(Advice) - A bit of help please...

[mummajj]

sorry Danielle, i guess my midwives/LC and paed are misinformed. i was under the impression BF NEWBORNS can go a long stretch without pooing,up to 10 days in fact.

anyway this is from ABA website. hope it helps.
If your baby is feeding frequently, has plenty of pale, wet nappies (at least 6-8 in 24 hours), on breastmilk alone, is gaining weight and seems reasonably alert, active and happy, then relax...

[onthefly]

Newborns will typically poo several times a day and infrequent poos can be an indication that they're not getting enough milk. After 6-8 weeks they will often start to go longer stretches without poos, yes. As always, you need to look at the full picture to guage how they're doing.

[mummajj]

totally agree MadB
anyway,im in no real position to comment. As much as i wanted to, i was unable to bf for very long. therefore i obviously dont know much.
i will keep my nose out of these threads.

[Danielle_NZ]

totally agree MadB
anyway,im in no real position to comment. As much as i wanted to, i was unable to bf for very long. therefore i obviously dont know much.
i will keep my nose out of these threads.

Your help / advice / comments are still greatly appreciated. This afternoon hasn't been the easiest and it makes me wonder if express feeding causes less pain, is all this worth the pain of each feed if that is all you can remember.

[mummajj]

i honestly understand the pain ur going through. my baby wouldnt attach properly leaving me with extremely sore nipples (and mastitis). the pumping was also sooo painful (probably because they never got to heal in the first place). and i was hell bent on not using formula so my poor nipples never got a break. i only lasted 3 weeks. it was heartbreaking after trying so hard. when i look at bub now though, he doesnt even attach to the bottle properly compared to all the other babies iv seen, he sort of just slurps it down.lol. so i dont know if we ever would have been successful.
but i am definitely hopeful that i will get it right next time.
from what i was continuously told (i had midwives at my house almost every day for 3 weeks) was that it shouldnt hurt throughout the feed. but its common for it to hurt just at attachment (maybe 5-10 seconds). all i felt was the grinding off his bottom gums on my areola the entire feed and nothing i did would change it.
as for the hand expressing, i would soak a towel/cloth nappy in hot water. lean over sink and wrap ur boob with it. do it a couple of times and then try expressing.sometimes it would take a minute or two to actually get anything out, but just keep trying. push towards ur chest wall and then "milk" nipple. kinda like milking a cow funnily enough. r u using manual or electric pump at all?
you really are doing so well persisting and i cant offer much help but i can send a big virtual hug and tell you i understand.

[onthefly]

Remember you're just one week in Danielle

[MantaRay]

Hun, I know from experience that when you have a bub that is not attaching well, there are days when you feel like it's just so painful and things will never get better. Most attachment problems can be resolved though hun, and the pain does stop once everything is going well. It won't be long before the pain is less of a memory than the milk-drunk look on your lo's face and the wonderful rush of love and feeling good from the oxytocin (that is released when you breastfeed). I know this is easy for me to say, but I say it from experience - I have been there, and it did get better.

You are doing so well hun. What sort of pump are you using? It might be that the pump isn't helping with the pain - sometimes they can make it worse. Sometimes they help though so go with what works best for you.

Warm compresses can work really well if you apply before expressing but try not to use water that is too hot because mums have been known to burn themselves - ouch

mummajj, I wasn't having a go at you It's one of those myths that can be dangerous so I feel that is important to correct it in case a mum misses seeking medical advice when there is a real problem. I'd really hate to see that happen. Your support in this thread is greatly appreciated I'm sure

[Danielle_NZ]

The pump I have at the moment is manual, and it didn't hurt I just controlled the pump to something I could tolerate and left it at that... got 30 mls off in the 10 minutes... just to relieve the pressure. I've been looking at hiring a manual pump for a month to see if that helps... but not sure how much I'll use it so would it be worth it... everything seems unknown.

If I could give up on one side (the nasty left side) I'd be happy, that is where most the pain is coming from, the unbearable pain, it's constant. The right side is sore on attachment, maybe a few times during the feed but disappears shortly after he's finished feeding. I've found if I let him attach as best I can, give him 30 - 60 second on then remove him and attach him again it's alot better but that first minute is totally toe curling. I put in some breast shell (the ones that collect the milk but also allow air around the nipple - means nothing can touch it) today to see if those would help.

It also takes 5 times as much to get him to attach on the left side, when I finally got him on he relieved it so well... it's just the frustrating in the whole setting up and I turned into a horrid mother when my 3 year old and 6 year old were trying to talk to me while trying to attach him... and then followed by so much pain... the breast shell collected 40 mls (plus everything I dripped over the floor when I bent over to put Oliver down) on my right side.

