Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is miraculous and one of the best things you can do for your child.
That said, I must warn those of you out there that are thinking of doing it that having a baby nurse on you feels like having really hard titty-twisters, but the pain eases as the feeding goes on. When your milk comes in full doctors/books talk about your breasts being "engorged", that is really what they are. It is painful. I can best describe it as feeling something like having your breasts lit on fire while being electricuted. My mom says it feels like being hooked up to car jumper cables. You get the idea. I wore ice packs in my bra all day yesterday. My nipples have now begun to crack and bleed a little. I cried a little when Jonah spit up milk with a couple spots of blood in it. My pediatrician says that is totally normal (but scary and sad and a little creepy nonetheless). The first few days I mostly wore soothies on my nipples (permanently cool breast pads that keep your clothes from chaffing you - thank you Abbie for telling me about them) and occassionally put a little Lansinoh pure lanolin on instead (covered with a regular breast pad to keep the gel from getting on my bra). I have now switched to ice packs and tons of lanolin, plenty of pain killers, and an evening pumping (as of yesterday). I'm paranoid about pumping too often because I'm worried that my body will think Jonah is eating that much and compensate for that. Apparently the past two days and the next few days are my body's days for figuring out how much milk to produce regularly in a day and it initially starts out with the max amount. Before my pregnancy I wore an A cup, during my pregnancy I wore a B cup, I think I'm a C cup now, but hopefully not for long. I don't think I'll ever long for bigger boobs again.

5 comments:

sjmiller said...

Oh I know your pain! I think it is especially bad with your first! I had a lot of what you are going through with Heath, but not with Olivia. I was praying for my milk to come in when she was born, because she wanted to nurse 24/7. I finally had to ask the nurse to get her some formula and that calmed her down. I never got the craked and bleeding nipples, but I feel for those who did.
I was going to suggest that Lansinoh, and it looks like you are on top of things. It gets better, I promise!
I always pumped to get relief, and my body never wigged out on me. So, if you need to for relief, I'm sure it will be fine. But, then again, everyone is different, so I may be giving bad advice.
Hang in there!

Jillsywillsy said...

I am sorry for the pain that it is causing you. I really appreciate your honesty on this one. I only recently found out that breastfeeding can be painful. Now that I am forewarned, I hope I won't give up easily when my time comes.

Anonymous said...

Cracked and bleeding nipples is one thing...it passes...but thrush on the nipples killed me! Literally, I cringed, braced and cried everytime Moqui latched on. The pain continued as she suckled aswell.
I really didnt know much about it at the time and I should have gone to the doctor instead of drying up. I miss breast feeding and sometimes envy Robin just a little when I see that she still has that oppertunity.
First signs of thrush, go to the doctor for antibiotics! You will see a white film on the inside of his cheeks, tounge or back of the throat. Your nipples will also develope white spots if you let it go like I did. I think it has to do with mothers diet, not sure about that!
In the mean time, more Jonah pictures please!

Unknown said...

You're doing all the right stuff. I was worried that pumping would mess me up too, but I think that it's better to pump and get some relief. And, just when you think your body is in sync with your baby, it'll get thrown off again without you doing anything different. Good job!

Annie said...

Um yeah, beastfeeding was really hard for the first few months. But hey if you can make it through "breaking" them in it's the most convenient thing! Stick in there...it gets way better.