Newbie question--bad latch?

[erigeron]

My daughter is 6 days old. I'm nursing her and she seems to be getting plenty of milk into her system (peeing and pooping okay, seems satiated at end of a feed). I have a question about latching though. The stuff I've read says it isn't supposed to hurt, but some people say otherwise. Also have read that my nipple shouldn't be misshapen when she latches off. I do feel a sharp pain when she latches, though. And my nipple is normally a little oblong (taller top-to-bottom) and we are nursing mostly in the cross-cradle position; when she latches off then my nipple is a little more oblong than usual, but not shaped like a lipstick or anything. Does this count as it being misshapen? It seemed reasonable to me since I would expect her sucking to flatten it a little, but I'm new at this. Also I initially had blisters on one side and now have a couple of spots that are scabbed, but I'm not sure if those are just left over from the initial blisters or if they point to a larger problem. The LC in the hospital gave me some gel pads to keep over them to help with healing but I haven't been doing this a lot (been running around without a bra or with everything hanging out due to having washed the one bra that fits, cluster feedings, etc.)

Does this all sound normal or do I have some kind of a latch problem? If every time she latches it takes my breath away for a second because it hurts, I can deal with that, but if it means we have an issue I'd rather get it ironed out. 

[ewe+lamb]

Congratulations on your baby, it sounds to me as if you may just need a deeper latch, but then I can't see what's going on!!  My trick for good positioning is this, either the laid back nursing which you'll find on this website www.biologicalnurturing.com or, position baby like this for a deep latch,

If nursing baby on your left breast:

baby lies across you being supported with your right forearm

your left hand can support your breast if needed,

the shoulders of your baby should be lined up to lie inbetween your breasts,

your right hand should support the base of the head at the nuc, remember not to push the baby onto the breast using your hand on his head,

his back lies along your forearm

baby's bottom should be tucked in tight at your elbow and hind arm with his legs pulled in tight under your arm,

your nipple then should point at baby's nose which encourages an open wide mouth,

as soon as you see the really wide mouth pull baby into the breast, and you can lean back thus being helped by gravity, nothing should be able to pass inbetween your body and your baby's glued tight together is a better description!

if baby is well positioned then his nose should be reasonably free,

with the lips quite well flanged out, but not overly either, 

the nipple should then be sucked back into the mouth to just before the juncture of the hard and soft palate,

I'm now hoping that this makes sense!!!  I can clarify if you need any other explanation!

Hope this helps