Hi all, I am writing desperately in hope for some advice. Sorry it’s a long post:
My baby is 15 weeks old and has always been EBF.
For the past month I have been going through awful shooting pains in one breast (right). It doesn’t go away for about 2-3 hours and I have to clench onto myself in excruciating pain. It has brought me to tears and IMO the pain is far worse than the pain I experienced during my C-section recovery. I have been given strong, safe for baby, painkillers but these don’t always help. The symptoms are similar to Raynauds Syndrome but after talking with a breastfeeding specialist, she mentioned it sounds like the latch. Baby had tongue tie clipped at 3 weeks and it may be back, and therefore she struggles to get a deep latch and so clicks losing suction.
I don’t have discolouration after a feed and warmth afterwards provides no comfort - which is why she ruled out Raynauds.
The pain always comes when baby has been clicking during a feed - oddly enough she does this on my right and not my left side. She showed me a technique to help baby get a deeper latch and although I have been working on this with her, my nipple became so sore to touch from the previous weeks. So much so I decided I would express for a few days to let it heal and get baby back on after.
So, of course my LO didn’t want to take the bottle from being EBF up till now. Tried cup feeding and it was slightly better but she just gets frustrated then refuses.
She now only feeds off the left (2 days going). She would normally empty both sides during a feed but with struggling to take the bottle, she just ends up not full. I cannot feed my baby properly. She got so much less milk on the first day of this. She was up every hour that night feeding one sided, and I am so so terrified of the pain I might get returning onto the right side again.
If the pain returns it will be the end of breastfeeding on that side for me. I am giving it another day or 2’s rest as If she latches on whilst it’s still sore I know it will be worse.
We have gone through so much - thrush, tongue tie, u name it and I really have kept on fighting to keep breast feeding no matter what. I am really struggling and feeling like a complete failure especially as she won’t take the bottle to maintain her normal intake of milk.
How am I supposed to maintain how much milk she was receiving before throughout this healing time?
Honestly dont know what to do. Going back to the right might be less painful with the healing time I’ve given myself, but the shooting pains may return. At that point, with refusing the bottle, then what do I do?
Someone please give me some advice.