Breastfeeding mamas... question

M

Megan Turnidge

New member
I know lots of you saw that we had our sweet baby boy on Saturday! :) Anyways, my daughter never got the hang of breastfeeding and wouldn't latch on, so now that this baby is doing pretty well, I have a question...

How long did your engorgement last? With Allie, I pumped to relieve the pressure and was able to empty my breasts for relief, but my body is just producing way too much milk for Sheldon and I am in so much pain. My breasts are HUGE (they look freakin ridiculous), rock hard, lumpy, and sore. I want to pump to empty my breasts, but I know that will only encourage my body to produce MORE. agh. Plus Sheldon is having a really hard time latching on while I'm so full and will even BITE down on me in frustration if he can't get latched on. :blink:

For the first 2 minutes of nursing, I seriously want to cry because it hurts so bad (only since I became engorged). The pain goes away soon after the milk starts flowing and he gets into a good suckling pattern. Everything I've read says that if baby is latched on correctly you shouldn't have any pain, but I KNOW he's latching on correctly and I just think this severe engorgement has made me super sensitive.

Any advice/words of sympathy are welcome. :D

I'm sitting here with a bag of frozen corn on my chest to help relieve some of the discomfort. Never thought I'd willingly want to put anything frozen on my breasts. lol
 
I remember mine only lasted a short while. A week or two I think? It is really painful but I found taking a warm shower helped me.
 
Congrats on the new baby!

With all my babies it has taken about two weeks before nursing really feels great and wonderful. I am always sore for a while. It is definitely harder when you are so huge for the baby to latch on. I am no where near an expert on this stuff, but you can try expressing milk while you are in the shower. That helps relieve the pressure for sure. And, just hang in there. It will definitely get better!
 
Also, if he's not dependent on the foremilk any longer, you can go ahead and pump a little before you feed him to relieve some of the pressure and allow him to have a little wiggle room in latching on.
 
Congrats on your little boy!

Here is Dr Jack Newman's website. It has info sheets and videos. He is one of the world-leading expert on breast-feeding.

http://nbci.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=5&Itemid=17

For the engorgement, I so hear ya. It was like that for my first son. I had no choice to extract a little milk manually before he drank, because my breasts were so hard. That lasted a couple of weeks.

Putting cabbage leaves in your bra will help the engorgement (seriously!). Hot showers too, as the excess milk will run on it's own. If you have sore bumps, you have to drain them, as they are blocked ducks and can become a mastitis. They way to do so is to take a breastfeeding position where your baby's chin is pointing towards the lump. I know it can make for weird positions, but it's worth it, since mastitis is so painful (shivers, fever, pain, etc).
 
Congratulations! I remember how huge my boobs were, it was laughable! But yes, it should ease up once you both get into a routine. Right now, your body still isn't sure how much you should make, so it's just making way too much!

Kellymom is a wonderful resource for most everything! :)
 
Well everyone else has given great advice already... I just wanted to add, don't wear a tight bra!! If your bra is tight at all, it will only make it worse and make it hurt more--it doesn't help hold it in or make it go down, like I mistakenly thought with my last baby! The shower thing helped me most! good luck!
 
I have nothing more to add since everyone has said what I would have said... but want to congratulate you!!!
 
Congratulations on your new baby!! I can only add that I loved using the lanolin the first month, until I wasn't so sensitive. It helped with chapping and pain and all that kinda thing.
 
First, congrats! How exciting!

Second, I was going to suggest what Darcy did. I always needed to express just a little bit before nursing so the baby could latch on and I wouldn't be too hard for him/her to latch onto. It really is tempting to pump it all out for relief, but your body will regulate on it's own probably within a few weeks. So just keep going until then!

And, with all of mine, I pretty much held my breath the first minute of nursing them for the first few weeks, because of the pain and soreness. OUCH! But that really does get better soon as well. Just make sure he's got a good latch so there's not anything else causing pain or soreness, and it will get better soon.
 
Congrats Megan! Mine lasted about 2 weeks with Eli. I did see a lc for his latch. He was having trouble and wasn't emptying the breast when he fed. She did tell me I needed to pump once or twice a day IF I had lumps that weren't going away after 1 or 2 feedings. Those can lead to clogged ducts and mastisis. I had a spot that was getting red and hot and after a couple of pumpings and working on his latch, it went away.
 
