The 72hr Engorgement
You are now a new mom (possibly again), and nothing can take away that joyous feeling of pride as you gaze into your little ones precious eyes. Nothing except the pain of your gigantic hard as rock boobies! This wonderful gift from mother nature to generally, first time moms (however, I was blessed with having it with both my babies) will be your first (and hopefully only) road block as a breastfeeding mommy.
Engorgement usually sets in within the first few days of having baby and lasts for a grueling 72 whopping hours. This may not sound very long, but as your breasts swell, ache, harden, and heat up, it may feel like 72 day engorgement. But fear not mommies! For I am here to help you through this. You can think of me as your breasts guardian angel.
First of all, to get through engorgement, you must understand whats going on with your once, “fun bags”. The most common misconception that I have come across with people is that engorgement is an over abundance of milk, or that your milk is stuck. It actually isn’t your milks fault at all! Engorgement is when the tissue surrounding your beast is inflamed…so feel free to break out the ibuprofen ladies.
You may use compresses, but you should swap out between warm and cool water. It is very important to make sure you are not using hot water, as this can make inflammation worse, that being said, it is equally important not to use too cold of water either. Any major change of temperature may cause a negative result. The compresses are to be used for comfort.
Now, if you are like me and when it comes to breastfeeding, Murphy’s Law tends to come into effect, you may experience a milk production problem as well, or your breasts may have swollen so much it has caused your nipples to go flat so baby cannot properly latch on, then read on my friends…read on.
In these cases, it is important to stay calm, and try hard to relax. If you are having let downs but nothing is coming out, and you can start to feel your ducts filling up and your areolas are hardening, then you might want to try breast massage. It is likely that your swollen tissue is creating blockage to your nipple from your ducts. This next step is not for the faint at heart. It requires diligence, even if it starts to become a little uncomfortable.
With both hands on one breast, take the pads of your finger tips and put them on either side of your nipple (like your going to dig) and gently, but firmly push in and then out towards your arm pit with one hand and towards the inside of your cleavage with the other. In doing this, you are moving the swollen tissue out of the way. Do this in every angle on both nipples until areola softens and latch that little baby on. If your nipples have gone flat at this point, I would use a nipple shield until the nipple protrudes enough for baby to latch on by herself.
If you are having on going complications with breastfeeding, then contact your local Lactation Consultant or Breastfeeding Counselor. Breastfeeding is the best thing for you and your baby and even though it may seem like a whole lot of work, it is so worth it, and I promise that some day in the near future, your boobies will once again, be your “breast friends”.
You can read Part II here
