Engorgement ...

[Keeping up]

Alright - I am almost 3 days post-partum and as my husband says, the dairy bar is open. My breasts are as large and as hard as a melon. I am in pain!

I have a history of breastfeeding problems - cracked nipples (I think due to highly sensitive skin, not as much due to poor latch), mastitis, thrush, pain. With the last one, it lasted about 6 weeks - very very discouraging. So, trying to be pre-emptive this time around but now I am HUGE!

The babe is a bit sleepy - so I have taking all of his clothes off but he doesn't seem to be able to make a dent (literally) in the rock hard breasts. He does seem to be able to latch and to suck (I can hear him swallow) but after 15 minutes he falls asleep (despite rubbing his hands, blowing in his face and other annoying things) - and the breasts are still rock hard.

Pumping is excrutiating for me (sensitive skin and the pull of the pump) and I certainly don't want to promote supply.

Will the supply just adjust itself over the next 48 hours or does the babe have to drain the breast? Midwives come tomorrow and this certainly doesn't need a page - any advice is welcome.

Off to feed the baby - I wake him up every 2 hours to nurse to relieve my pain!

[wombatclay]

Ouch!

Supply will regulate over a couple of days, so it's fine to relieve some of that engorgement...it sounds like you are an expert in breast feeding challenges though!

A warm shower or warm damp towels can encourage some milk to leak out. BUT this doesn't relieve the swelling...it's mostly helpful in getting the milk flowing so the babe has "insant gratification" and might nurse longer (draining the breast and getting the supply set) and it makes it easier for them to latch on. If you go with heat just use it for a few minutes since it CAN make the swelling worse if you do it too long.

Massage your breast as you nurse...this helps the milk flow and softens the breast so it feels better for you.

If you're in pain between nursing sessions and can't get your babe to nurse, express a little "to comfort". That warm shower or breast massage can get the milk flowing, then use your hands to "smooth out" some milk...it's gentler than the pump and you are more in control of the pressure.

Cold cabbage leaves in your bra can help soothe too. Or cold cloths, ice packs, or any other cool compress...20 minutes of cold, then 15 minutes off, then repeat. The cold helps with the swelling but it will eventually reduce your supply so don't use it after you've solved the engorgement since then you may run into supply issues.

Some care providers suggest ibuprofin to ease the pain...but there are probably more natural options. Willo?

Hope you feel better soon...

(and I bet you'll get tons of ideas in the breastfeeding forum...)

[nadia105]

Cabbage leaves really helped me this time. I have gotten extremely engorged all three times now, but it went away quicker this time with the cabbage.

[Jilian]

I had some serious engorgement issues this time around. It lasted about 3 days. What helped was just sitting around topless as often as possible with a towel for leaking. I also expressed a little breastmilk onto my nipples after each feeding and let it air dry. Earth mama angel baby nipple butter or Lansinoh cream helps a little. Cold cabbage leaves are wonderful. Warm showers to express a little milk helps. Don't pump if you can help it.

I thought the pain would never end. My chest was gigantic and my nips were cracked, blistered, and bleeding but by day 7 everything was much better. Be positive you have a good big latch, a bad latch is the route of all evil. Hang in there, it will get better soon. I'm on day 10 and the pain is pretty much gone.

[famousmockngbrd]

Originally Posted by nadia105

Cabbage leaves really helped me this time. I have gotten extremely engorged all three times now, but it went away quicker this time with the cabbage.

I agree with the pps about the cabbage. Keep it in the fridge and tuck cold leaves in your bra. The cold helps the discomfort and the cabbage makes the giant football breasts go away faster. Just don't overdo it because it can diminish your supply. I used them about 3 times a day for about 20 minutes each time and my supply was fine. I only had to use them for about a day and a half.

[kblackthorne]

One bit of advice from my LC for "oversupply":

Consider a feeding to last for 3 hours. One breast per feeding.

So, say Baby nurses at noon. Just nurse on the left breast -- don't bother switching. (Switching is to increase supply -- you don't want that.)

Then, you wake Baby at 2, so Babe can nurse again. Nurse on the left breast.

Baby doesn't get right breast until after 3.

