Engorgement! Help help help

[RubyrooUK]

Oh god help. DS2 was born four days ago and is a sleepy baby (so confused, DS1 rarely slept). As a result I have become massively engorged overnight. I did with DS1 too as I literally have the milk supply for 20 babies. It took days to go and I had to pump before every feed but he did feed every 45 mins....

Now DS2 can't latch on. I'm trying cold compresses after feeding and feeling increasingly bad. I'm on paracetamol and three diplofenac a day after a c-section.

Midwife says stick with compresses, feed regularly (am trying but baby won't open mouth when not interested and I have a toddler screaming "mummy not feed the baby" and weeping or hitting me.

So I'm just becoming more and more tired and frustrated and feeling crap. Any ideas? I can't even get a bra on (am 32c when not pregnant, have 34H bra and still can't get it on). Am going to send out DH for cabbage later and tape it to boobs if necessary. I can express a tiny bit but don't want to extend the problem by pumping lots more milk.

Any other ideas? More drugs? Help!

If you gave birth in England or Wales you should have a 24 hour number to contact the MWs on. Please give them a call, especially in you are in pain, you don't want to risk mastitis. Have a read of this too.

If ds1 is needing attention, have you got someone who could take him out for you? Has he got a box of things he could play with while you are bfing or if all else fails, could you and lo just go to bed for a couple of days? Thought you might like this thread too.

I would pump to reduce the pressure

Can you hand express a bit off into a sink? Just to make you a litlle more comfortable? You will feel better with a bra on cos it'll prevent boobs growing any bigger.

When's baby likely to want to feed? Hand expressing will help to bring out the nipple so DS2 can latch on.

Poor you, horrible when it's like that.

A little bit of hand expressing will just take the pressure off. I used to lie in warm bath with milk gushing .

Definitely keep on at MW if you start feeling worse, especially if you develop a high temp.

Hang in there, hope it gets easier for you soon.

I really feel for you.

It's not long since I was like this with DC3 (8 weeks) who was my first sleepy baby.
I tended to just squeeze off the excess in my nipples each time so he could latch on.
Then when I had time I took a bath and literally sat with my boobs hanging in the water (!) while I hand expressed into the bath. I did this because it was agony doing it any other way. Luckily, I was sensible and it eased off the pressure a little.
I then block fed (over supply and over active let down = windy baby ) and the pressure eased off gradually by itself. I started to get a couple of blocked ducts but 'combed' them out in the shower.
I personally didn't bother with a bra as I found it gave me the blocked ducts (couldn't find one big enough!) when it settled down then I started wearing one.

Thanks all. For someone who has such a massive milk supply that DS1 put on two pounds in his first week of life, I can't hand express at all. I've got a Medela Swing which I will use conservatively.

I've now ruined dinner as it took me an hour to get DS2 to latch on post-express. DS1 is crying for mummy non-stop at the bottom of the stairs (my mum and DH are both trying to distract him).

I will call midwife again tomorrow if it's no better. I'm trying block feeding now too (that's one breast per feed, right?) as DS2 just stares in horror when a breast twice his head size comes along....and he falls asleep after one breast anyway.

Sorry to hear you struggle with hand expressing. The hot bath really might help - I found that just leaning forward and submerging them in the water made the milk come out with no help initially!
I think block feeding is where you keep feeding from one breast until its completely drained even if that's a couple of feeds. Stops you getting blocked ducts etc (so I was told) and makes sure baby gets the good stuff at the end of a feed. That's what I did and I expressed off some from the 'unused' one to keep it comfortable.

It did all pass after a week or two though.
Try and be kind to yourself and Good luck.

Ps 'rubyroo' is my nickname IRL so good choice! :)

The cabbage leaves work amazingly for engorgement - i used an apple corer to make a nice little hole for my nipples!!
Hot shower or bath does work and seems to 'readjust' the pressure.
Or a wheat cushion or got water bottle if you havent got chance to get in said bath or shower ...
I would use the pump if cant hand express, i have just finished bf, and had to use pump to relieve pressure, just couldn't get to the blocked ducts.
Even if you can clear enough milk to make the nipple less engorged it might improve your latch.
Bless you, i hope it gets better soon, and ds1 is soothed too. That must be really upsetting on top of everything new baby

Thanks all. Some heavy use of cabbage leaves and watching videos of reverse pressure softening on the internet has helped a lot. Still very engorged but can actually feed occasionally.

Unfortunately spent all night in hospital in severe pain from my c-section so back in bed again. Toddler has ear infection too so very grumpy and upset so we are all a bit low.....

I could have written your post op though I didn't have a c-section. Toddler is also ill. I had similar with dd1 (not opening mouth at all or enough). So have alredy been expressing a little. Just stipped dd down to vest and still not interested much. I see MW tomorrow hoping her weight is ok.

Ah poor you DeathMetal.

My toddler spends the whole time saying he doesn't want mummy anymore, just daddy. Which kills me as I'm also super hormonal.

But if it helps, the cabbage leaves have genuinely made a difference. As has following YouTube videos of reverse pressure whatsit! That really helps him find a nipple. And we've discovered that DS2 hates a nappy change so much that it is a surefire way to wake him up. And the more he is feeding, the more often he seems to want to eat.

As DS1 never bothered with sleep from birth, I am just shocked by this idea of ever waking a baby up...it's like having a different species from DS1!