Oh my gosh am I huge right now! Glad to know this is normal! I thought that I was suddenly making all of the same mistakes I made last time! Did you get any of the soothie gel pads at the hospital? I switched from lanolin to those today and my pain has gone down a lot. Camilla has a really strong suck, so the bad engorgement latches are really damaging and the soothies help a lot. At least the engorgement came when the breastfeeding contractions have started calming down. I just think about how adorable her milk comas are during those first sucks. I helps me to make it through the pain.
 
I agree with everything that has already been said and I must give a HUGE second to the gel pads!!!

The Soothies Gel Pads ROCKED!!! Although the ones I had came in a white/pink/purple box and I bought them a CVS. But I'm sure these are just the "newest" version of them!!!

Soothies® by Lansinoh® Gel Pads, 1 Pair
31HIGvSpLpL._SL500_AA300_.jpg


They not only sooth but they help with pain too!!!! :thumbup:
 
I forgot about how big & rock hard breasts get when milk is coming in, and when mine came in again for Ellie, I was in pain! It hurt to walk, to lay down, have my bra on, etc. Pure torture.

My breasts were like that for less than a week - maybe 5 days or so. Then it settled down and is much, much better. My milk came in when she was just 1 day old, so it was the first week that I was tender, after that, it calmed down. Now it just hurts when the milk comes down when she hasn't nursed in awhile (usually it's just uncomfortable, but will hurt in the morning after her big sleep, because I'm already full from not nursing through the night).

Congrats on the baby, and I hope you get relief soon!!
 
mummytothree said:
I agree with everything that has already been said and I must give a HUGE second to the gel pads!!!

The Soothies Gel Pads ROCKED!!! Although the ones I had came in a white/pink/purple box and I bought them a CVS. But I'm sure these are just the "newest" version of them!!!

Soothies® by Lansinoh® Gel Pads, 1 Pair
31HIGvSpLpL._SL500_AA300_.jpg


They not only sooth but they help with pain too!!!! :thumbup:
Click to expand...

I am currently using these, they are great. Breastfeeding has been the hardest thing I've ever done (I'm 6 weeks in now). I sympathize with you!
 
My lactation specialist seconds the gel pads, and says that expressing a little in a warm shower will help a bit. Otherwise, it should go away soon and feel a lot better.

I can't tell you personally from experience, since I'm still a month or two away from it myself, but she has been in the business for 20 years, so I trust that she knows what she's talking about!
 
Good luck, sweetie, and congrats! The discomfort you have to endure at the beginning of this journey so worth it. B/f is a wonderful thing. One of the best pieces of advice I received was if your nipples start to crack, after each b/f sessions, express a bit of milk and rub it on your nipples, then allow them to air dry for a few minutes. It will heal that cracking up so fast, like miraculously fast. Not something I would have ever thought of on my own, so I try to pass it along.
 
I just used the Lanolin, it worked amazingly well. I cracked and bled, but I stuck with it, and I'm glad I did.

I forgot to say before that I used to express a bit so they weren't so hard, and it made it easier for them to latch on, which also eased up the soreness.
 
newfiemountiewife said:
I just used the Lanolin, it worked amazingly well. I cracked and bled, but I stuck with it, and I'm glad I did.

I forgot to say before that I used to express a bit so they weren't so hard, and it made it easier for them to latch on, which also eased up the soreness.
Click to expand...

I tried using the lanolin (Medela brand) for my nipples this time. I used it once, and my nipples were practically on fire - they were SO itchy! Did you find it itchy at all? I know that lanolin is the waxy substance that comes off of wool, which is what people are reacting to when they are "allergic to wool" (they are usually just sensitive or allergic to the lanolin that remains). Wool was never a problem for me, but the lanolin cream was killer! I have a whole tube of it, literally only used once!
 
Congrats!

I too would recommend those gel pads. They worked really well for me and helped to relieve some of the pain. Frozen peas were my friend for a while too. :p
 
Oh I wanted to say also to be careful with the cabbage leaves. I wouldn't use them too much, as they can dry up your milk.
 
Thanks ladies! My engorgement is getting better but I positioned him wrong during one of his feedings yesterday and now one of my nips is bleeding. YOUCH! lol Oh the joys of breastfeeding.
 
I second the cabbage leaves. Worked amazingly well. Keep the cabbage in the fridge, and use a whole leaf on each breast (tucked inside your bra) for an hour or so. The coolness alone gives great relief, and the hardness of the breast seems to reduce nicely. Did for me anyway. I found I only had to do that for a couple of days.
 
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