Engorgement?

[Bokoto]

For those of you nursing babes, when your milk came in did you get engorged? How badly? And how long did it last?

My milk started coming in on Tuesday night (babe was born on Monday), but really came in last night. I woke up with lumpy bumpy, 2 cup sizes bigger breasts. And they hurt. Lucy has been nursing fairly well, good latch, but she gets sleepy after about 10 minutes, and rarely does more than one side at a time. So here I am at the end of the day with painful breasts still. Her nursing today hasn't helped all that much. They are softer toward my cleavage (woo, I have cleavage!), but still pretty much rock hard toward my armpits. I tried expressing in a warm shower, expressing one side while she nurses on the other, and massaging the breast she's on while she nurses, but to no avail. I just can't get that much out via expression.

I'm terrified of mastitis (I've had it twice), but am I worried too soon? I just don't remember being this engorged with my others.

Thanks for your thoughts!

[~NewMa~]

I'm having the same problem!
I've had mastitis so bad in the past I had to have an incision and drainage procedure which left me with scar tissue that is now interfering with breastfeding and leaving me with what I assume is clogged ducts.
I started to get a little redness on one of the bumps so the midwife already started me on an antibiotic.
I'm really scared this is gonna be an ongoing frustration while breastfeeding!
I'm doing hot ginger compresses and taking homeopathic Phytolacca 200c very frequently.
I also use the heating pad at night between feedings.
I find the hot shower and compresses help alot, I usually leak afterwards.
I've also been feeding from this side more often hoping to get things moving.
I know he's not getting as much from this side though cause I don't hear him swallowing as often.
This is soooo frustrating!
I hope you find something that works, and if you do, let me in on your secret!
P.S.- I second the "woohoo Cleavage!"

[ishereal]

I am engorged right now, it goes away when lo nurses. It feels sore under my armpits when i am engorged and I hate that feeling.

[cj'smommy]

I used cabbage leaves, they were uncomfy going in because they were COLD but they really did help.

[lobster]

I was very, very engorged when my milk came in for Lynden. I had oversupply issues until he started solids, but the first week or so was the worst. Engorgement hurts!

If you are still feeling full towards your armpits, try nursing in football hold so that your baby's chin is against the firm area - changing the baby's position will stimulate letdown from different ducts in the breast. Try offering the boob even when she's not asking for it. Lynden was a sleepy nurser in the beginning too, but I found that he'd eat more if I offered again shortly after he seemed finished.

I second the cabbage leaves, although you want to be careful with those because they could affect your supply so much that you end up with the opposite problem - not enough milk! If you use cabbage leaves, use them sparingly.

Good luck, mama!

[~NewMa~]

Oh yeah, I also forgot to mention, my one midwife suggested breastfeeding while on hands and knees over top of him. I don't know that it's helped me that much but I still do it. I figure can't hurt- although it's a pretty awkward position!

[ORLY?]

Holy. Crap.

My milk came while I was still in the hospital. I cried. And the staff pretty much put me on PPD watch.
I went from a 38b to circus-boobie porn star. FOR REALS, my husband, who has enjoyed the breast enchancement pregnacy has given me, was FREAKED.OUT. And he had to buy me a new bra because nothing fit and I needed the support.
It was SO painful, and extended to my armpits and limited my range of motion in my right arm. I was engorged for four days... it was the longest four days ever.
I DID...
warm showers
pumping in mornings
feeding
warm compress before
cold compress after
chilled cabbage compresses <----- THIS TOTALLY WORKS. Especially on my armpits.

Although it sucks, at least you know you are making milk.

[treehuggermama]

With all 3 kids I was super engorged for the first week or so until my milk supply got regulated. I pumped after feedings to totally empty (and freeze for later on) and nursed every 2 hours. Poor babes would get literally blown off the breast that first week.

[anstar]

Originally Posted by treehuggermama

Poor babes would get literally blown off the breast that first week.

Yeah, I nearly drowned my first two many, many times.

I got rock hard and lumpy too, but it did go away after a week or so. Two things were good - if I was leaking, don't try to stop it, and I never pumped. If I wanted to, I probably could have gotten away with pumping an extra bottle in the morning for storage, but I definately would not pump more than that - you could end up with a major oversupply issue.

[Incubator]

Yes, things were AWFUL with DS. I HATED my boobs (I've always lovedlovedloved my boobs before) for months, for the first month I hated being a mother, I cried at every feeding and at one point told DH that I thought we had made a mistake. It wasn't all engorgement though, some was just hormones, some was nipple crackage, my left nipple had a ring in it until about an hour after DS was born, so there was that adjustment, being told by an LC that my son was tongue-tied (when he wasn't) and constantly doubting myself about refusing to have him clipped, having my breast mangled by a stupid nurse who bruised me and then told me that I didn't have the right kind of breast for nursing, and THEN there was engorgement, and latching issues...

Cabbage was nice, the coolness of the leaves felt great! I could never get my breast to let down in warm water to release pressure, but it sure felt good, and I tried to not stop the leaking and just let them leak. It was all okay in the end, and totally worth it.

I also managed to drown DS many many many times before my supply leveled out. I leaked for nearly a year, and always had a forceful letdown.

[paphia]

Can I lend you a toddler?

I had engorgement issues last time but with dd still nursing any time I feel even remotely full I just offer to nurse her and she takes care of it. Of course she's also asking for them when they feel floppy empty in the middle of ds's cluster feeding sessions so maybe I could pass her along to some of you ladies? She could probably take care of at least three other mommies right now. Sorry I'm not any help.

Last time I just hand expressed and took hot showers. I got mastitis but only after I got a major crack in each nipple, which is where the infection got in.

[KariM]

Meghan is the first baby I got engorgement with and it hurt!

To help relieve it I nursed her as often as she would accept it, varied positions, and tried to make sure her latch was good (and centered well). My back up would have been expressing just enough milk to relieve the pressure.

Oh, and the engorgement hit around 36 hours after her birth.

Luckily it only took about 2-3 days for the supply to even out and now we're fine again.

[Organicavocado]

Take a nice mixing bowl full of warm warm water and set it in your lap. Lean over until your boobs are submerged and THEN massage them. I was thoroughly entertained by the streaming.. when the water turns murky replace with more warm water. It flows so easily into water, you can see it to know if your massage is working.

This didnt stimulate milk production for me either. You can do this before nursing, then nurse, then do cold compresses. I have the gel breast soothies. You want to get the milk out, then get the inflamation down.

Good luck!