Saturday, February 23, 2008

All better

Well, that was fun while it lasted, but the Great Boob Crisis of February seems to be over. Whew! I don't know what it was, but after much massaging, heating, and (unbelievably painful) breastfeeding, the lump is gone, and most of the soreness has dissipated.

The lovely M-B asked how I got my supply up on the left. I'm not really sure what actually worked, but what I did was:

a) ALWAYS fed Eggbert on the left first. Sometimes I just let her finish on the left (she was usually happy that way, which is why I was always suspicious that it was a pumping problem, rather than just a supply problem), and sometimes I switched her in mid-feed.

b) When pumping, if I needed e.g. five oz, I didn't just pump until I had 5 oz (which invariably resulted in 4 from the right and 1 from the left), but rather pumped until I had half from the right (or a little over half, in the beginning), and then stopped pumping on the right and just continued on the left until I got the other half. My left is MUCH slower in production, so pumping for the same time on both sides meant that my right was doing all of the work. If I didn't get enough from the left in a reasonable period of time, I stopped, but then pumped again in a half-hour or so until I had enough.

c) Breast compressions on the left both while feeding and pumping (thank you Hadjare for this suggestion). I was absolutely amazed at the difference that this made while pumping. I often got an extra ounce or ounce and a half after I thought that the left had completely given up.

After a few days of this strategy (which was kind of a PITA, and probably wouldn't have been possible if I was working full-time), the left started producing WAY more. It was kind of amazing, actually.

So, I'm going to stop obsessing about my boobs and move on to something else now. Thanks for listening.

6 comments:

Marie-Baguette said...

Thanks a lot for the info! I need to give it a try next time I spend a day "working" from home. I am looking fwd to your post about being an infertile mother. I read your comment at Thalia's, and it seems all of us have the same thoughts: we all want to complete a family and find it utterly unfair that it means going through hell again, with no guarantees that it will work out.

JENN said...

Glad you are feeling better! Why to go on figuring out your boobs!;)

RE: Clogged duct - I am surprised the dr. didn't warn you about this. Are the drs pretty much hands off after you give birth in Korea?

Steph said...

Glad the boob crisis is over! Ouch!

Lisa said...

I'm glad to hear your boobs are happy again!

Lut C. said...

Supply is up, good for you! :-)

Marie-Baguette said...

You have not updated for a long long time. I hope everything is going well and that you are getting in a routine at work. How is pumping? Isn't it exhausting?