will my milk still come in?

[sillyily]

I am exhausted so sorry if i waffle and this makes no sense :o I had dd yesterday morning, after an elcs. I breastfed her for about 10 minutes but had to stop as it she was putting a lot of pressure on my wound, and stomach (had a lot of bruising, as she got stuck during the op and they had to squeeze her out). I did vary the positions, but couldnt get her to latch on unless she was lying across my stomach. (was the same with ds, i think my nipples are funny shaped :o) I gave her a formula feed just to make sure she had enough, and she seemed happy enough with this. As time progressed, the pain got worse as the spinal was wearing off, so the problem got worse. Added to this, I didnt have the nicest of midwives.. I asked for some stronger painkillers so I could bf, but she said that if I couldn't handle the pain then I should just formula feed. (Afterall- she had a hysterectomy and didnt need painkillers blah blah blah) Had i been in the right state of mind I would've argued but I was exhausted and dd was hungry etc...

I've come home today, and tried hand expressing colostrum, but absolutely nothing came out. I also tried breastfeeding, but dd wouldn't latch on (which i was expecting tbh). Will my milk still come in in a couple of days, for me to express? I don't mind the idea of formula feeding, especially atm as I can't move so can share the load with dp, but would like to give her expressed milk as well. (is it ok to give both...? one midwife said it is fine, another said not to... I did with ds, and he never had any problems)

anyway, sorry if I've rambled.... newborn... no sleep.... can't communicate :o TIA x

sillyily first of all congratulations on the birth of DD!
Secondly at that midwife.
Thirdly please get RL help with latch if you think your nipples are an usual shape and DD can't latch on. Do you have contact details of your local LLL group or any lactation consultants or bf counsellors nearby?
Of course your milk will still come in even though you haven't stimulated your breasts straightaway (it's hormonal) but it's essential that you try to get DD to latch or use a breast pump ASAP otherwise milk may dry up in a few days after it's come in
All is not lost at all! A lot of people manage to bf successfully after a bad start and later drop formula feeds.
Just try to see someone who can help you

It can take up to a week for milk to come in after a c-section.

(and congrats by the way )

Forgot to say, try to do lots of skin to skin (strip down baby and place her on your naked chest then let her find your breast) as it stimulates milk to come in.
Of course it's ok to give both ebm and ff but you should aim to feed from your breasts at this early stage, not to express. Hope that makes sense!

Yes, absolutely it will. Dd1 was a crash CS, then in scbu. I didn't get any help to start expressing for 3 days, then expressed every 3 hours (4 in the night). Got nothing but drops for a couple of days, but was encouraged by the lovely nurses on the scbu. The next day it was flooding out, and I was an emotional wreck who couldn't stop crying for 36 hours!

So your plan is

1. Start expressing (electric pump) every 3/4 hours night and day. Expressed and formula mixed is fine, whoever said its not is plain daft.
2. Cuddle up with your dd, lots of skin to skin, access to the breast. Get lots of painkillers and take them religiously before the last lot wear off, don't wait until its agony. Get a mybrestfriend feeding pillow if the scar is too painful (holds them above the scar, blooming marvellous, they had them for us to use in scbu), or lots and lots of pillows for the baby to rest on, do she's not resting on you.
3. Ask for bf help. Local nct, la leche, midwives, this site, kellymom website for bf - ask everyone and everybody, it can take a while to get it going, and that doesn't mean you're doing it wrong, it's just normal.
4. Rest as much as you can. It's your job to lie down and recover, and let everyone else do anything non-baby related (and lots of the baby related stuff as well)

Congratulations, and good luck, it's hard work but you will get through these early days (unmumsnetty hugs)

I am absolutely at the lack of care you've received.

You seem to have had no help with any of this and a rude mw to boot.

Anyway- would having a pillow over your stomach help at all? Or maybe a side lying position.

Has any one shown you how to hand express? You may find you get more colostrum if you massage your breasts gently first.

Hope you get a visit from a nicer mw soon and you get some help.

I've been having a few more thoughts...

Firstly, can I just second the advice to try and get some help from a bf counsellor. Your community midwife may be able to put you in contact with one.

If you have bf'ed successfully before, maybe there is some problem such as a tongue tie. I'm not sure who would check this, maybe worth asking your midwife.

Have you tried expressing using a pump? Personally I have never been able to hand express more than a few drips but get a reasonable amount out with an electric pump.

If you are going to try and wean her from bottles onto breast, it might be worth trying cup feeding as that is supposed to be more like bfing than bottle feeding but that is probably something you should get proper advice on not on the say-so of a random interne tstranger.

Good luck :)

silyily - that's dreadful care :(

In time, please complain.

In the meantime, call the maternity unit and explain why you need a home visit from a community midwife today and explain you have already felt the need to give formula, you are in pain, and you have had conflicting messages from the 'help' so far.

If you feel unable to call because of being weepy, then someone else should make the call for you...but you need to see someone, and not tomorrow or Monday but asap.

Congratulations on the birth of your dd.

That midwife sounds awful. My milk didn't come in until day six. I really struggled in the beginning and phoned the community midwife led unit for help.

Thank you all for your replies, sorry it's taken so long to get back-newborn and all!! My community mw came round, & she has said she's going to make a complaint about the mw on my behalf I managed to hand express about 30ml last night, which I was really pleased about, and will try again now. Midwife recommended I get a decent electric pump with the aim of mainly expressing then topping up with formula. (dd is currently wanting about 90ml at a time so I think the formula is needed!) I am going to keep offering my breast a couple of times a day, but after tlking to My mw and dp, I am happy with the expressing/formula arrangement, as is dp, as he can help with feeds. My mums friend is a private bf counsellor, so I have access to her if need be my wound is healing nicely, and painkillers are lovely! just gonna see how we go really!

Wrote all this on my phone, and I can't scroll up to proofread! Sorry if it's all nonsense

Thankyou all again! Xxx

Congrats on your newborn.

Just to add that I agree that you can get up that curve more easily than you may imagine. I had an EMCS, had no preconceptions about bf vs ff, so did whatever worked for the baby. My delivery was a bit of a nightmare, and I was totally out of it for the first 48 hours of DD's life. Tried bfing in hospital from day 3 (was in for 5 days), but mostly was too out of it to manage anything more than a cursory suckle. But managed some. Brought her home, and just kept trying to bf, supplementing with formula when she clearly wasn't getting enough from me.

DD now 6 weeks old and she is almost exclusively breast fed, and some days I positively drip excess breast milk and she gets 2oz max of formula. I have never pumped, just did whatever worked at each feed to give her what she needed. I think I am lucky to have a baby with no issues like tongue tie or nipple confusion, and no issues myself like inverted nipples etc. But all to say that it is possible to get up to exclusive breast feeding after a slow start, id that is what you want. BTW, took about 8 days for my milk to "come in" (which I only know to have happened with hindsight).

Good luck - and hope you have some lanolin cream to hand!