continued bf pain - please send me encouragement!

[catastrojb]

Hi all - I have posted elsewhere about this, but never on MN, so I thought it was worth a go. Please persevere and see if you can help me.

Quick background. DD is 10 months, was born via emcs and therefore did not have a chance to try to feed for a while after birth. She had big problems latching on and lost nearly a lb (she was 7lb13 at birth). Thankfully I had transferred back to the MLU so I was able to get serious help expressing colostrum and feeding and by the time we left she was latching using shields. Skin-to-skin for a couple of days at home weaned her off those.

Since then, I have had continuous pain in my nipples. I have Raynauds in my nipples (mildly in toes too but not fingers), which I reckon hinders the healing process of any damage. I have also suffered with mastitis, cracks, bleeding, blisters, blood blisters, etc - the lot. I am not sure about thrush, I have been treated for it but don't think it is actually that although I have experienced the shooting pains - but only in one nipple (my left is the worst). I think DD has always had a poor latch, but exactly what the problem is and how to correct it has baffled my amazing LLL counsellor who has worked with me throughout. We have lately wondered about tongue tie but if it is, it is not an obvious one; the nearest place that would look for the hidden ones is nearly 2 hours away and they don't operate on babies DD's age anyway even if there was a problem....

I use silverettes which keeps it bearable most of the time. I am going through another phase of having to use my Pilates breathing and toe-wiggling tricks as she latches on (she still feeds about 4-5 times during the day and a couple overnight), so I am a bit frustrated! It gets better and worse, but is very rarely totally pain free - even if it is ok at the beginning of a feed it gets sore by the end and I have to take her off. She has 6 teeth and I don't even notice her biting as it is no different to what I experience frequently anyway....!!!

Anyway, if you have read this I salute you and appreciate it. If anyone has any ideas of things I could try, or places I could go for help that would be amazing. Bottles are out - I have got this far without so I am not going to start now! And she doesn't like ebm via a bottle or cup either....that would be too co-operative. I am going to keep feeding until she is ready to stop (BLW and all that), but would really rather it was not painful, especially if there were the possibility of tandem feeding....

In case anyone wonders, this is fully genuine and I am not a troll. I am aware that it sounds unbelievable that I would put up with this discomfort for 10 months, but I am a truly stubborn mare and have always insisted that I would bf. Please please please any help or even a little encouragement while I get over this particular challenging time would really help.

Thank you.

I had raynauds - took 3 months for anyone (bf counsellor in the end) to tell me what it was. Unbelievable pain for entire time of bf so totally understand what you are going through.

I'm afraid that nipple shields made it worse for me so I abandoned those pretty quickly.

My bf counsellor suggested having a warm flannel (heated in microwave) whilst I bfed so that whenever ds came off / or I had to take a break the warmth of the flannel helped to bring the snow white nipple back to normality as quick as poss.

I am so sorry for you.

I don't know why, but it either got better or I got used to it.

With ds2 at least I knew what to expect and actually it wasn't as bad. It wasn't great, but it wasn't the hell of crying (me), biting down on muslin whilst he fed (not great for my teeth!).

Good luck and keep at it. xx

thank you smallandkind - it is nice to have someone understanding what it feels like! Quite hard to describe otherwise . I have tried the flannel thing, it does help (and I find that the silverettes help too, as otherwise the pressure of my bra and pads stop the blood coming back as well - they are just tricky to wear during the day as they are quite obvious!). I think like you I am generally used to it now, it is just every now and then when it gets bad again I just feel that I need someone to come along and remind me to stick with it all! Thank you for your kind (and not at all small words.

Ps I'm amazed that you've gone on so long in such pain - nothing like a mother's stubborn-ness for the greater good for her child! so frankly you should give yourself a pat on the back for that.
Well done you.

that was good timing - i am sitting here in tears feeding with a milk blister (bleb? explains the discomfort from earlier) and a plugged duct - even with paracetamol it feels like she is actually tearing my nipple off . so i logged on to distract myself and feel a little better reading that. i'm amazed too....
thank you

I read on another thread that lambswool breastpads and those hot hand things hillwalkers use are good for inside your bra and also feeding in a warm place.
I get it occasionally in my nips, have reynauds in fingers/toes too which i can sympathise with, it is horrid.
I also got fitted for new bras, went up a cup size from 32c to 32d and seems to have helped a lot as the old bras were putting too much pressure on my nipples.
You deserve a big hug for doing SO well so am sending you a virtual one (( ))
good luck

just checking on you tonight! how's it gone today. keep up the good work and remember how much you're doing for you little one by breastfeeding so long.
you're brilliant. I believe it and so must you in your dark hours.

thank you both so much - these were lovely messages! heathermc - i have those wool ones, they are ok but i find that they irritate a bit. you have reminded me of my old mr men handwarmers though, so i dug them out....lovely! good excuse to hunt down new bras too, although 34H ones are not common .
smallandkind that is so thoughtful. the blockage has gone now; agony clearing it, but we're almost back to the normal levels that i can cope with. i'm feeling a lot more positive! thankyouthankyouthankyou both for your support.

has anyone suggested you might have thrush? when i had it it felt like my baby had teeth and it was a VERy sharp pain. i don't know much about it just that the cream i was precsribed dealt with it.my GP and HV knew nothing about it it was the NCT breast feeding counsellor who recognised it.