It has been ten days since baby boy was born and I am getting to the end of my breast feeding rope. The funny thing is is that before he was born I was really unsure I would want to breastfeed but thought I would give it a shot. Although I can't put my finger on why I like doing it for him and don't really want to stop but I am going nuts.
Start with a difficult labor. It was two and a half days of start stop start stop. I progressed very slowly and ultimately needed pitocin and my waters broken along with an epidural two boosters and another full epidural before what turned out to be my only option a c-section. Turns out LO was stuck. You can imagine he wasn't enthused to latch on after all of that. It was also discovered that he was tongue tied but the docs didn't want to do anything about it because he was feeding. The first lactation consultant gave me a breast shield which worked wonders for the first few days until I had a nurse that made me feel so awful for using it that she actually brought me to tears. A second meeting with another lactation consultant got him latching on without it and I thought we were doing great until he started spitting up everything. Fluid in his lungs from the lack of vaginal delivery was making half of everything he ate reappear at the most random times. He lost 9% of his body weight which then caused the pediatrician to demand that we supplement him with formula at every meal. The lactation consultant didn't like this so she pushed me to pump. So I started a grueling schedule of breast feeding, pumping, feeding through a dropper, taking a half an hour break and doing the whole thing again. By the time we went home my nipples were starting to feel the wear and tear a bit. On the second day home LO threw up massive quantities of blood and we were sent to the ER in the middle of the night to rule out any serious causes. The good news was nothing was wrong the bad news was it was coming from me. Over the next 24 hours my nipples took a nose dive. They became extremely cracked and sore and breastffeding became excruciating. I began pumping more and feeding exclusively from a bottle. The morning of our first doctors appt I was sure I had come down with mastitis. Sure enough the doctor confirmed it and I was put on meds. He also agreed to clip LO tongue tie which made a huge difference. Since then I have been switching from breast feeding with and without a nipple shield and pumping trying to get things to heal enough to where I can stand it but I manage to get my nipples feeling better start breast feeding again and they quickly go downhill. I am only ten days into this and have been through the ringer on this one! I have seen three lactation consultants and all say I am doing well it is just a process and I have sensitive skin and have been though a lot. I am blessed to have a baby that will switch back and forth effortlessly between bottle and breast feeding and yet always seems to prefer breastfeeding so I'm not overly worried about him not wanting to anymore I just want to get to the point where I can. This back and forth is killing me! I guess I just need to vent a little and hear from other ladies does it get better? Please tell me there is a light at the end of this tunnel!
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First of all, great job. Secondly it does get better and you can get past all this. You have made such good progress already.
For the nipples, is there a reason you are alternating with pumping/nursing? Is it both sides? I had to go three days without nursing to let things heal. Its amazing how much it really can help the more you can just pump.
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Oh my!!! You poor thing!!!! My LO is only a month old, but breastfeeding has gotten definitely better just in the month that we have been doing it. There are times LO is lazy and doesn't want to latch correctly the first time and when she cluster feeds it is hard on my nipples, but it is so much better than the first night we came home. That said, we haven't had near the amount of problems y'all have had. LO was born via csection because she was breech.
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it definitely gets better. I was told my nipples had to toughen up, and they do to an extent, but you want to protect them while they're hurt! I ended up with thrush and mastitis as a result of a bad crack. I also used a shield on my left side for awhile (flatter nipple) and on the right when I had a crack to help me heal. She learned to latch properly without the shield as she got older and bigger.
the early weeks were so rough for me, but around 8 weeks it totally clicked. that is much later than most people - I didn't ask for help (LC) until a few weeks in, and then I had to work to repair the nipple damage. I got thrush at 6 weeks, then mastitis. Had I avoided those latter two issues, things would have gotten much better around the month mark!
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If your Lo was tongue tied, he is most likely continuing to latch the way he latched prior to having it clipped. I would ask the LC about exercises you can do with his mouth to encourage him to put him tongue in the proper position. Also was he checked for a lip tie? Those are sometimes missed and can affect nursing badly . Those exercises are important tho--think about it, your baby sucked one way for 9 months in utero, he will need some assistance changing his latch at this point. You also want to make sure the tongue tie doesn't reattach.
Hang in there tho, I had a miserable first 6 wks and then Aroujd 8.5/9 wks it got better!! Do you have any apno? It's an awesome cream that you can get a prescription for, it helped so much when my nipples were all torn up an bleeding. I would also stay away from lanolin and try mother love nipple cream--much easier to spread.
