a tale of two titties: engorgement
The moment that took me most by surprise after giving birth, was when my milk came in. I laid down for a nap with my little love bug, and I woke up a porn star. It was absolutely terrifying. I had boulders for breasts. I honestly thought they were going to burst. They were hot, tender, and my skin was stretched to the max. Maybe I had accidentally signed up for breast augmentation and my filler of choice was concrete. Needless to say, I was uncomfortable and my poor sweet baby could not latch onto bowling balls.
I'm a certified lactation consultant, so you can imagine that I handled the situation in a calm and graceful manner, right? Wrong. I panicked and forgot every bit of information I had ever learned including my name and address. I then called my doula and all my friends who had recently given birth for advice. The reviews were mixed. You put them in a bowl of warm water, you ice them, you express the milk, you leave the milk in there (you don't want to produce more!). I was so confused but willing to try anything.
I started by massaging my breasts under warm water in the shower and hand expressing (just enough to relieve the pressure). I called my husband into the bathroom to witness the fact that I could shoot milk out of my breasts, and asked if he wanted to milk me (even though my breasts were throbbing). He resisted, but ultimately folded. I think he was willing to do anything to make the moment pass, so he milked his wife and said, "This is so messed up." I'm a firm believer in sneaking humor into every possible part of parenthood. It's the only way to survive.
At this point my breasts were feeling a little softer, so I decided my babe might actually be able to latch on. Success! My Milk Monster ate like a champ and did her best to regularly drain my breasts. It is crucial to feed often in the early days of motherhood. Through the day and night. Skipping feedings only makes the situation worse. So put your baby to work, find a television series that will entertain you during the night feedings, and help yourself in the long run. Engorgement can vary from person to person, so I highly recommend that you check out what KellyMom has to say about it. This is a record of my personal journey, but what worked for me might not work for you.
For my next step, I gathered frozen cabbage leaves (cleaned and individually frozen), cling wrap and my mother-in-law. I held the frozen cabbage to my breasts while my mother-in-law wrapped the cling wrap around me. Love at its finest. Now all of this might sound insane, but the cabbage leaves were a game changer. They helped so much with the swelling. The only downside is that they began to stink as they warmed up, and they warmed up fast, because my breasts were so hot. I later learned that you should remove the cabbage as soon as the swelling starts to go down, because it can mess with your milk supply, but luckily I didn't have an issue with that. For information on how to do this in a more professional way click here.
My final and favorite solution was the simple use of ice packs. I held them to my chest and instantly felt some sort of relief. I would also take a scarf and tie the packs on so I could be hands-free. I preferred cooling methods to warming methods, but I'm happy I tried them both. Eventually my milk regulated itself, and the engorgement went away (hallelujah!). It was quite a wild ride, though, and took a ton of support from my friends and family. So here is a much overdue thank you to everyone who helped me through those early days, especially my mother-in-law, Francoise. I couldn't have done it without you.
How about you? How did you care for your cantaloups?