[nitemarehippygirl]

i posted a while back about my relactating adventures. the saga continues, lol.

my milk supply is better now. so far today the baby has only had 2 oz of formula (which he promptly spit back up. i can't find a supplement that agrees with him). so that's the good news.

the bad news is that i'm being treated for a thrush infection in my breasts, which is killing me, but now, to top it all off, the baby has made not one but two blood blisters on my left nipple (one huge one, and one smaller one.) i feel like my boob has been through a wood chipper. what do you do about the blood blister? every time he nurses, it hurts more, and it seems to be getting somewhat worse. any ideas what might be causing it? he seems to be latched on correctly, he isn't just sucking on the nipple. he does suck VERY VERY hard though, i'm not sure if that makes a difference.

i'm all out of $ this month. can't afford to call the lc back out, and am feeling frustrated. the baby is almost six weeks old, and things seem to be going from bad to worse.

also, the baby wants to comfort nurse all day, which would probably be good for building my milk supply back up, but i can't stand it. in fact, i usually end up supplementing him a couple of times a day because i'm hurting too much to nurse or pump.

argh....somebody tell me things are going to get better...

 

[alegna]

Things are going to get better

Promise. My dd was slow to get it all figured out (and stop MAULING me) too. It took about 6 weeks. BUT (and an important but) I never supplemented. At all. No artifical nipples at all. I think that is an important (if not comforting...) piece. So hang in there and dump the bottles. It will get better- I promise.

FWIW my dd is 10 months now and still nursing strong. Mostly exclusively breastfed as she will only eat solids she feeds herself (and she really prefers mammamilk...) She had one "cold" at 5 months where she had sniffles for 2 days, otherwise as healthy as a horse.

-Angela

 

[nitemarehippygirl]

well, i *wish* i'd never started supplementing. the baby got jaundice shortly after birth, and i got mastitis. i didn't know what to do, no irl support, and the hospital staff implied that his jaundice was because of low fluid intake (ie, because we were having such problems breastfeeding, i guess.) at any rate, i weaned him altogether for a week and bound myself up and made the milk go away. (dumb, i know, but again, i didn't know what else to do, and didn't have anyone with any experience to ask

: .)

anyway, after the baby got better, and the mastitis went away, i called out an lc, and rented a pump, and started trying again. at that point, i had no milk.

so i've come a long way from there, but it's really miserable, and frankly, i'm not enjoying it all. i keep thinking that if i could get over all the infections etc, it would be worth it, but basically it's been one big struggle since he was born.

every day i tell myself that if things don't get better tommorrow, i'll give it up, and the next day i do it again, but it's wearing me down.

i want to do what's best for the baby, but i hope i don't have to lose my marbles in the process....lol.

anyway, thanks for the support.

 

[alegna]

Keep it up! I didn't look to enjoy it. I just approached it as part of parenting. Like most people don't look forward to dirty diapers, but you still change them because it's what needs to be done. You've come a long way. You CAN do this. I had blood blisters too (actually from my dd's FIRST nursing session... at probably 30minutes old) And cracked nipples. Okay- cracked doesn't do it justice- shredded. Think hamburger. I SO feel your pain.

Hang in there. I know you can do it!

-Angela

 

[mammafish78]

i too am dealing with thrush, its been 7 weeks now ugh! i also had blisters, two to be exact. it hurt really bad but they are gone now. one of them left a scar. it does get better....im still dealing with the thrush but the pain is better.

i never gave a bottle but i almost did, i really wanted to. i couldnt pump because it hurt so bad. i screamed when ds latched on a few times. get some vit c and garlic, its helping me.

youll get through it.

 

[Finch]

Ooo, do I know what you're feeling. OUch. I got blood blisters and bruising on both breasts trying to nurse my son in the beginning (I too had supply issues, and he had latch/suck issues as well). I got some of those gel soothies in the hospital when I was there, and they helped. If you don't have those at home, maybe just put a dry washcloth in the freezer for a little bit or even put your lanolin in the freezer and let it get cold and then apply it.

The LC actually gasped in horror at the sight of my breasts, they looked so bad. It DID get better. I struggled, but it got better. My ds is 17 mos. old and still nursing.

I have had supply issues from time to time but have always managed to get my supply back up using herbal tinctures and oatmeal and water, etc..