Okay, so those of you who have children know that just because the child has exited your body does NOT mean you are out of the woods. On or about the third day after birth, you have "milk letdown". This is when your already large and bountiful breasts become even larger... and turn into cement blocks. If you have never given birth, you won't be able to comprehend how this feels. It is terribly uncomfortable, painful, and can sometimes cause a fever and infection. So, yesterday when I felt that all too familiar pang when I raised my arms...my stomach dropped. I was still getting over having my uterus pieced back together with stitches and staples, highly emotional about my son being put in NICU...Mother Nature...always right on time. So, when I got home I thought surely, surely there is a home remedy that will help me with this. I will not be allowed to breastfeed because I am on such high doses of blood pressure medicine. All I need is a way to get rid of this stuff quickly...by eating, drinking, slathering whatever tincture, tea, or root it takes. I'm just going to tell y'all. I love herbal medication. I am really starting to read things about using fruits and vegetables to cure certain medical problems, and ways to incorporate different foods in your diet to naturally make you healthy. This stuff works. I mean, if you're using all the medicine the doctor can prescribe, and neglecting your diet...what's the point? So, get this. I googled "Painful milk let-down natural remedy". Out of the millions of sites that came up...there was one word that stood out in nearly all of them. Cabbage. Good ol' stinky, leafy cabbage. Apparently, you take cabbage leaves, crush them in your hand, and place them all in your bra, covering the entire area. All these websites were so certain about this being a miracle remedy for this pain, and I was desperate. I was just getting in the door from the hospital...it was late. Do I really think Chris will go to the store for a cabbage? I get on the phone and call good ol' Mom. She calls my aunt and we end up with my sea-foam green ball of leafy euphoria. If anyone had been looking in on us that night, I'm really not sure what they would be thinking. You know what? I really don't care, though. For the next 8 hours those usually-stinky-and-unappealing-to-me green leaves did exactly what everyone promised. I woke up without a pain...no soreness, no hardness. I went to the kitchen, took those leaves out, and stuffed my bra to capacity again. My breasts are still as bountiful as they were before Jett, yet there is no pain whatsoever. I just felt like I needed to share my joy with the world. I'm hoping someone will find this useful. If I can help another fellow woman put off at least one of the pains of childbirth, I've done my service to (wo)mankind for the day. Speaking of which, I need to get to all the housework and figure out what to cook for dinner. I'm feeling like maybe some...cabbage rolls? Tasty.
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