The Mother Hen

Pigs in a Blanket

My Grandma Emily and I came up with this clever little name for the "procedure" I did to myself today at the advice of the RN in my ob-gyn's office. As most of you know, I've made Roo go off the boob. I weaned her to one feeding a day and then went away for the weekend to women's retreat in Cannon Beach. I have been terribly engorged and in a fair amount of discomfort so I called the doc's office today for advice. Here's what I was told: wrap your breasts in cabbage leaves. How funny is that? Desperate, I gave it a try and am actually getting some relief.

I did some internet research on it and apparently there is a natural ingredient found in cabbage that helps with inflammation.

So for you Mommies out there who are having discomfort from a clogged duct or from weaning try the pigs in a blanket. Trim the vein out of the cabbage, rinse and refrigerate until cool (just a few minutes). Wrap the leaves around the breast leaving the nipple clear. Replace with bra (nursing bras are so handy because they have the clip) and wear for about an hour. After the first hour I took a hot bath and put hot wash cloths on as compresses and hand expressed (being careful not to do too much and have my milk let down...just enough to give some relief). I then wrapped fresh cabbage leaves on and went another hour. I've repeated it 3 times so far tonight and have some noticeable relief. I'm saving the used cabbage to julienne and pickle to make sauer kraut...

I've been really disappointed on the information on the internet. There is plenty out there on breastfeeding but not a lot of good advice on how to stop. Frustrating. My advice to is to wean slowly, dropping a feeding every day or two starting with the middle of the night feeding. Be patient with your baby and your body; its a big change (emotionally and physically) for both of you.

Below is a picture of one of my "pigs" in a blanket (man, that's funny). I cropped a lot of the picture so it didn't look so much like a boob and so I wouldn't get reported for sexy boob pictures on my blog. You get the idea and it is just hilarious to see bright green cabbage coming out of a bra.