It's time for yet another installment in the soap opera of my life, what I will "affectionately" refer to as The Breastfeeding Saga. Remember back in
the early days, when I was diagnosed with extremely sensitive skin as well as Reynaud's, and Rose was diagnosed with an extremely vigorous suck? We addressed those issues as best we could, but then later the pain came back. So
then I was also diagnosed with an underlying bacterial infection, which we also treated. Then Rose developed the charming habit of clamping down and yanking her head back a few minutes into each feeding, which was also painful. Marta, "my" lactation consultation (whose direct line is programmed into my phone), also helped us figure out that problem.
But as of Saturday I started developing a
new sort of pain, one that kept getting worse despite me trialing all my previously amassed breastfeeding "tools" in my "toolkit." UGH.
So back to Marta we went. After another round of awkward examination, the new theory is:
(1) I have some of the most sensitive skin Marta has ever encountered, and Rose has an extremely vigorous suck (as we had previously established).
(2) Given that the Reynaud's and the bacterial infection have been treated, it seems like Rose's vigorous suck has "trained" my boobs to have a strong let down.
(3) This forceful let down of milk essentially ends up choking her, which causes her to clamp down her lips/gums to slow the flow of milk.
(4) In addition, this rush of milk causes her to have to burp frequently, which she "tells" me by arching her back and yanking her head back (while still clamped on to my nipple).
(5) This clamping and yanking caused some sort of deep tissue damage, which is now causing my new pain.
What a fiasco, huh?!
The good news in all this is that she's still gaining weight like crazy (she was 10# 12oz this morning, which means she is continuing to gain over an ounce per day, while the average baby gains 0.5 to 1.0 oz per day), which means she is a very happy breastfed baby. Plus Marta gave me a new plan for dealing with this pain:
(1) Continue the B6 since there's still some blanching from the Reynaud's.
(2) Restart the ibuprofen every 4-6 hours.
(3) Take at least a couple pumping breaks each day, whenever I have a feeding "helper" around. (That's you, Daddy!)
(4) Restart the APNO (i.e., All Purpose Nipple Ointment) just in case that helps.
(5) Start feeding Rose in a very upright position, so she's less likely to choke (and thus less likely to clamp down or yank back). As a corollary, the other good news is that babies stuck with a forceful letdown often eat many small meals per day because their stomachs get full so quickly. There's a chance that feeding her in a more upright position will slow the milk down, giving her stomach time to stretch, thus allowing her to eat more in one sitting, therefore stretching out the time between feedings.
(6) Grin and bear it for the next couple days, although all of the above should allow the damaged tissue to heal soon (I hope!).
So there you have it, your weekly soap opera update. I'm hoping this saga will be "cancelled" soon and I won't have any new pain issues to tell you all about!
