Hey everyone, looking for some tips and advice please.

This is our second baby and being completely honest, I hate breastfeeding but I love the idea of my body giving baby what she needs and so on.

With my first, I tried breastfeeding, pumped for a couple of days and then moved onto formula feeding. This time round, I’ve tried breastfeeding again, didn’t like it so I’ve been pumping every 3 hours and giving that to baby girl. I’m playing catch up at the moment so sometimes having to supplement with formula as I haven’t got a stash yet. I’m 6 days postpartum.

As expected, my breasts were extremely engorged when my milk came in! Can’t lay on them, struggling to pick up DD1. That was a couple of days ago now and one breast does actually go a little soft now after pumping, but the other not so much. It’s really hard and sore to touch.

I suppose my questions are when should I expect the pain to go away? Will my breasts always hurt if I need to pump? Will they ever go soft? Is it normal for one breast to be more engorged that the other? Should I pump the fuller breast for longer to try and make them “even”?

I plan on asking my midwife/health visitor but thought I’d ask you all first as you can give me real experiences from yourselves

EDIT

I’m pumping every 3 hours for 15-20 minutes on each side and get anywhere from 3-4oz if that helps