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I'd engage a lactation consultant ASAP. I too had issues bf DD#1 and was heading down the same path with #2 but on day 3 in hospital I got onto a lactation consultant and was in constant contact with her. I ended up having a one on one session with her on the second week (she watched and helped me with two feeds) and we have been bf for 5 weeks now.
Initially I had to wake DD as she was a sleepy bub too but she has now sorted herself out and wakes for feeds.
Definitely does help - breast milk had natural antibacterial properties and is wonderful for healing cracks and grazes.:
ABA Membership & IBCLC consult when you get home!
Great advice here everyone x
oh thanks so much for all your replies!!!
so ABA membership, lactation consultant, skin to skin as much as possible.
in the early days, I was put in hospital on drip for antibiotics and they pumped the hell out of my boobs. but the pump just destroyed my nipples. Should i steer clear of electric pumps??
and I am optimistic, that all I need to do is have a bub that is born and feeds straight away, and it could be a totally different experience. but im just trying to prepare for the 'what ifs'
thank you all so much! I know its not the end of the world if I don't succeed, but I reeeeeeaaallly want to!
The electric pumps are really efficient - far better at helping to establish milk supply than hand expressing or manual pumping. The effect of destroying your nipples is more likely to do with the fit of the flange and tunnel. And make sure it gets turned up slowly, and lwithin your levels of 'comfortable'.
I would definitely recommend finding a LC if you can afford private consultations or if not research whether there are any LC/breastfeeding clinics at your hospital or MCHN centre. Seeing someone beforehand may help you debrief on what the problems were last time and try to avoid them.
One of the biggest problems I found when I had BF problems with DD was that I kept getting so much conflicting advice (including from multiple LCs) so it was great to just pick 1 person to trust with continuity of care if you can.
Don't buy a pump unless you'll need one later for work anyway but be prepared to hire a hospital or ABA one if you need it in the early days to build supply. It's worth getting a double pump as saving 10min pumping time for extra sleep is priceless in the early days.
I know people that swear by lanolin on your nipples for 2-3 weeks before baby was born, no rough prep though just lanolin, my sister did it for 2 of her 3 kids with less cracks and I did it with my first son worked great for me I didn't get a lot of cracks but had attachment problems at first as my son was jaundiced and sleepy so I used a nipple shield and it would fill up and he should drink from that was less effort for him, they were excellent :-) the ABA was great too good luck :-)
Definitely agree with ABA membership, lactation consultant, and skin to skin as much as possible - if you can Google baby led attachment. When I consulted a LC she recommended this to me to look up before she could get to me herself.
Not so much related to preparing or breastfeeding but make sure you have a comfy space that allows for good positioning/attachment (sounds like a silly suggestion but my comfy space is terrible for feeding a newborn as it puts our positioning out of whack!), and that when you feed you have water/food/supplies nearby.
And probably the most important thing is faith in yourself that you can do it!
Good luck xx