Here in California if one qualifies re income there is help available to come into the home and assist with newborn and childcare. I have no idea if this is an option for you tho just throwing it out there.
Terry.. it's amazing what 20 years difference can make re what doctors would be willing to prescribe to a pregnant woman. I worked quite a number of years as an NP in OB/GYN and not that I feel I might have been as mentally able to work in the same capacity however physically it would have greatly enabled me to get the care I do now via meds and actually be pregnant and have had a child. Oh well, such is life...
I'm glad that medicine is making the shift to treat the chronic pain patient like a real medical entity. It so greatly enables one to carry on with some of the normal activities of life.
Mary, I've been taking low dose Methadone now for 8 years and my dose has not changed at all however I would have to say that with pain meds it's good to have someone else around you while you start them if you do and able to be there for you and the daughter while you make the adjustment to the feeling in your head being medicated.
It's sort of a Catch 22 situation as I know you need to functional and therefore you may need to be medicated re your pain and with something that doesn't pass thru the breastmilk as Terry mentions and/or the other option is trying to get enough breast milk to freeze for awhile and/or switching to bottle milk since your daughter is over a year old now.
There are options, choices, decisions.. this is good
