Also, she will adjust to stopping, very quickly I'm sure. (It will probably be harder for you...)

I hope the steroid starts doing its stuff in the meantime.

[noblegiraffe]

Are you sure that you can't breastfeed with the medication? Have you checked with the Breastfeeding Network?

www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/drugs-in-breastmilk-information-and-factsheets

Otherwise you have my sympathy, I would upset at having to give up before I was ready, but I suppose you can take comfort from the thought of all the lovely things that you can do with your DD that you can't if you don't take the medication. Swap one lovely thing for another.

[namechangea]

Thank you both so much. Choco I know you're right and she'll adjust, probably will be harder for me and I'm going to pump like a demon some to use to try and get her on the bottle now and some for freezer- need to check how long it can stay in the freezer.

Noble, the consultant said it today and it's in all the leaflets he gave me. No TTC whilst on it, not to be taken when pregnant or breastfeeding. It's a potent drug that is also used for cancer patients and I'll need regular blood tests (weekly to start) to check my liver and bone marrow.

You're right though having a mobile Mummy means I'll be able to do lovely things again. still feeling sorry for myself and dd2 though

Thanks again for replying.

[roamingwest]

Poor you - it's so hard to have to give up before you are ready. I'm going back to work when DD will be 5.5 months, and was totally prepared to give up before I had her, but now the time is approaching when I really have to stop (!) I'm struggling. Thinking of you

[tiktok]

toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?LACT

It's def worth checking the drug out here.