It is day 3 so please be gentle. This is dc3 so I know how bad the first 6 wks of bf is but with every baby I hope it will not be so dreadful & I will have a few days to enjoy my new born.
So the situation now..
I am horrifically engorged. In agony. Both boobs as hard as rocks, can't sleep as even flat on my back I am in such pain & have taken maximum paracetamol & ibuprofen.Moving my arms is painful. I have cabbage leaves in bra ( I say bra but can't wear any bra, just have enormous nursing breast top.)
I have very flat nipples, so each feed has been difficult to latch but I have persevered every time & each person who has checked has said the latch is good. I think, since I am now on dc3 that it IS the best latch I can achieve with my nipples.
However, my nipples have become more & more sore till at this point they are agony & I physically can't allow ds to latch any more. He can't latch anyway because of the engorgement. Hence every feed I cry profusely, try desperately to squash the nipple to allow him to get on, but it is so difficult for him & I am so tense that the milk doesn't flow so he drops off again.
In order to help this evening I found an old breast pump, adapter broken, will only work on AA batteries & we only have 2, but still.. I tried to express off a little so I am less engorged, so ds can latch. It doesn't really work, my nipples are even more sore after using the pump & ds still can latch. I feed him the 10mls I've expressed from a syringe & manage to get him on the other boob for a few mins.
I spend an hour & a half in the bath trying to massage some of the lumps in my breasts but with no real success. Then I read about enforcement on the Kelly mom website & they don't recommend heat & all my hard pummelling may have damaged the breast tissues. At any rate, they are still getting worse.
I try again to feed, with no luck & screaming baby. Then try to express again & in excruciating pain get 10mls each side which I feed to ds with a syringe.
He sleeps for 2 hrs. He is screaming for food for an hour & I physically cannot get him to latch because of the engorgement, flat nipples & pain. I am crying & his hunger & my desperation is breaking my heart. I have 1 bottle of pre-made formula that I bought in case of emergencies.
I've just fed him 27mls of it from a syringe & he's fallen asleep.
I know it's only going to make my engorgement worse, but I really don't know what to any more.
I will phone tomorrow & try to borrow a good breat pump from the midwives or HVs, but it is Sunday & I don't fancy my chances. I have done this with the previous dcs & pumped for weeks & just fed expressed milk, but it was so so hard & it took weeks before my nipples were in any way ok. I also had a private appt with a bf consultant with my last baby, & it helped but it was still extremely tough for the first 6 wks, constantly pumping & feeding. I ended up feeding him till he was 16mths, so I know the joy of feeding, but right now I can't see how I can get through the next few weeks.
I am really sad to have given him formula already too.
I know there's nothing anyone can do to help I just need to get it out.