Milk has come in and Im struggling (ffing)

[ThinkIveBeenHacked]

Am sore, emotional (I was warned about the Day Three blues), and shivery. DH has packed me off to bed and I feel really guilty as he has been a star with dd (3) and ds (3days) and even did some night wakings and just seems to be managing so well and I feel poop.

When he sent me to bed I started crying with relief (I could have just said I was going but I felt bad).

What can I do to ease the pain and should I be concerned about the shivers (which have nw turned to sweats as Im hugging a jot water bottle).

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First of all: Congratulations on DS!

Have you taken anything? Paracetamol and/or ibuprofen (if you can take it) will help with the pain and inflammation. You could also try hand expressing a little to relieve the pressure if you're feeling engorged.

Above all though - try not to feel guilty (easier said than done!) you're doing a grand job.

Oh, and I found a warm flannel on my boobs really helpful too.

If you are completely ff I would advise not to hand express any as it will signal your body to produce more.

Take paracetamol and wear a good supportive bra day and night - it should ease in a day or two

Re: the sweats - take your temp if its >38 phone post natal ward maternal sepsis is very serious!!!

I had dreadful, uncontrollable shivers a couple of times as my milk came in and got concerned I must have an infection. MW was unconcerned as my temperature was normal - apparent it's common when your milk is coming in. Do just check your temp to be on the safe side but if it's normal then try bit to worry. (But mention to your MW when they come round - tomorrow?)

I dried my milk up at 2 weeks so I know it is horrible. I put cold Savoy cabbage leaves in my bra, seriously it really eases the discomfort.
I also took ibuprofen as well as sage capsules.
It took about a week to be normal again but hopefully it won't be as long for you as you're milk has only just come in.

You could try taking sudafed, it should speed up the process. Also you can use cabbage leaves or cold compress on your breast.

It will go away eventually. The first two days are the hardest.

Take your temperature! If it is >37.5 you need to ring postnatal ward as a matter of urgency. At 3 days postnatal I had temp of 37.8 which had risen to 38.5 by the time I got to hospital an hour later. I was kept in for 3 days on iv antibiotics.

Thanks everyone - I will get a thermometer tomorrow and check my temp. Mw is coming Monday so Ill mention it to her then. Had som Ibuprofen and am wearing a firm bra with pads in.

Tempted (but wont I promise!) to squeeze some milk out but I know thata counter prpductive!

Try and get some rest but I'd say ring the midwife unit tomorrow to get someone out to check you over, they should check your pulse as well as temperature, I had to go back to hospital at day 7 post birth, I had an infection and was given antibiotics, I felt a lot better after I started taking them.
Hope you're feeling better soon and congratulations on your new addition!

hacked you have my deepest sympathy! milk coming in was 8 of the worst days ever!

second the firm bra and ibuprofen and paracetamol or co-codamol but I have to say the ONLY thing that helped was as hot a bath as I could manage and keeping my books under water as long as possible

it sounds bizarre but if you have any if those microwave hand warmer things then heat them up and shove them in your bra where the worst of the pain is as it helped ease the discomfort for me

congratulations in your ds!!!

You poor thing! I had a horrid time with milk coming in - baths and cool Savoy cabbage inside bra helped. Hope you feel better soon- and if you keep feeling shivery you might have to get gp to check you are ok x

I will have a nice hot bath tonight before bed, dh has picked me up.some lovely bubble baths while he did the shop today.

Thanks for all the responses and support. Its daft isnt it to pile this extra guilt.on myself but I just want to be the best mum and wife I can and do get a bit sad when I have to step back.

Congrats on your Ds! as pp have said painkillers and rest, I remember feeling shaky and very cold. I ff from the start I just wore a sports bra constantly for the first 6 days terrified of how massive they were!

Please be kind to yourself you gave birth 3 days ago! Your dh did not! He does sound lovely though hope you feel better soon

Slightly different scenario as I had to go cold turkey a couple of weeks into bf but I actually found expressing a small amount massively helped and I was over the worst of it in a couple of days. The strongest pain meds I could take were paracetamol and I didn't have anything else to help me such as baths, heat pads, cabbage leaves so I am not saying do it, but I wouldn't say rule it out 100% if all else fails.