Swollen Ouchy Boobs!!

My milk started coming in yesterday, but today, OMG it's there for sure :dance: My boobs are really really hard & swollen, which of course is a wonderful thing but I need some advice.

Juliette fed around about an hour ago, for an hour on the left side. Not sure if it's relevant, but I had some leakage on the right at the time. So she fed for an hour, but it's still pretty hard & full. The right side is really really hard & really sore because she had just had enough with the left & couldn't do the right at all.

So what do I do? Cai had suggested expressing earlier in the day, but I'm not sure to what point & at that stage I was feeling ok with waiting til she fed so didn't ask :redface: Do I express until they're just not quite so hard, or until they go soft, or until they are just more comfortable? Generally she goes 3 hours from the finish of one feed to the start of another, so we're looking at probably around two more hours now before she feeds again.

Express until you feel comfortable. If you need to, feed her before she starts looking for it. I had to do that the other night, otherwise I would have burst. If she's asleep, wake her. It's best for her to drain your breast rather than you becoming too engorged. And when you do feed her, you might want to express a little first, so she attaches correctly, and easily.

I always found it was easier to feed if I just expressed a little first! Just do what's comfortable darl :)
Congratulations by the way!

Well heelllooooooooooo Jessica Rabbit! When my milk came in, I had my back to Dp - said "check THESE out" sucked my guts in, turned around.......and his eyes POPPED OUT. Man, they were up to my chin!

And I used to leak out one side (sometimes spray) when bubs was feeding from the other. I used to give the girls a bit of a massage in the shower when they became too hard, i was easier for me to hand express a little with nice warm water. Just enough to make them soft so bubs could latch easier.

Whe my milk first came in and my boobs were as hard as rocks like yours are, I expressed a bit until they felt comfortable. It was amazing how much I got from just a few squeezes of the pump! I just froze the milk to use later on ;)

Hope they settle down down soon hun. Shouldn't be too much longer!

Well bit different for me because i WANTED to fill my freezer, so when i was full up and hard i used to feed DD from one side and pump from the other (as you note, the let-down is bilateral which meant i barely had to pump while she was feeding, it just ejects out with light suction!) until she'd finished feeding. She never took more than one BB for the first month anyway (i had masses then) and i ended up with 5 full days worth of milk in the freezer by the 9th week!

I didn't pump every feed, but always the morning ones (was always more full in the mornings) and always the dream feed (because she always took least then).

Two words of warning though:

1) it can take a bit longer for your supply to settle if you pump every feed (as your boobs go on thinking you need all the milk you take) - this didn't bother me and in fact my over-supply meant that i could go on feeding that bit longer when my thyroid failed and my milk supply dropped off suddenly around 4 months. Whenever i got annoyed with having over-supply i'd pump a bit less, and when she went to having 2 boobs each feed i'd give her one, pump the foremilk off the other, then burp her and give her the hind milk off the pumped boob and pump whatever was left in the suckled boob. Worked great for us, no colic or anything.

2) in the early weeks (4-6ish, from memory) there is still colostrum IN your milk. This is because the bub goes on needing the protein and high levels of antibody, and also because boobs aren't taps, so milk comes in "as well" rather than "instead" - this is all fine but colostrum is mildly laxative (helps to clear the meconium from their bowels), so if you DO give her freezer EBM in 2 months that was pumped when she was a week old, she might have a runny nappy - remember not to fret if that happens. :)

Bx

HI,

Congratulations! Good on you. Now I have to go and find the thread and read all about it.
Most mums tend to somewhat overproduce. At this stage your milk supply is driven by your hormones (in a few weeks, "supply and demand" will take over)
If your baby is asleep or full and your breasts are uncomfortably full, express. Express enough so that they are soft and manageable. Often at this age, babe will be "full" after the first breast always offer the second breast, but you may find you need to express the other side. Keep that milk flowing. If your breasts still seem hot afterwards, put an icepack on them - or gently dampen a disposable nappy and freeze it - it will feel great on the books
Talk soon
Barb

Sarah, when my milk came in with Tom, I was just about crying in pain my bbs were so sore and uncomfortable. Because I had had the same thing with Jack and gotten mastitis, the mws suggested a once-off full express. I got over 400mls out - you should have seen the look on the mws face when she saw it, and then when I told her I'd run out of bottles and had to tip some down the sink as well! And the new mw in the morning came in and told me my milk supply was the talk of the ward LOL.

