Friday, February 1, 2013

Things you knew but you didn't know: "D-MER"

I knew...
...that breastfeeding is the 'best'.
....that 'they' said breastfeeding gives you warm fuzzies and releases all sorts of great hormones that make you feel good and help you bond.

But I also knew....
...that when I nurse I feel an empty pit in my stomach.  A feeling of yuck,- a depressive, homesick kind of feeling.

But I also knew I've had it with all three kids, it's a fleeting feeling, and that at some point it stops happening.  It only lasts a few minutes and then it's over until next feeding.  I could tell it was hormonal (bc it just felt that way, does that make sense? I knew it wasn't a logical feeling, wasn't something I could control mentally, so it had to be physiological ) .  So, I've never worried about it and never talked about it - just dealt with it and moved on!

Well, wouldn't you know, while looking for info on something completely unrelated, I ran upon this article -
Depression or other negative emotions upon milk let-down (D-MER).  I thought "negative emotions and breastfeeding?"  I had never seen such an article!  Needless to say, this is me to a T - and I was totally surprised to find out what I felt was something that had a name and that I wasn't the only one who felt it.

So, I'm posting this not for attention, but to possibly validate someone else out there who feels the way I do. And didn't know it had a name!  I wasn't looking for validation about it, but it felt really great to be validated anyway!  And if you don't have this... well, consider yourself informed!  :)

2 comments:

faith said...

Definitely informed now. I love when you get those feelings that feel like you're getting what you need when you had no idea you needed it. Glad you got that.

Unknown said...

Huh- that is really interesting... I have always dreaded the "let-down" feeling, it always was/is uncomfortable and... I don't know. But... the rest of it was fine. I appreciate this post because it's definitely different for everyone, and always good to know!