BF error after C-section terror!!!

[@llli*luvlylady774]

Ok i need some help! After exclusively bf my baby in the hospital i came home and my incision opened up, i have been dealing with lots of pain and on medication they said would leak into the breast milk and with an open wound made positioning impossible for me ( it doesn't help that i'm overweight and have large breasts ). After three weeks of having to pump and supplement with formula with a bottle i'm trying desperately to get him back to breast. Unfortunately with all the added medical expenses i am unable to get a lactation consultant....can anyone help me???

[@llli*mommal]

Welcome, mama! Aim sorry about your rough start. Is your incision closed up now? Are you feeling okay?

This link talks about all the ways I know of to get a baby to the breast: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/...to-breast.html. In particular, the instant reward and skin-to-skin techniques are supposed to be helpful.

I'm glad you found this site! I think you'll get a lot of help and support here, and we have a lot of mamas who have had similar experiences to yours.

[@llli*yoginimama]

Do you have a local LLL leader or group nearby? You can call most leaders to get some free hands-on help and support.

[@llli*magnoliahoney]

LLL will help you for free. That being said, do you have a my brestfriend pillow, if not and you can't afford one look on craig's list and ask on freecycle. That will help keep baby off the incision as well as help with the large breast issue.

Most meds you can take with breastfeeding, you may want to make sure with the LLL about medications, and what is safe and isn't. As sometimes drs will just tell you you have to pump and dump when there is no reason to. They just don't want to look up the medication!

[@llli*lovepickles]

Try the football hold. After our emergency C section we used it until my incision healed. Basically you put the baby's torso and legs under the arm of the same side you nurse on. It works great.

[@llli*redruby]

breath girl! From one big girl to another, let me tell you that you can do this I found placing a boppy pillow on my lap helped cover my incision, but it thats painful to you to be sitting up try lying down. I nurse my little girl lying down often, I just have to be sure to point my nipple at her. If she rolls towards me too much (she's on her side) I lean her shoulder away from me a bit until I get myself positioned. Don't be afraid to ask someone to help you. Get yourself comfy, and get someone else to handle baby and boob!

What exactly is happening when he goes to breast?

As a side note, if you have another baby and need a c-section, find out if you can get a wound-vac. Basically its a small vaccum machine that uses suction to help keep incision closed and clean. The new ones like I had was portable and quiet. My dr said he likes it for all of his 'full figured gals'.

[@llli*luvlylady774]

thanks to all of u for your great advice , my wound finally healed and he is still having some issues latching but he gets on it eventually, now it's just trying to build my milk supply i just got a medela pump in style and i now have an appt. with a lactation person thanx to WIC, If anyone could give me some advice on building it that will be great, i tried pumping and i'm only getting a half ounce on each side each time but i know he eats like 4 ounces every 3 to forur hours so it confuses me.i am very determined he's my last baby.

[@llli*mommal]

That's terrific progress, mama!

This link covers increasing supply when pumping, and what you should normally expect: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/p..._decrease.html