Still haven't written my birth story, but I wanted to post a little update on how we're doing.
And mostly, we are doing good! We're really starting to get the hang of nursing, which after three years of excessive research, was still harder than I thought it would be. My nipples are painful while he is nursing, especially right at first, which is SUPPOSEDLY not supposed to happen if you have them latched "deep enough", but I have him latched as deep as I can possibly get him and it is still happening so idk.
BUT my milk seems to be coming in okay and he is spitting up occasionally, so I know he is getting enough milk. I can grin and bear it for awhile.
One SERIOUS bummer is that I apparently got a PRETTY BAD labial tear when he was born, perhaps because his head came out with a hand (I gave birth under water so they are not sure about that), or maybe just because it was a fast L+D. But I had to have stitches and I cannot really move around much at all. The first two days I stayed in bed except to use the bathroom and then yesterday I was up a little but I was feeling more pain, so today I was on the couch but I still didn't get up at all except to use the bathroom. But I have to sit up to nurse him and depending on how I'm sitting I think it can pull on the stitches a lot and it was seriously hurting a little while ago. :::sigh::: DH is going to call the midwife to come check and make sure it is healing, so I guess we'll do that tomorrow.
I honestly didn't expect the recovery to be this big of a deal, and I honestly think I would be feeling great if it weren't for the tear and/or the stitches. My Mom got here on Sunday to help us and she's staying until tomorrow (Tues) and then everyone will be back on Thursday for Thanksgiving. I really hope I am feeling better by Thanksgiving.
Sorry for the lack of more updates--I will try to do the birth story soon!!
6 comments:
Your nipples will be a little sore at first just adjusting to the constant "wear" :). Sloane latched perfectly and I still had sore nipples for a few days. It will eventually go away. And I had a second degree tear (actually a cut, because the dr had to "make room" for her). They sent me home with several of the ice packs and they were my friend. All I know was that doing the peri bottle for 2 weeks was a good thing. You learn right where to aim it for relief because once those stitches start healing you will be wanting to scoot across the floor :).
Oh and as much as it really does suck....try to get up and walk around. I know it doesn't feel great and you feel like your hooha is gonna rip even more but it helps. I remember almost crying when I went to sit in a chair and it was further down then I thought and more or less fell into it. Just don't over do it...a few laps around living room or up and down the hall here and there really helped me out.
Sorry that you are struggling with recovery.
I have had sore nipples with EVERY BABY, this time is 2nd in pain only to the twins (when I was TRULY CONSTANTLY nursing). It is completely normal - regardless of what 'they' say! To help, use Lanonlin before and after each feeding. It really does help and very quickly!
I had a tear as well and I agree with Kassidy it did help for me to walk around. I just walked around the apartment but it did feel nice. The nurse also told me to squeeze my buttocks as I sit down and release them once I sat down and that really did help with the pain. It hurt for around two weeks and then it got much better. Sending you lots of healing thoughts and wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving with your gorgeous son!
Tears are awful and as much as "they" say breast feeding doesn't hurt when done right, THEY LIE!!! It's normal for it to hurt because your body is not used to it. The pain DOES go away, and the only time the pain shouldn't be there is after a few months. Don't try to get up and walk around a lot, it doesn't help in the case of stitches and you're just going to put yourself through more unnecessary pain.
Yeah my midwife basically forbid me from walking around more than I have to, and I definitely notice it hurting more if I do--but I think it would help if I hadn't had to get stitches.
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