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Holy cow. You are impressive! The soreness got much better for me after 2 weeks or so. I also have very sensitive skin.
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You're doing awesome and I applaud you for sticking with it. I was in pain for the first 6 weeks or so. Even now at 12 weeks there are times LO has a poor latch and my nipples hurt again, but nothing like it was in the beginning. The toe curling pain will subside. I had to get a prescription nipple ointment (Jack Newman's all Purpose Nipple Ointment) which worked wonders. Seriously after a few hours the bleeding and cracking cleared up. I also found that pumping helped so maybe if you could pump more and bottle feed more, your poor nipples would have more of a chance to heal.
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Have you thought about taking your wee babe to see a cranialsacral osteopath? Traumatic or long deliveries can often leave a baby with tight and sore neck and jaw muscles which can definitely affect the way they latch and suckle. My girl had four sessions with an Osteopath and she was a much happier baby after even just one visit.
With regards to the nipple shield, if it helps you to nurse with less pain then I say keep using it! You can always wean off it later once your LO has grown and got better at nursing.
Hang in there mama, it will get better!!
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You have already done so much for this little baby- great job! I didn't have nearly as many issues but I will say days 9-14 were the worst. Have you tried soothies- gel pads that you put on your nipples between feedings. They helped on the worst days and you can reuse one pair for 72 hours. Put them in the fridge while you nurse or pump.
It gets so much better. For me after about two weeks it didn't hurt a lot but was still tender. Then by six weeks she could latch so much better and easier, and now at 3 months it honestly doesn't hurt at all, eleven with marathon comfort nursing sessions (not looking forward to teeth though!)
If you really want to breastfeed, you can definitely get through this!
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@Foodnerd81: teeth aren't so bad, Miss A now has sixteen of them! (And her it's still less painful than the early days!)
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@Foodnerd81: @Kemma: I'll second this! DD is 13.5 months and while only 4 teeth we've never had issues - se nipped me once by accident, I yelled on instinct and she never did it again lol
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@sorrycharlie: we did go through several biting phases but they were pretty short lived thankfully! What's worse is when A adjusts her latch to accommodate the new teeth - ouch!!
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Hang in there, you're doing a great job. Our stories sound very similar. I was induced at 42 weeks, laboured for almost 24 hours before ending up with a csection. My LO wasn't tongue tied, but I ended up with severely cracked and bleeding nipples and was in excruciating pain every time she latched. My DD lost 10% of her weight by the time we were discharged, but we were with a midwife and there was never any talk of supplementing...we just kept on trucking. It finally clicked around 9 weeks and we're going very strong with our BFing relationship at 6.5 months.
I know every day seems like an eternity right now. I promise it will get better. Hang in there if you can. If not, that's okay too. Do what you need to do for your mental health and to ensure a good relationship with your little babe.
@Kemma: +1 on the neck issues. We had a difficult delivery and the third LC I saw, my fairy godmother, noticed right away how stiff DD's neck was. We were able to remedy it through really simple positioning changes and gentle massage. That helped a LOT.
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You are doing a great job! I'd definitely re-visit an LC (one you click with! ) and have his latch re-evaluated. Also check for lip tie. I went through a lot of the same troubles you're experiencing, and DS is still EBF at 5.5 months and going strong! Expressing a tiny bit of milk onto your breasts and letting them air dry at the end of every feeding helps, as does All Purpose Nipple Ointment. Hang in there! You can do this, and you are doing a fabulous job momma!
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You are doing AMAZINGLY. Seriously, you are a super woman!
I second getting s script for APNO. That fixed my cracked, bleeding nipples right up. And don't let anyone guilt you for using the nipple shield, we used it for 9 weeks and if it hadn't been an option, there is no way I could have kept going! We supplemented with formula for 4 weeks to give my nipples a chance to heal between nursing and pumping and to put the weight back on him.
You should be so proud of yourself, I promise this gets better.
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@tillma: Hang in there. I second Newman's all Purpose Nipple Ointment, and also recommend the Lansinoh soothies, which were really helpful as well. It gets better, but if you do reach the end of your rope with it, that is absolutely okay too. No one out there could fault you for trying and then stop, even if there is plenty of pressure to stick with it. Health of the mama is just as important as nursing.
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