Ugh...the breastfeeding woes continue. My nipples are cracked and Austin is taking in blood with each feeding.
On top of that, I came down with Mastitis yesterday. Having a fever and feeling achey with a newborn is the worst.
DH has been nothing but amazing, taking care of Austin and I.
So, I?m on antibiotics for the infection and we have stopped breastfeeding for now to allow my nipples to heal.
I am pumping every 3 hours and Austin is getting that milk through a bottle.
We?ll try breastfeeding again in a few days with the nipple shield, once my nipples have had a chance to heal.
I'm hoping to get in to see the LC next week to work on the latch again. He's just not getting it far enough into his mouth so it's pinching every time he sucks.
Re: BF woes
I feel your pain! I am in a very similar situation. I have only been able to get Aspen to latch using a nipple shield but it's so huge, she can't fit much in her tiny mouth so she's just sucking on the nipple. It hurts like hell! I had a blood blister earlier this week and clogged ducts in both breasts. That hurt so frickin bad! I was so worried it would turn into mastitis. I'm only nursing 3-4 times a day and for only about 10 minutes each time, that's all the pain I can tolerate. I pump the rest of the time and bottle feed. I am not planning on quitting and eventually Aspen will get the latch thing down or my nipples will eventually become desentitized. Or I will EP if everything else fails.
Hang in there! It will eventually work out and be worth it. Hopefully the LC will help you figure out a way to get a better latch.
Aspen Marley ~ 12.22.11
My Blog of Randomness - Pocketful of Roses
Aspen Marley ~ 12.22.11
My Blog of Randomness - Pocketful of Roses
Hugs, Katie and Nikki! You both are doing an amazing job!
I hope the LCs can help get the little ones latch properly.
First, that sounds awful, I'm so, so sorry!
And second, I want to tell you that you are such a trooper. I think if I were in that much pain I would throw in the towel. You are amazing!
That is exactly what happened to us. I had chunks of nipple missing because he wasnt latching right. The pain was so bad that I would wince every time he would try to latch on and cry through most of it. So, we began pumping and never looked back. He will be fine eating from a bottle and this way DH can participate more in the feeding and give you a break. It's totally ok. Pumping is hard to do, but if I can do it, you can do it. I've been at it 6 months now and it's just a way of like. Dont feel bad at all.
ETA: We started with the Tommee Tippee bottles and for some reason he didnt like them so we tried the Playtex Drop Ins and those put him to sleep just like BF'ing did so we stuck with those and are still using them.
Our crazy, wonderful life
I'm using Avent bottles. I can't say for sure whether we'll have nipple confusion since we haven't gone back to trying the breast yet since starting the bottle yesterday. But the LC said she wasn't concerned since he is already using a silicone nipple shield.
Claire Elizabeth 12/31/2011
Married Bio
Butting in. I had problems with latch with both the kids. Fot the first month or so I pumped and bottle fed for the most part. We used Playtex ventaire advanced, wide nipple.
(((HUGS)))
Mastitis sucks. So sorry you have to go through it. :-( Hang in there!
Neena Mae. 1/7/10
"A baby nursing at a mother's breast is an undeniable affirmation of our rootedness in nature." - David Suzuki