Breastfeeding experiences?

Question

I’m going to be having a baby towards the beginning of July. I’m a first time mom and I’m wondering how peoples breast feeding experiences were? I plan to breast feed, but I’ve heard that it can be very painful.

Answer

I am not kidding when I tell you...for me, it was awesome! Baby latched right away and we successfully breastfed for 18 months, the first 12 I also pumped while at work(well I guess more like 9 months because of maternity leave).
My biggest issue was recurrent mastitis because I had an oversupply. The oversupply lead me to (mistakenly) start pumping too early so my body didn’t regulate correctly. I fought with the mastitis for the first 16(!) weeks of baby’s life. I also have ectopic breast tissue and kept trying to go back to working out. For my condition and the placement of the ectopic breast tissue(close to armpit) sports bras irritated it so I couldn’t work out AT ALL. If I sweat, even a little, and didn’t shower fairly quickly I would get another infection 🙄

Answer

It can be painful at first for sure, but you and your baby are learning together. I breastfed my daughter for 14 months and plan to EBF my second as well. My biggest piece of advice is to always seek help if you need it. I have noticed the moms that seek help tend to breastfeed longer. 
After my daughter was born she seemed to be eating well so I didnt ask any questions. After I got home I realized I was lost and unsure. It hurt, my nipples burned and I worried my daughter wasnt eating enough. I didnt know how to tell. (Weight gain and wet diapers is the answer btw). So I watched videos about latching on youtube. We were having a tough time with it. 
At 5 days pp I went back to the hospital lactation consultant. They weighed my daughter, had me feed her and weighed her again. She had eaten almost as much as her tummy could fit in 15 minutes. This let me know that she was getting plenty even if our sessions seemed short. (Newborns can take up to 45 minutes to nurse for one session sometimes). But the consultant said my latch issues could be caused by a tongue tie. I went to the pediatrician and told her. She checked my daughter and assured me that there was no tongue tie and that the issue was my daughter had a small mouth. Seemed true because as my daughter grew it got easier. Baby girl grew like crazy. 
I went back to work at 4 months pp and pumped at night and at work. My daughter wouldnt take a bottle from me, she refused so I worried she wouldnt eat if I left, but she was fine taking a bottle from anyone else. Breastfeeding is supply and demand. The more your baby eats or you pump, the more you produce, so stay hydrated and throw in an extra pumping session if needed. The last thing that confused me was when my periods returned, I seemed to produce less. I started pumping more, nursing more and drinking lactation tea, but it turned out to be normal for me. My supply always came back when my period ended. And that dip happened every month. 
Everyone has a different experience, but seek help if needed, pump or nurse more to increase supply and stay hydrated

Answer

It is painful the first few weeks but as long as baby is latching properly it shouldn’t be painful much longer than that. If you are delivering at a hospital, the nurses/lactation consultants are a god send. Take advantage of them! They helped me out so much with my first. Put baby on the boob as soon as possible and offer it often to get your milk supply going. It really is a lot of work and you’ll feel like a cow for about 4-6 weeks but after that you get into a rhythm and it’s amazing!

Breastfeeding experiences?

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