It sure felt better at the time, and I don't actually think it took any longer for my supply to settle down then it did with Jack - both times took a few agonising days. But then it settles down and feels so much better. So I guess the point of all this rambling is don't be too scared to express enough off for comfort. It's not likely to delay the settling down phase and it's well worth it to ease the pain.

GL, I hope it settles down really soon for you - and congrats on bfing! Top job!!

Yay for all that milk Sarah! Just express away until you're comfortable :) I had way too much milk for my prem, but I still sat at the pump after each feed. Unfortunately the hospital fridge broke and i had to chuck my massive stock of milk.

LOL Manta - my supply was the talk of the ward too coz I'd pump 200mls in a few minutes on one side. I couldve done more, but I was too lazy to change bottles LMAO.

I actually love the feeling of the baby drinking from an engorged boob.. kinda satisfying feeling like squeezing a big zit LOL. OK.. that sounded weird.. I'll go now.

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I actually love the feeling of the baby drinking from an engorged boob.. kinda satisfying feeling like squeezing a big zit LOL. OK.. that sounded weird.. I'll go now.

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Thats exactly how I would describe it too :lol:

Sarah - are you offering both breasts ? I always found if my right boob was full and DD was sucking on left boob, i would detach and latch her on to my fuller boob. Even if she doesnt drain it (which she wont at this age) it does relieve the 'full' feeling a bit....

Yep, offering both breasts. Most times she takes both with a nappy change in between.

Thank you everyone for the suggestions of how much to express. I got 20ml in about 2 minutes which was amazing (:)) but I stopped because madame decided she wanted another feed. They are still quite hard & sore but not nearly as much as last night. Does that eventually go away or is it something you just learn to deal with?

It definitely goes away Sarah. It usually takes around 6 weeks for supply and demand to work properly, but you should start feeling better within a week or so. Sounds like you are doing a great job!

Nah, it will back off a little, it's still early days. Are your boobs up under your arms too? he he. You will probably find you will get the overfull feeling only when bubs is due for a feed.

Sarah...the first few days are the worst, I was in tears I was in so much pain, I would just express to the point where I was comfortable. It does settle down after a few days. I now dont get rock hard and sore between feeds, but will get a little bit sore sometimes just before a feed is due or if Jack sleeps a bit longer than usual. At first i was a bit worried that my milk supply had dropped (isn't it funny? there is always something to worry about) but when I expressed I got 100ml in only a few minutes, so there was still plenty of milk, but your bb's just evetually learn how much milk to make to satisfy your beautiful bub.

It definitely goes away :) Occassionally you'll feel that hard and full again if bub has an extra long sleep or something. I find my boobs start off overfull for the first few days, then we have a number of weeks of the other side leaking profusely (often squirting!) during letdown while feeding, together with the occassional engorgement from feeding patterns changing, and then it all settles down nicely, and makes milk to order :) I find I wear breastpads for about the first 2 or 3 months, mainly when I'm out, coz I can't entirely trust my other boob not to leak with that first letdown LOL.

ETA: 20mls is fantastic Sarah! When you think of how much a 5 day old needs in a feed, and how long it takes them to feed in those early days. Well done :) It's all looking good for a loooooong breastfeeding relationship. Keep up the good work! :)

Just express until you feel comfortable... oh and Cold Cabbage leaves in your bra, they really take off some pressure!!

Yes it eases off Sarah, and then 9 times out of 10 you begin to panic you don't have ENOUGH milk ;)

You're doing a beautiful job lady.

