I’ve had a few days to do my best to take care of this Breast/Nursing issue of lumps and pain. Everyone has advice, so I decided to test some theories out….Here is my thoughts…
1) Nurse the baby – YES, Obviously! If the baby is hungry – you know the breasts are full! Relief should be just around the corner. Although, engorgement is apparently a normal process that we all must experience right at the beginning when the milk first comes in and “let’s down”.
2) LANOLIN – GET SOME! Help keep your nipples safe and as pain-free as possible. Be sure to let the nipples air dry before applying. IF, you DO NOT have Lanolin you definitely WANT to be sure that your nips air dry before covering them up. They will stick to the nursing pad, bra whatever cloth you put up against them when they are wet. They need to air dry so you don’t lock in moisture and risk getting a yeast infection, or another type of infection in your breasts.
3) Warm Compress – This was my last thing to try, but I’m bumping it up the list. A Heating Pad DOES NOT work! I tried it, and all I got was some steaming boobies to the touch. A dish towel ran under HOT water and applied to the lump/sore area of the breast – not only relieved the pain for a much longer time, but it also reduced the lump giving me a lot more comfort than I had felt in days.
It was VERY helpful when I gently massaged the breast WHILE nursing Baby K at the same time.
4) MOTRIN – Can be your best friend, as I found out today. I had been feeling pretty good everywhere but that left breast, so I decided to “take a break” from the pain meds (like I said, I was not taking the narcotics, so if you’re on something stronger than Motrin you may want to switch to Motrin first if it was prescribed…but I’m no doctor, just trying to figure this out too!)
After about 6 hours I noticed cold chills starting to creep on me. Soon after, my eyes started to burn and my 97.6 degree temp at 11:30 that morning had danced to 99.7. (It’s good to monitor your temp at home.) Popped a Motrin, and started to feel better right away. My appointment is Wednesday – so I figured I would call tomorrow (Tuesday) when the office is open and ask if I should be concerned.
5) Cold Compress – I read that a cold compress should be used for non-nursing mothers to help ease the pain. However, I have found the cold compress after a feeding to be a great tool to slow down the supply of milk that my body thinks it needs to reproduce right away. I’ve used a bag of ice (leaky) to those gel filled cold packs with a towel around it, and a bag of veggies… All of which have slowed the “full” feeling.
6) Warm Shower – Yes, get in the shower to wash the sticky milk that dribbled through the towels and on to your skin after a feeding. Let the warm water pelt down on the breast and gently massage, letting the extra milk drip out. The heat helps any blocked duct (if that’s the case) release and you should feel better.
7) Breath – My mom told me to take some slow deep breaths like I learned in Lamaze class. It’s not more than a few seconds of relief, but it did take some of the pressure off while I got the baby ready to nurse when it felt like they were about to explode. (And while I frantically try to finish typing this post before I wake Baby K for next feeding.
8) Pump- This is last on my list. It was recommended (and followed) for desperate immediate relief, and I was instructed it would not increase my brains signaling for “supply and demand,” because my body knows the difference between a nursing baby and a machine…so not the case for me. I have been playing catch up and was left with no other option when the throbbing pain became unbearable. I was not interested in Mastitis, so I pumped and pumped and pumped – and now I regret, regret, regret. You MUST make the right decision for you, but from someone who pumped – try to hold off if you can.
There you have the tips and tricks that I have worked with in the first 11 days of motherhood. Try them and see what works and does not work for you. It’s important to remember that every body is different and each of our bodies will respond differently. PLEASE – Post anything that you found useful/not-so-useful in the comments section, and I will be sure to pull them into another post at a later date...plus I'm still looking for tips and tricks.
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