Breastmilk and Sudafed

I have a cold. A stinking, nasty, exhausting summer cold. I feel terrible and I'm popping Sudafed to keep me sane. It's gotten me thinking though, about how Sudafed can affect breastmilk, and I am ultimately happy that I've got the cold now, while I am waiting for the Domperidone to come in.

Sudafed and other decongestants have been reported to decrease milk supply. I know that I hesitated to use decongestants when I was nursing, preferring to treat myself with Vic's Vapo Rub, hot baths and saline nasal sprays. Usually, if I had a cold, my little one did too, so I treated us the same way, taking advantage of the time to sit and nurse and enjoying the comfort nursing gave us both.

With the week I've had though, I've already wondered how pumping would have fit into our schedule. I was barely home all day Tuesday, I was out all morning Wednesday, and now, although I'm lucky enough to be home and have some down time, I am miserable with a cold.

I know I want to do this. I am determined. I have been considering it for over a year. The full force of the logistics and reality of fitting pumping into my schedule every 2-3 hours for a while, and even every 4 hours later on, though, is only coming to me in bits and pieces. The sacrifices that I made for nursing my children takes on a different perspective when I consider making those same sacrifices for some undefined and altruistic purpose that may or may not come to fruition.