Bx

My goodness IKWYM now about having an extra long sleep & what it does to your boobs now Liz! Madame decided to sleep last night from 10pm to 4.30am when I decided I just had to wake her up. My boobs were so har & had been leaking badly. She was totaly unimpressed with being woken & fed only off one side so I expressed 40ml off the other side to get a bit more comfortable.

Another question, I now have 60ml of EBM in the fridge. How much should I collect in the same bag together?

Sarah, when you mix batches of EBM, make sure they are the same temp - ie don't mix warm EBM with refridgerated EBM, cool the second batch in the fridge first.

Also, I tended to freeze EBM in 40 - 60 ml batches. It means you go through more bags, but otherwise if you have 100ml or more together and then defrost it, and warm it, then it doesn't all get drunk, you are throwing EBM down the sink which is heartbreaking. Smaller batches means less wastage, and it doesn't take long to warm a second batch if one isn't enough.

Oh yikes, I added the warm to the cold, is that really bad? I didn't even think about that when I mixed them this morning. And yeah good idea about smaller batches, I'll put the 60ml in the freezer if it's still ok.

From what I understand (this is the info that came with my pump) you can keep EBM in the fridge and add fresh milk to it over a 24 hour period then it needs to be frozen or used. But from reading what MantaRay has said I'm not so sure now :doh:

I'm going to go and check out the ABA site, BBL

I'm pretty sure you need to cool it to the same temperature before combining it. It's especially important when adding to frozen EBM, it needs to be cold before adding it or it will partly defrost the already frozen EBM.

Hi Sarah, firstly congratulations on your beautiful new baby girl,and well done to you. I think we all have a little trouble knowing what to do with our sore boobs when our milk is coming in,not the most comfortable feeling,I roughly fed my little ones,15 to 20 minutes on each breast,but naturally it does depend on how long they want to feed,also nice warm face washers make the pain less un bearable,also i found the best place to express milk is under a warm shower,squeeze away until your hearts content !, it stimulates everything,but thats only if you don`t need to freeze your breast milk,and like another lady said use cabbages,this works well too,but a bit chilli at this time of year, lol . All the very best.:)

I never add fresh to frozen but I have been adding fresh to refridgerated milk.

I can't find anything on the ABA site about it. I'd rather be safe than sorry so I'll be making sure they are both the same temp from now.

Sarah, it sounds like you are doing a great job. Keep up the good work :D

I found this for those interested:

How to store expressed milk:
It is best to express directly into a sterilised container. The milk can be kept in the fridge for 48 hours at 4?C without losing much nutritional value or protective immunological effect. However, it is safe to keep in the fridge for 3-5 days.

Breast milk can be kept for 3 to 4 months in the freezer compartment of a fridge (that is, a freezer compartment with a separate door). If the freezer compartment is inside the fridge and does not have a separate door the milk may be stored for up to 2 weeks. Milk can be stored for 6 to 12 months in a deep freezer (-18?C).

Store the milk in small amounts. Glass or plastic containers can be used, including sealable plastic bags. Label each container with the date, month and year. Also write ‘expressed milk’ on the container in case someone mistakes it for something else. Do not add fresh, warm expressed milk to milk that is already frozen or cold.

And from another site:

Never add warm breast milk to cold milk. Always cool expressed milk separately before adding to previously collected, cooled milk.

HTH :)

The reason you can't add fresh milk to cold milk without pre-chilling, is that the warm milk "heats" the cold milk. It's like warming it for a feed. The chances are the EBM is still ok - I am sure that in my sleep-deprived haze I have accidently mixed warm EBM with cold before and all was well. But if you want to be really sure you would have to discard the milk.

Thanks Sarah and Manta ray. I've only started expressing in the last few weeks that I've been back at work so thankfully I've only done this a few times which DS has already drunk without any problems.

It totally makes sense to cool it first and I don't know why I didn't think of this.

Thanks for the info.

Spring

Sarah
this is just what i was looking for. this morning my boobs were pamela anderson look a likes LOL
I massaged the lumps away in the shower and now feel better. Liam is feeding well and I am still getting milk all over myself as the supply is too much for him but I am sure it will settle.
Gotta love these early day changes.