Help with Breastfeeding!

I would try a heating pad several times a day and see if that helps. Also try and pump or feed only that breast and see if that help. Good luck been there.

E.--
The same thing happened to me when I had my second child. I had nursed my first with no problem. But with my second I got completely engorged for almost a solid week and it was worse on one side than the other.
The thing that helped me the most were those sort of ice pack things that are designed for boobs. You keep them in the freezer and then put them in your bra. I don't know what they are called, but I think you can find them at Target.
Another thing that can help is to refrigerate cabbage leaves, then crinkle them up a little bit (it releases a certain chemical in them) and put those in your bra. Sounds outrageous, but farmers actually use cabbage leaves to soothe animals for the same problem. :)
Also try pumping just a little--not a lot or that will just stimulate more milk production, but perhaps you would be able to pump just enough to give you some relief.
Good luck, and it really should get better in about a week.

Hi E., I'm so sorry you're having to go through this hard time with your baby's heart problems. Our baby had his surgery at 3 months and it was so hard when we were told he would need it. We found out about his VSD when he was 2 months old and as with you the cardiologist wanted to wait to see if he would be able to tolerate waiting to get the surgery later on. But he wouldn't eat much and was put on a feeding tube. This was so hard for us. It was difficult for us to accept that there was something wrong with our precious baby. But having the feeding tube helped him gain some weight in the month he had it. It was a very difficult time for us, I cried all the time, worried that he was too small to go through such a procedure. But then I did a lot of research and talked with so many people who had been through the same or similar experience and little by little started feeling a lot better. My husband and I soon just wanted our baby to get well and accepted the fact that the surgery was the best thing for our baby. Our son's surgery was at Dallas Childrens Hospital. I can't express how amazing everyone was (is) there! I had looked at their website and read everything about cardiology!! I felt so much better about the upcoming surgery after doing so. I truly felt at ease about the whole thing, I trusted the surgeon and the whole staff. Our baby is doing very well except that he's still not eating all he should at each feeding but he does at his own pace. He never cried or showed any signs of being in pain after we left the hospital; he was there only 5 days. He smiled and kicked as usual! I know your baby has more complications than ours but read up on this type of problem especially on hospital websites and I truly think that you will feel more at ease about any possible surgery. Medical technology is amazing, thank God for it because without it who knows how sick our baby would be right now. Be strong and have faith. I'll be here if you have any other questions or concerns.

Do you have fever? Is your breast warm? You are doing the right thing by offering the the breast and pumping. Massage until you can't anymore and let your daughter start on that breast. I would say because we are going into the weekend to call your doctor and explain the symptoms. I had to go on antibiotics twice (2 different times)...the doctor knew I was breastfeeding and made sure the antibiotics were ok for my son.

If you end up with full blown mastitis you will know - it feels like the flu but antibiotics work great.

this will sound odd - but try cabbage. Take an ice cold head of cabbage and pull the leafs off as whole as you can, pack them around your breats and then put on a tight fitting bra, such as a sports bra. This technique is often recomended for drying up, but the cold and the "chemical" reaction your body has with the cabage will help relieved the engorgement, it should also get you leaking and the cabage will absorb what leaks.

It might be a clogged milk duct. I had one recently and had decided that if it didn't start feeling better then I was going to go to the doctor. I continued letting my son feed normally and about the third feeding he corrected the problem just by feeding. It hurt a little when it cleared but I felt a lot better afterwards. If it doesn't clear then I would call the doctor.

The others are correct below. My engorgement was much worse with my second than with my first. However becareful using cabbage leaves because the chemical in them actually makes milk production decrease almost too much.

I pumped (I know it encourages milk production) just not a lot but I froze the milk so that when I was unable to be around for my baby I could just unfreeze it and use it than. The best time to build up milk supply in the freezer for later is in the first two weeks of your baby being born.

You can then slowly stop pumping as your baby gets a little bigger she is able to keep up. I found this way not as painful and I could than go out to eat or do something without having to worry about being back home for the baby to eat. (All us moms need a break especially with the second one)

You could very well have a clogged milk duct. What you don't want is for it to turn into mastitis. I recommend that you pump and continuously massage your breast until that milk comes out. Be prepared, it could take awhile.

E. - you have gotten a lot of good advice. If one side is a problem, I would try letting your baby eat from only that side during a feeding and start again the next feeding on that side. Usually, your baby is way more effective at clearing your breast, compared to pumping.

Ice is also really helpful. I was really engorged in the beginning and heat sometimes makes it worse (even though that is usually advice).

Good luck and congrats!

Hi E.,
Try using the back end of a hair comb and combing through that breast in the shower. (lather some soap on your breast to make it smooth to comb through) This method worked for me. You will know if it works if your breast starts to soften up in the shower and milk starts to come out. Good luck.

Hi E.!
Congrats on your new baby!
Hot shower and massage would have been my first advice.
However, you said you've tried that and it isn't really helping.
Pumping at this point is a 'hit or miss' type thing since your milk is just now coming in.

If heat and massage are not working, my next recommendation would be ice. As odd as that may sound -- there are two kinds of engorgement that can happen right now.
The first is the one that is most common - milk.
The second is when your breast tissue becomes engorged with other body fluids....mainly blood.

This happened with my second baby. I was so engorged that my nipples were virtually flat. I tried pumping to alleviate the pain. I tried hot washcloths and showers and massage...it would seem to help for about 5mins and then back to extreme discomfort.
On the recommendation of a LC, I put ziploc bags half filled with ice on my breast. Not right on the nipple, but on the tops and sides of my breasts. It felt sooooo good. The cold helped the swelling to subside enough that I was able to get my baby latched on properly....thus helping the milk swelling to go down too.

I would highly recommend contacting a local La Leche League leader. Consults with them are FREE. They are there to help and they have experience bf-ing nad helping mothers with bf-ing.
There is a group in Corpus Christi.
http://www.lllusa.org/web/CorpusChristiTX.html
Even if you feel like attending a meeting is not for you, you can call your local leader and have a phone consult to troubleshoot.

Hope this makes sense -- sorry, written in haste.
If you have any questions about something I wrote or something else breastfeeding related, please don't hesitate to email and ask!

K., mama to
Catherine, 5.5y
Samuel, 2.5y
Baby, due 9/09

You're probably just engorged. It does take a few days to go away. It did with mine and yes, it was painful. If it doesn't go away within a week, you should go to the doctor.

First of all Congratulations!! It could be your milk just coming in. I remember that it was painful for me when the milk came in and it took several days for the lumpiness and discomfort to get better. I am not sure exactly when the shift from colostrum to milk occurs but it can produce some engorgement. As all the other ladies have said, nursing as much as possible is your best defense. Good luck!

I had the same problem on both sides when my milk first came in. It was short-lived although 6 months later, I do still get uber full and hard on one side on occasion. It's not painful anymore though. It takes a while in the beginning for your body to figure out how much milk you need, so be careful about pumping in addition to regular feedings. Yay for you and congrats on your new bundle of baby!

Try Mothers Milk at GNC. It helped me.

Don't use Mother's Milk because that increases bmilk supply, and you're engorged. I know it's a killer!!! The best thing that has worked for me has been to pump just enough to relieve the pain (and save the super-nutritious new breastmilk, use when needed; different nutritional makeup from later breastmilk) so that you're not compounding the problem in later days. Your baby just isn't eating enough right now to catch up to your engorgement. It won't last long, but it can be excruciating, so relieve what you can and I know your baby will "catch-up" very soon!!!!