not a birth story... but something just as big (long)

Firstly, your story is fantastic, and I got a bit teary reading it. I LOVED your little sign for A's crib. Congratulations.

Also, I don't know what pain is normal and what isn't. BUT, my experience (relatively smooth BFing from the beginning) did include quite a bit of pain with the let-down, which lasted about 2 weeks until my nipples seemingly got used to be sucked on. I previously had VERY sensitive nipples, so BFing was pretty cringe-worthy in the first few weeks. I knew, however, that it was pain that would go away - I just kind of "knew" that my nipples would get used to it, iykwim? I hope it's the same with you.

Well done again! And good luck in the next few weeks.

Awesome!! xxxx

You are doing an awesome job! :)

OMG Belfie!!!!!!

You are truely amazing :leap:

I so hope that my experience this time is half of what you have achieved, you have inspired me to write a plan of attack and pass it onto the MW and my OB this week

Your story is so inspirational and I am so so proud of you :hug: :hug: :hug:

Thankyou so much for sharing and I look forward to following your journey
Take care and happy babymooning xxoo

WTG Belfie!!!!!!!!! I am so happy to read this :D. I truly understand how excited you are, and how much you've wanted this to work. Good on you for standing your ground, and working so hard to breastfeed your daughter. Can't wait to see you at another meet up, BREASTFEEDING your bubba :cheer:

Belfie, can you soften them up a bit yourself by hand before attaching A? And be really really sure that she is in close to you so that she's not pulling more than necessary?

Kmn - thanks for the suggestions. I've tried trying to draw the nipples out more myself before a feed but haven't had much luck. Nothing gets them out as well as she does, so I'm wondering if it's just a matter of time till they toughen up/ adjust.

Fleur - the pump draws them out a bit, but nowhere near as much. Luckily the fact that the rest feed is good is helping keep me motivated (as if I wouldn't be haha).

Progress thus far - over 3 days since we were topping up. And I have 600ml in fridge/freezer!!! Seems amazing for 9 days old. Oh and today is our edd. :cheer:

:hooray:

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Progress thus far - over 3 days since we were topping up. And I have 600ml in fridge/freezer!!! Seems amazing for 9 days old. Oh and today is our edd. :cheer:

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:leap: :leap: YOU ARE AMAZING :leap: :leap:

Well our LC came today and we did a weigh - bubba girl has gained 220g in the 6 days since we were discharged from hossie!! YAY.

Plus our feeding is going great, now 5.5 days since we topped her up and I think it's finally sinking in that I am actually BF'ing my daughter!

And from a soapbox perspective, what I don't understand is why women like myself can't be provided with the support we need to overcome flat nipples, potential problems with BSL's etc as a matter of course. People in the system talk about early intervention... Both myself and my children are at higher risk of diabetes - isn't this the best kind of proactive early intervention there is??

Firstly, HOORAY! You don't need no top ups!

Second, well yes, we should be able to expect that, and a whole bunch of other stuff that just doesn't happen.

YAY!!!!!! Good for you hun!
Sue xxx

Yay belfie!!!! I was wondering how you were doing with bf dd and did a bit of stalking and was so happy to read this!!! Your story is so encouraging to me for when
I have this baby!! We will be able to feed this time i'm sure!!I hope i can find a wonderful LC like yours.
Well done again Hun, I'm so happy for you :)

You rock, Belfie!!!!! Way to go!!!

Oh wow Belfie, you're my new hero :) Thank you so much for sharing, I am hoping to b/f this time around and might just follow your lead :)

that's great Belfie :dance:

oh belfie! I'm so damn proud of you!! I got happy tears and a big silly grin. You're an inspiration hunny! Good on you for persevering. You and A are doing wonderfully

Ok about time for another update. Annika is now 3 weeks old and we are STILL exclusively breastfeeding :dance::leap::dance:. Still haven't had to top her up at all. So for all those people out there who were like me and didn't feed successfully last time, oh my goodness what difference a different baby can make! We're still using the nipple shield, and after one brief attempt at attachment without the shield (in the bath), I'm not quite game to try ditching it yet (I think she'd mangle my nipples tbh!). I'm also still doing some expressing (cos of the shield) and now have about 2 litres in the freezer!!! The pain on attachment has lessened considerably and I am finding the vast majority of the feeds are VERY comfortable. I don't feel worried that she's not getting enough, her weight gains have been fabulous and she seems settled and contented... even with some cluster feeding in the evenings. I'm finding it easier than I expected to just "go with the flow".

Does anyone know if there is a point at which you can say you don't need to express with the nipple shields? I'm only expressing once a day and feel that I could probably drop it, only doing an occassional express if I felt she hadn't drained my breasts enough.

Interestingly I was looking at pictures of my DS at about 2-3 weeks old. I'd forgotten that he was already in mittens (for scratching) by the same age... (he virtually lived in mittens for the first 6 months of his life) what a clue to the fact there were allergies there - if only we'd been able to recognise it at the time. With DD now, there's none of the incessant scratching and itching that poor DS went through. So there's something for anyone out there with an "itchy" baby!!!

And when I was at the GP for something and she asked casually if baby was on bottle or breast... and I replied (oh-so-casually) "breast". Ah the world of meaning behind that one little word! I feel lucky beyond belief to have been blessed with this beautiful girl who is making our BF'ing so easy and successful!