I just wanted to share my story because I've had tons of advice and support on MN and it's been invaluable. Thank you.
DD is now 11 weeks old and only in the last two weeks have I begun to enjoy breastfeeding with no pain. From day one I had problems, with a jaundiced baby who had to be woken and seemed uninterested in feeding, then she had a blocked nose for weeks on end and would fuss/gasp/struggle, then I had thrush - excruciating. Getting the right treatment was tricky - GP not keen to give necessary dose of fluconazole, and what a faff it was to be using creams and boiling bras and taking probiotics and avoiding bread, sugar etc. After that cleared up I had residual pain not helped by a latch that had been poor from the start, unbeknown to me (I attributed the pain to all the other problems).
All along, DD has been thriving, which obviously gave me lots of motivation to continue breastfeeding even when it was frankly very upsetting for me. She has not stopped gaining weight and looking healthy and I'm thrilled that I had no reason to doubt my milk supply was adequate.
I had some excellent advice from a wonderful NCT bf counsellor and lots of support at the local baby cafe from some experienced HVs.
After my beautiful intervention-free homebirth, the breastfeeding was frankly the hardest part, and I underestimated just how difficult it would prove to be. I was desperate to breastfeed and found new reserves of determination (or sheer bloodymindedness!) to continue. My DH was supportive throughout, unlike my mum or my GP (who kept pressing me to give her formula), and I'm so glad about that.
I always thought it would take a couple of weeks to get the hang of breastfeeding, actually it took over two months, but it really was worth it.
Thanks again for everyone's help and advice.