I love the feeling knowing that I am providing for him like nature made it... just hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel on when things will be easier, like the video clips when all you have to do is direct the baby to the breast and he finds the nipple and attaches on his own

[westy]

Hi Danielle....sounds as though those boobies are doing a great job providing your lil man with everything he needs just such a shame your experiencing all that pain.

I had the extreme pain also in my left breast and i persisted and persisted although some days i thought i'd die from the pain it was excruiating....i ended up expressing one day when the pain was so bad and i couldnt believe my eyes when the breats pump was filled with blood - it was completely blocked up due to the lareg quantity of blood. I phoned my dr immediately and was told to go straight down with a specimen so i did and it turned out to be mastitis hence the immense pain i was in. The mastitis cleared up very quickly with antibiotics but i must say the pain in my left breats stayed on for a good 7-8months Are you sure you don't have mastitis? Because from the mentioned experience i had it sure does have something to do with that pain - in some instances anyway.

I hope it gets better for you soon darl, it's hard work isnt it . Take care

[Danielle_NZ]

I'm still on a strong course of antibiotics - amoxicillin - due to issues with last pregnancy in the attempt to reduce infection so I don't think mastitis would be able to settle in while on these, I am keeping an eye on things though as I'm scared of infection... also been on the look out for thrush but no signs that I can see with that either...

thankfully I am seeing the GP I prefer on Thursday morning (it's a drop in centre rather than appointment run) and she use to be a OB I believe and seems pretty clued on with kids / babies so fingers crossed breasts are covered in her special talents.

I did read today on here somewhere never to give up on your worst day and it's not like I can run down the road for formula either being that it's only 7 days post op... I just want this pain to ease...

[westy]

Oh darl, i feel your pain i still remember it like it was only yesterday.

I hope you can get some relief soon. Goodluck at your appointment , let us know how you go ok

[Danielle_NZ]

Just spent 25 mins trying to get him to latch onto my left side. Longer than it takes to feed him :-( only bonus was another 30mls leaked outta the other side into my shell with all that effort.

Can these leakages be added together into one bottle?

[mummajj]

wishing you lots of luck at your appointment. also u would probably be better off with just the manual pump. so you can control it better. if ur already really sore,electric pumps can just have a bit too much power. thats my experience anyway.

[MantaRay]

Oh hun You really are doing a fantastic job.

Yes, you can collect those amounts together, but it is best for milk to be at a similar temp when you mix it, so if the first lot is already in the fridge, put the second lot in too to chill before you mix them.

A hospital grade pump might really help. They have different suction levels so you can set it to where it's comfortable and it should be more successful at getting that milk out for you. If you can get the milk out hopefully that will help.

The constant pain could be an infection, that particular ab is not the one used for mastitis to my knowledge, so it is still possible that it is an infection. It could be thrush as you say, or it could just be from the engorgement. The attachment pain is not normal - it really seems like something is going on there with his latch. Are there any positions that work better for you? When are you seeing someone again? If you go along to an ABA meeting, a counsellor can watch you feed and see if there is anything obvious.

You are really amazing hun for dealing so well with all the pain and persisting. It might not seem like you are doing well when things are at their worst, but you really are hun

[mummajj]

have things looked up today hun?

[Danielle_NZ]

Things haven't been fun but I had a friend come by around lunch time, she brought dinner with her and left around 8, Olivers been really sleepy today but she was able to help me attach him to my left side but after discussion we've decided to express off that side for the next few days to help it heal before trying to feed him from it. Will still feed from my right. She's basically said he's ripped the skin off the top of my nipple, left being worse than the right. She's a nurse from the newborn intensive care unit and also a mother of two breastfed children.

I'm just trying to decide on weather to hire an electric pump for the next month or put up with my manual pump.

[mummajj]

thats sounds like a good idea to express off the worst one to allow it to heal a little bit. aww you poor thing. it can be so painful. i wish we lived closer to each other so i could loan you my electric medela pump. i bought it 2 days before making the decision to stop breastfeeding.

[Danielle_NZ]

he has lost weight since being home, down 35g since Sunday. Doctor isn't worried but gotta go in next week for another weigh in. She has also pointed out that he needs to get the tongue like tie under his upper lip also cut (more than the one under his tongue) and to get it done sooner rather than later so perhaps thats also not helping. His jaundice is improving also.

Plan of attack today is to get a pump, increase supply and wake him more often.