Nipple vasospasm - Finally had some success with breastfeeding (dc3),but having a wobble.....

[Hazeyjane]

....please if you could give me some encouragement or just send me a virtual bar of chocolate and glass of wine!

Ds (3rd dc) was born 4 weeks ago, we had a rocky start with ds going to scbu within a couple of hours of being born. It was an elective caesarian, and despite ds being born at 39 weeks, his lungs had not matured fully, and he had respiratory distress syndrome. He was on a drip, in a ventilator and on cpap, and was tube fed for first 3 days. I was knocked sideways by the cs, had lost a lot of blood, had a reaction to painkillers (so had to take paracetemol and codeine and morphine), and spent first 24 hours after section throwing up and passing out due to low bp.

I expressed for 4 days, pumping every 3/4 hours, and producing absolutely zero milk, but my milk just started to come in around day 5, when I was transferred to a room in SCBU, and started trying to b'feed ds. He had no idea of how to latch, but eventually by using a nipple shield to give him something bigger to latch onto he started to feed. I put him to the breast every 3 hours (he wasn't demanding), and then had to top up expressed milk/formula through his tube.
It took us another 3 days for ds to start demand feeds, and things started turning around a little. Unfortunately by this time ds had lost nearly 13% of his birth weight. I managed to persuade the drs to send us home, where I hoped it would be easier to feed him on demand and, if ds didn't start gaining weight we would be readmittted. Ds slowly gained weight and has just now regained his birth weight.

I was very determined to b'feed my dds (now 3 and 4), but due to a combination of thrush, tongue tie, crap support from hcps and me having nipple vasospasm (I suffer from Raynauds), I ended up f'feeding fairly early on.

I am so pleased that ds and I have got this far, and he has done so well, with just my milk (apart from the hospital top ups!).

BUT

I am starting to wobble, I am exhausted because he takes a very long time to feed at night, so I am not getting much sleep. My latch is good, and I have no nipple damage, but due to vasospasm it is often painful to feed (especially at night unfortunately - I guess because I am tired I am more susceptible to cold), I use heat pads, and take painkillers, but it is starting to make me tearful. I don't know if it is because of vasospasm, but I find let down and feeling full, extremely painful.

Does anyone have any experience of vasospasm? Do things improve with time? I really need to feel that things might start to get better, I really don't want to let ds down.

hiya, just wanted to say that you're really doing so fabulously well!
breastfeeding can be incredibly hard work in the early days, and that's without all the other stuff you've gone through thrown into the mix

I don't have any experience of vasospasm, but I do think things are generally pretty overwhelming and hormonal in the early days.
sleep deprivation is somehting i know a bit too much about so you have my sympathies with that one, but it should start to settle down soon for you

do you have any local breastfeeding cafes you could go to? when i was struggling i found them a lifeline. to talk to other people struggling with the same things, or mums who had gone through it al before and lived to tell the tale

you won't be letting your ds down, however you feed him. you sound like a really lovely mum

I have experienced vasospasm, it is sore as hell. Oddly I didn't have it all the time, I used to take some ibruprofen when I couldn't cope any more (would check if that is ok with a small baby). It used to come and go with me, not sure why this was. I am pretty sure I have mild Reynauds. It didn't last that long either.

No wonder you are having a wobble, you have been through so much it is not surprising. You have done extraordinarily well to get this far, given all the things you have had to overcome.

Whatever happens you won't be letting your ds down, you have given him a brilliant start.

It sounds like you are exhausted. Have you someone to look after you and bring you chocolate? And give you a lie down while they take all the dc for a walk?

just adding my support.

Had dd3 6 days ago and am mix feeding as am determined to give the bfing a better go at bfing this time.

It is hard and I felt so guilty when I didn't manage to bf the others for more than 2 wks. Although dd3 is only 6days old I already feel more positive about the whole thing.

You have two happy healthy children already who were ff so you know you won't be harming him if you need to introduce some formula to give yourself a break.

Good luck

Well done you. You're doing so well! I don't have nipple vasospasm, but I remember being full and let down both being very painful, though that eased relatively quickly - I hope the same is for you

Can you feed laying down at all?

Congratulations on your DS, hazeyjane (are you a Nick Drake fan?)

It really sounds as if you've had a tough time since your DS was born. Poor you. You have done so well though, getting to where you are at the minute. As other posters have said, bf can be hard work without everything else you've gone through in the mix too.

I had painful vasospasm when feeding DD (now aged 2), especially at the start. It's pretty bloody sore, isn't it? My friend also had it, she described it as an ice-cream headache in her boobs! Heat helped (know I'm teaching my granny to suck eggs!). And it DOES ease off. My friend even forgot she'd had it til I started moaning about it! It took a while, but it did improve.

I'm currently still bf my 7 1/2 month old twins. I notice when they come off my nipples are often white (like they were with DD), but there is no pain. I only
mention this as I hope it might be some consolation to you!

Good luck to you, and your lovely new DS.

Thankyou so much for your replies.

It all seems like such a battle sometimes, but it really helps to get words of encouragement.

I had a look for b'feeding groups etc, but they are all a drive away (I don't drive), I will check out the nct site.

