November 30th, 2011 Fighting back my postpartum fatigue
After c-section birth of my son Carlos, I never had a chance to feel back the life I had before. I do not have enough sleep. I can’t shower on time. I can’t eat my meal without thinking I have to finish soon while my baby is still not crying. I am a full time breastfeeding mom. I chose this over bottle feeding because I want the best for my son. Only that I have to sacrifice too many things. For the moment I do not have someone who can help me in the house. In reality, I am on my own working everything that involves motherhood, wife, run household errands and a night shift company home based employee.
After three months of doing this routine I often have migraines. I lost focus on many things. I forget many times where I placed some items in the house. Like last time I forgot where I put Carlos nail cutter. I always feel tired. I had a chat with my mom and she said this is fatigue–too much exhaustion.
So what I do with this now? I…
1. Take a walk outside everyday to get fresh air and some exercise. Living in Shenzhen with too much noise, tall buildings everywhere and cars I just need nature surroundings. Life in city is stressful.
2. Drink coffee. Many said coffee is not good for breastfeeding moms but coffee gives me energy. I need energy for me to keep up. I just don’t drink too much.
3. Eat more. I am always hungry so I eat healthy vegetables and drink fruit juices.
4. Sleep in the afternoon. When my baby sleeps, I also sleep with him.
5. Try to think of happy and funny memories.
I am currently doing this and it helps. For my migraines, it’s safer to take Ibuprofen tablets for pain reliever as this is safe for breastfeeding moms. So there you go. I have to be happy for my son despite that somewhere inside me I have too much exhaustion.


