I have a beautiful 2 week old baby girl who love to bits but I'm finding everything so frustrating!
I was in labour for 82 hours, forceps delivery and a 3rd degree tear then hospital for 5 day as she had jaundice and was above the treatment line. This was stressful wnough! Already feel like I've failed!!
In hospital they encouraged breast feeding which was what I wanted but it was so painful both breasts were bleeding after the first day so they suggested expressing which sounded perfect.
Well now I'm home and for every 3 hours I'm sped in one feeding her 40 mins ex pressing for the next time and the rest trying to settle her.
Just feel like a machine atm no time to do anything! I know I'm not meant to hve huge amount ts of free time but as soon as I'm done I'm have to express again. Not to mention my other half with good intentions other making me laugh keeps calling me daisy coz he things the expressing is like milking a cow.
The question is is 2 weeks too early to put her other formula? She already has some as a top up because I simply can't express enough sometimes but I don't know if all formula is good or bad.
Really feeling all dried up and useless at the moment really need some advice please xx
As with all health-related issues, please seek advice from a RL health professional if you're worried about anything.
Postnatal health
Help new mum feeling done in!!
dottymay · 19/09/2017 11:30
Those newborn days are tough, especially with a baby who isn't well.
I can only go from my experience, which sounds pretty similar to yours: hard labour, time in hospital, poorly baby and expressing round the clock.
First off: you have not failed. You are doing a great job. Your baby is born and you are her world.
Second: you are exhausted and recovering both physically and mentally from a very tough labour. It is ok to rest. You don't need to be doing anything right now except resting, eating and cuddling your baby. A shower might be welcome too 
This is where the third point comes in: your DP hasn't been through the same physical experience as you. It's his job to help you recover but he's probably feeling pretty clueless right now so he could do with some explicit instructions. Examples: You need a jug of water, constantly topped up. Expressing equipment and bottles needs sterilising after every use. When your DD cries while you are sleeping, he needs to check her nappy and give her a cuddle before even thinking about bringing her to you. After a feed, she will need to be burped and probably changed. Visitors are welcome between x and y o'clock, after which point he needs to politely show them out. He is to bring you something to eat at a, b and c time. He needs to book an appointment for you both to go and register your DD's birth. Here are the forms for child benefit. And so on...
Feeding: again, I can only go from my own experience but I was so desperate to breastfeed/express that it came at the expense of my own health. I developed severe PND and was fainting from sheer exhaustion. Formula milk is a perfectly good source of nutrition for your baby. There is nothing whatsoever to feel guilty about if you decide to use it. Breastfeeding does get easier, especially when you start going out and about and don't need to cart bottles and associated paraphernalia with you, but there's no point spoiling your time with your baby by being too exhausted or stressed out over breastfeeding/expressing. If you would like to persevere, make it as easy for yourself as possible. Hire a double electric pump from the NCT if you're not already using one. Freeze any extra in special bags (I got mine from Tesco) and let your DP feed her an evening feed when he's at home so that you can get some uninterrupted sleep.
Sounds like you both had a really tough start and you are doing an amazing job. Have you been told about the Birth Trauma Association?. It might be worth giving them a call when you've got a signal and talking through your birth with them 
It's not too early to introduce formula at all if that's what you want to do. If you want to continue with Bfing, have you contacted any of the Helplines or been to your local Bfing Support Group? I know your phone signal has gone so I've found some Bfing Support with online chat here.
If yiu do continue Bfing, there's not really a need to sterilise unless you've used formula, so don't worry about that.
Like others have said, however you feed your baby, the first few weeks are tough and you've done the toughest two already.
Never too early to introduce formula, it is a great source of nutrition for your baby, as is breastfeeding.
Please get your partner to give a few formula feeds so You can get a solid sleep in. You need to recover physically and emotionally. Many many women combination feed and many more exclusively formula feed.
You need to do what works for everyone including you. Also if you are so exhausted then you are not going to be able to recover and this won't help your supply either.
If you want to continue with breastfeeding then get tongue tie assessed as it is very common. If you want to switch to formula then do that. We use aptamil ready mixed formula so there is no water boiling or buying special machines either, just pour straight from the bottle. If you're not using a lot of formula initially then buy the 200ml bottles; once open can be kept in fridge for 24hrs.
Also we use Milton cold water sterilizing and it's a lot easier when you are sterilizing all kinds of stuff (bottles, soother, nipple shields, breast pump etc). You just leave the stuff in the Milton until you need it and refresh the solution every 24hrs.
On the throwing up she could have some reflux? Talk to HV or doctor.
On the fact that she is not producing nappies as much then she might be at risk of losing weight and dehydration. A fed baby is THE most important thing. Check out "fed is best" for more information. Supplementing with formula does not mean have to mean the end of breastfeeding and can help you he through the tough early days.
Best of luck, please be kind to yourself, you've been through a lot
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