Breastfeeding latching on - should I give up?

[jayely]

My baby was born 11 days ago. I had to have the placenta manually extracted which meant I was unable to bond/breastfeed her for the first six hours. As I lost a lot of blood my milk didn't come through until day 9. I asked for lots of midwife advice in hospital and was eventually told that I'd have to try bottles (as I rightly so, wouldn't want her to starve). Since then she as struggled to latch on. I've tried nipple shields but she just gets impatient. She is feeding every hour and a half and I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I'm feeling a tad emotional as I really wanted to do what was best by breastfeeding, but am feeling a bit of afailure. Particularly as she is crying a lot with

You've both been through so much. Please don't feel like any kind of failure, having a newborn is stressful enough.

A couple of things: have you talked with a breastfeeding counsellor, or had anyone over to take a look at latch? I was late getting to breastfeeding because my son was in nicu for a little while (bottle-fed), and it was hard work getting it workable. The bf counsellors I saw were so so valuable. Another thing, if this doesn't work out for you - if it's just too wearing and stressful, then don't worry - your baby is going to be just fine. Take care of yourself.

What nipple shields have you tried. My twins were in scbu and didn't latch I found medela small ( but only the small) worked.
Don't be so hard on yourself though , your baby will still thrive on formula.