This sweet boy will be four weeks old tomorrow. And today makes the first day in his four weeks of existence that breastfeeding him has not hurt so bad it’s made my toes curl. I’ll spare you the photos of him nursing (there aren’t any), but there are no shortage of them online if you are interested. Apparently, it’s all the rage for celebrity moms to post breastfeeding photos?!?!
Some moms choose to give their babies formula. Some moms can’t breastfeed and have to give their babies formula. Some moms try breastfeeding and it’s too painful, or too demanding, and switch to formula. And other moms breastfeed. All these moms are great moms. This post is not meant to be judgmental or say one is better than the other.
Personally, I breastfed both my girls & have been very determined to do the same this time around. I’ll be honest though–I was about ready to throw in the towel. It hurt worse than I remember with either of the girls. Although it has been six years, so maybe my memory is a little foggy.
At the hospital, I worked with the lactation consultant. Jase was latching on perfectly. A few days after we came home, I called my OBGYN. They did end up calling in medicine for me– a yeast infection in the milk ducts–but that shouldn’t have been causing real pain. At Jase’s two week check-up, I talked to the pediatrician. Surely he had tongue tie, or a yeast infection in his mouth, or something that was causing this pain. He didn’t.
Everything I read and everyone I talked to said that the pain should stop about two weeks in. And having done this breastfeeding thing twice already, I do think I would remember if it was this painful. I’ve been popping Tylenol like an addict.
Then, magically, it got better. At his feeding this morning, I didn’t want to cry when he latched on. My legs didn’t kick out uncontrollably in pain. It was real progress.
So the point of this post is that if you are attempting to breastfeed, it does get better. But if you choose to throw in the towel, you’ll get no judgement from me!
And just out of curiosity–did any of you struggle with pain the first entire month of breastfeeding? Or am I just really wimpy?
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