This will help get one breast at a time fully drained. This means at the 2 o'clock feeding, the breast will be slightly softer, so Babe can get more milk easily.... leading to an even fuller drain (and relief for Mamma!)

In the meantime, hand-express from the other, just enough to ease the pain. Also, always (until you're past engorgement) hand-express a little before giving Baby the nipple, to soften things up. (This, too, is the time to use heat -- just before a feeding.) The easier it is to get the milk out of you and into Baby, the happier everyone will be!

[willoLevin]

Really, I'm going back to bed, but I did want to say that I also have excruciatingly sensitive nipples, and this time I got some "wound care" pads form the LC at the hospital which are helping SO MUCH. DH took the package to the pharmacy (just CVS) and they can special order more of these for me if I need them. The LC said to use this pair, rinsing in between wearings, for up to a week.

Ask for a Rx for APNO (all purpose nipple ointment), too.

This time, I'm alternating using APNO or the wound care pads after each feeding, and, while I'm still gritting my teeth and hissing during latch on, I'm not having pain during each feed like I did with my big DS.

There *is* homepathy for nursing, but I don't have my books out.

--willo

[wombatclay]

If you buy gerber products...they also make a gel therapy nipple pad that is supposed the be really soothing. I've seen them at target but never tried them...they came out after I had healed last time.

[Keeping up]

Thanks everyone - at least the babe is not losing too much weight. On day 3, only down 4 oz. - the last time I have terribly sore breasts, a jaundiced baby and a 10% weight loss. I can at least stop worrying about weight loss.

The midwife helped a lot - aggressively manually expressing milk while the baby is feeding so all the pockets empty out. I am still rather large and very sore but so much better than last night. I am aiming for those 10 days of gritting the teeth and then we will coast for the next many many months (it is worth it).

I will try and find those 'gel' type pads - they seem glorious. I even joke I think active labor is better than this breastfeeding gig - even the midwife admits, you know it will end soon!

[wombatclay]

Ouch...Rowan slept for a lot longer last night and OwOwOwOw, I woke up with rock hard watermelons on my chest. Ugh.

You know, I wrote a lot when Laia was little, but I neglected to write down how long (exactly) it was before my milk settled down!

[Jilian]

I have the gel pads and they are just ok. You can refrigerate them or heat them, I refrigerate them and they don't stay cold very long. They don't conform very well to the breast so they bunch up a bit and make pointy edges. I've tried keeping them in the freezer and they still don't stay cool very long. I like the cabbage better.

[herbmama3-7]

I second the cabbage leaves, the only problem is when you have family stopping by all the time and your sitting there with cabbage leaves on your titties

[willoLevin]

The gel things I have aren't specifically for nipples. They are just little discs of gel in hospital packaging that say "wound dressing" or some such.

They are totally flat circles about 3" in diameter. Mine stay put in my nursing bra and don't wiggle or bunch--much better than any other type of nursing pad I've ever worn, because they are slightly tacky in texture so they never shift. The nipple never sticks to them, however.

I had some cracks/bleeding starting at the hospital, but that has healed since the LC gave me these little gel circles. They do feel super-good when freshly rinsed because they are cold for a minute, but obviously the help they are giving me is much more than the temperature.

Now, maybe these work well on me 'cuz I'm big bosomed? DH looked at me (engorged) yesterday and said, "Wow, your nipples were always big, but now they look like pizzas!"

PIZZAS?!?

Anyway, maybe they stay in place better on giant bazooms?

--willo

[wombatclay]

Pizzas?!?!

What a way with words

[Mere]

Originally Posted by wombatclay

Pizzas?!?!

What a way with words

Hah - that is hysterical!

I'm on my way to engorgement right now even as we speak. Fun fun. Ds is a fanatical nurser though, so I'm hoping his enthusiasm will help me out. We'll see.

hey wombatclay, we just named our boy Rowan !

[willoLevin]

Learned today that the Gerber version of gel pads for nipples contain some chemicals, probably to make them feel "cool". That's why they give instructions to limit use to 4 hours or something. The ones from the hospital LC that I have are not coated with any chemicals, just an inert gel material. (And they retail for $11 per pair, but can be rinsed and used for a week.)

Also, the gel pads are more for the nipple pain. I don't think anything except keeping the kid on the boob helped me with engorgement.

--willo