breast cancer

[terricotter]

I would like to know if any other women out there like me was diagnosed with breast cancer when pregnant. I breast fed for 4 weeks after the birth but I have had to stop now , because my wound where they removed the tumour, has opened up and milk keeps coming out and I need to heal before they start radiotherapy. I miss BF so much I feel I have lost that closeness and I am not good with the bottle feeding. My baby keeps choking on milk and I have tried 3 different bottles, she has much more wind and I hate leaving her to cry while I heat up a bottle. I hope I get better at this.

I have no advice but your already great at this you have given your baby the best start in life now you have to think about getting treated for yourself and her too

I am rubbish at knowing what to type better with spoken words but you havnt lost anything between you and your baby its still you she needs

all the best x

Oh dear, what a terribly tough time for you. Well done for feeding your dd at all! Is it not possible to feed her on the other breast? I understand how distressing it can be to be forced into bottlefeeding when you're not ready for it (though my reason for doing it was not as serious as yours).

You will still have the closeness with your dd. You can feed her skin-to-skin even with bottles. And, as the human touch is such a great healer, doing so will probably help your recovery as well. As for eye-contact, I have always found that I get vastly more eye-contact with the baby when bottlefeeding than when breastfeeding.

With the bottles, if she's choking on the milk have you tried the slowest, newborn, teats? When bottlefeed the baby often needs to be held in a more upright position thanwhen breastfeeding.

You don't need to warm the bottles. I never did (unless they had been stored in the fridge and then I just took the chill off). Every evening I used to prepare a day's-worth of bottles with just the boiled water in them, and a little jar with the appropriate amount of formula powder placed in front of each bottle on the counter. The next day the water would be at room temp, and it took only seconds to have a bottle ready for the baby.

Aren't you fantastic, for doing the very best for your baby even in such difficult circumstances! I want to give you a great big hug for that.

My first baby was prem (born in another city on a day out, had to be kept there for six weeks in ICU while I commmuted daily. Our closeness didn't suffer at all in the long run and I know yours won't either, and though it's natural for YOU to feel the loss of BF, your baby won't notice so long as she has your arms to hold her and your loving eyes to look into as she feeds.

And just to add that my cousin was diagnosed with BC at a young age about 20 years ago, and her treatment was totally successful so she has been around to watch her girls grow up and hopefully will be for a very long time yet. Take heart and I wish you all the best, you're clearly a wonderful, loving mum - and that's what your baby needs over anything else.

terricotter,

Big Hugs What a terrible time you have had to experience. Would you be able to continue breastfeeding whilst recieving radiotherapy?

If so, you could quickly heal the breast using a silverlon pad Silver Healing has been used for centuries and recently has been used to treat even MRSA

terricotter, you are a hero. I couldn't bf two of my three and I know it hurts, but the bond between all three of my dcs and myself is the same. Agree with prettycandles, ffeeding babies make much more eye contact when feeding, and you can do skin-to-skin, singing etc.

I used small cartons of milk, it is expensive but you don't need to heat it, just pour and go. My dd1 would have milk straight from the fridge. Also look for Dr Brown's Natural Flow bottles, these have valves which stop your baby swallowing air. They are apain to wash but are fantastic for a little one.

Hi terricotter. I am sorry to hear about your illness and well done for giving your dd the best start despite these difficult circumstances.

I would suggest contacting one of the breastfeeding organisations to talk this through. If there's any possibility of resuming breastfeeding then they could help support you. If it's not possible then they will perhaps be able to help you come to terms with having to end the breastfeeding relationship before you were ready.

I've stolen the list of numbers off hunkermunkers profile:

Breastfeeding Network 0870 900 8787

Breastfeeding Network's Drugline 08700 604233

NCT supporter line 0870 444 8708

La Leche League 0845 120 2918

Association of BF Mothers 020 7813 1481 and 08444 122 949

Thankyou all for your support and advice baby has continued to gain weight and we are both getting used to the change.

Glad things are getting better xx

just like to add that one of my friends fed excusively from one breast for 8 months until she got her to take solids then carried on until she was nearly 3..

Terricotter, if you've decided to stop bfing completely, and choose to ff, please don't feel that we are trying to pressure you into maintaining the bfing. Whether you want to bf/ff/mix-feed no-body has the right to criticise your decision. You really have done so well. If you can, please tell us what you want to do by way of feeding your dd.

ITA you really do deserve a medal

Oh Terricotter,

I'm not sure what to say - I am just so impressed with what you have achieved. I can't imagine how hard this is for you.

I am glad you are both getting used to the bottles. I do hope things get easier for you.

Wishing you all the best... x