Dh has been amazing and took all his annual leave in go, but he is going back to work next week, so I will have all 3 on my own - I have a feeling he dvd player is going to be well used. I've had a few friends offer to take the dds out, so I will take them up on this.

I can't seem to get the knack of feeding lying down, in fact I find the feeding at night thing more difficult if I do it in the bedroom, because ds falls asleep, I fall asleep, and a feed seems to last a lifetime. There is something about feeding in the middle of the night in a room with a sleeping person (dh) that makes me feel quite desperate! I've started going downstairs watching tv and having a cup of tea. I find I can get into a better position and let my boobs warm up (!) before feeding if I wake up properly for a feed. The only trouble then is trying to settle ds back down again.

Sorry crossposted with you WhenKevinMetSadie, it is good to know that the pain might improve with time. If I can have that in mind it will definitely help me continue.

i think after a while you get used to feeding in bed at night

i was a bit like that to start with, but eventually i was able to just doze off while baby fed which helped i think.

def take your friends up on their kind offers! and when they're out with the others try and sleep!!!!

oh no, ds has become impossible to put down, he will feed happily for ages, falls asleep and then screams whenever he is put down.

dh and i have taken it in turns to carry him around in a sling since 4 this morning.

please don't let this be colic!

Congratulations Hazeyjane! I've got a 4 week old too. have you tried trying feeding lying down during the day when you've got the whole bed? You might get a bit of a doze too.

thanks lool00, unfortunately the chances of my dds letting me go to bed during the day is minimal!

Wobble is turning into teetering on the brink of utter failure.Dh has gone back to work today,and I have spent most of the day trying to stop crying in front of dds. I got 2 hours of sleep last night, and ds has been feeding since 12 today (on and off, but crying and unsettled inbetween). I couldn't put him in the sling, because my left breast is huge and hard and painful,no matter how much I feed from that breast - I don't understand why it won't go down.

Poor dds have put up with so much lately and now they have spent the day wondering what the hell is wrong with me. I've just stuck a film on so I can mumsnet and eat something.

I'm a heartbeat away from phoning dh to ask him to buy some formula,if only so he can do one feed tonight.

thankyou lenin.

what a difficult time you have had,you've done so well to feed them both for the time you have.

i'm counting the minutes til dh comes home then i can have a sleep and it will all seem better, hopefully.

once upon a time i had this idea that bfeeding was the most natural thing in the world - but it seems so bloody hard!

have a look at this really helpful page

You can phone a BF counsellor to come to YOU. Give one of the BF helplines a ring? Do you want me to post the link? It usually means you have to leave a message-don't let that put you off-they will phone back!

I think you sound like you are doing a fab job-don't give up!

thankyou logrrl and lenin, i'll have a read of that link today.

i think i've got a blocked milk duct, so i have been 'combing' my breast - dds think mummy has finally lost it!

Oh blockages are so painful, even without the other sruff you have been going through. Hopefully it will clear quickly. I had one last week and what cleared it for me, as well as massage/combing, was to make DS2 feed 'around the clock'. By which I mean, with his mouth in every possible position around my nipple - so from left to right, right to left, top to bottom and bottom to top. You have to be a bit creative but it is possible!

Best of luck, I admire your fortitude

how are things going today? still wobbly?

shitty day,think its probably the end of breastfeeding, feel pretty crap.

Virtual glass of red wine coming up.
Seriously, red wine was recommended by my bfn counsellor for vasospasm, one glass in the evening, and tea during the day - something to do with the tannins....I didn't seek to much more information once I heard "wine".

If his siblings have tongue ties, has your DS been checked for one?

You have done an amazing job to get this far, and whatever happens, remember that you will not be letting your DS down. He has had a great start thanks to a huge amount of effort on your part.

thankyou, princessyellowc.

Glad you said that about red wine, had a glass and a bar of chocolate last night.

expressed, and gave bottles yesterday, this morning managed to breastfeed, it was painful, but not screamingly so.

HV coming over this morning.

Glad it's less painful hazeyjane. keep going at the bf if you can, it gets easier at about 6w and you're nearly there. Tell the HV you want all the support you can get and see if you can get a bf advisor round to your house, obviously you can't head off to a bf cafe with your dc in tow.A long time ago when dc1 was 2months I rang the nct bf support line and the lady I spoke to was so supportive and it was nice to talk to a voice. You could do with some RL support as well as MN.You're doing really well and whatever happens you have made an amazing effort given you're having such a crap time of it.

Saw the hv today, and unfortunately ds's weight gain is slowing down, and he has gone down to the 9th centile.

She sat with me throughout the feed, and checked latch (fine), but could see how painful it was, a) because I was in tears and b) because I was dripping with sweat by the end of the feed.

I am seeing a doctor on Monday because HV thought I might have thrush, and have been trying to get in touch with bfc all day.

At the moment I am expressing 6- 8 times a day, and giving ebm and formula.

Poor you hazeyjane, thrush can be agony. If you've got it IMHO you should see a gp sooner than monday, but that's not necessarily under your control.Maybe they have some emergency appointments or you could wait til they close for the weekend and call the out of hours if they have that in your area.The breast feeding network has a leaflet about thrush (trying to do link) . If it's thrush then you'll feel sooooo much better when it's treated. I really hope things get better for you soon.