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bamzilla
Jan 13, 2005

All butt since 2012.



have you talked to an LC about the collection in the flange? They can probably help you out in regards to proper posture.

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skeetied
Mar 10, 2011

Mnemosyne posted:

Any advice?

To add to what vanessa said, pumping shouldn't hurt. If it does, something isn't fitting right or you need to turn down the suction on the pump. Higher suction doesn't mean more milk if it hurts. You can use a little olive oil or lanolin to lubricate the flanges so that your nipple moves easier inside them, but it does sound like you might have the wrong flanges. Also, I found that it helps mentally to have something special and relaxing to do while pumping so that it's not as miserable. Good luck!

Chickalicious
Apr 13, 2005

We are the ones we've been waiting for.
You may want to call your ped in the morning and see if they can get you a referral to an ENT right away. Most people I know with babies with tongue-tie have had to see an ENT to get it clipped.

Edit: I missed that you haven't pumped much in a couple days. If you intend for breastfeeding to work, you need to be pumping every two hours during the day and no longer than every 3 at night this early on Skipping pumping is signaling to your body to stop making milk.

Chickalicious fucked around with this message at 15:48 on Jun 24, 2012

Crazy Old Clarice
Mar 5, 2007

Lefou, I'm afraid I've been eating... you.

Chickalicious posted:

You may want to call your ped in the morning and see if they can get you a referral to an ENT right away. Most people I know with babies with tongue-tie have had to see an ENT to get it clipped.

I wouldn't be so fast to rush to an ENT. A tongue-tie does not automatically have to be clipped -- many kids grow out of it. Our little one was born with a tongue-tie and is doing just fine without any intervention (he can stick his tongue out past his lips and can make all the age-appropriate babbling noises). Our pediatrician actually recommended against clipping it since (according to her) the tongue still has more outward growth to do after birth which can resolve the tongue-tie. Yes it made the first few weeks of breastfeeding tough, but as his mouth grew larger things improved and it is no longer an issue.

As with many things baby related, this is something that you should discuss with your pediatrician to see what is best for your family.

Chickalicious
Apr 13, 2005

We are the ones we've been waiting for.
Right, some people do just fine, but her baby can't latch at all so this is a little more serious than a painful latch for a few weeks.

Crazy Old Clarice
Mar 5, 2007

Lefou, I'm afraid I've been eating... you.

Chickalicious posted:

Right, some people do just fine, but her baby can't latch at all so this is a little more serious than a painful latch for a few weeks.

I am not saying that Mnemosyne's situation isn't serious, there is a good chance that her baby has a severe tongue-tie that needs to be clipped. However, she is seeing the pediatrician on Tuesday and can have a medical professional help her determine if that is the best thing for her child (seriously, the LC said "maybe it was a tongue-tie"? they should be able to tell you that definitively) I just don't see the need for her to call tomorrow and immediately get an appointment with an ENT when it isn't even completely clear that this is the problem.

Hospital LCs are of a wide variety of skills, abilities, and competentcies and from what she wrote it sounds like Mnemosyne got some duds.

Chickalicious
Apr 13, 2005

We are the ones we've been waiting for.
In my experience and the experience of people I know, ENT appointments are hard to get, which is why I think asking to get a referral ASAP is important. If the ped decides its not a big deal, she can cancel the ENT appointment. But if the baby needs intervention, getting in sooner rather than later is only going to improve her chances of successfully breastfeeding.

MoCookies
Apr 22, 2005

Those first days of breastfeeding are so loving hard. Mnemosyne - it does sound like you got some dud LCs. It is absolutely worth getting another one to come to your house to help ASAP. A few days is a long time in the very beginning. I remember being in tears looking at an LCs phone number trying to decide if I should call or not. Which was loving stupid - I absolutely needed the help, it was imperative that I get it, and it turned out that people were willing to bend over backwards to help me. I just needed to say something. My kid would only latch well if I held my boob a certain way, and it took a few sessions with my amazing midwives until we hit on the right thing. Finally my kid started to gain weight, and I've been exclusively BFing for over 7 months now. He's enormous, happy, and a pro at nursing, and it's hard to believe he's the same scrawny baby who wouldn't nurse at first.

One of the things that my LCs told me to do that turned out to be crucial is to get as much naked skin-to-skin contact with the baby as possible for the first weeks. Aside from the bonding factor, it helps with milk production. I absolutely hate to pump (it makes me cranky), so I'm adviceless in that area, except that hand expression is a great skill to have. Being uncomfortable while pumping is going to prevent you from really getting enough, and hand expression may be more effective since you can do it from a more comfortable position.

I hope things are going better for y'all. It doesn't seem that long ago that I was dreading the next nursing session and cursing my hospital-grade pump.

Sitrus
Feb 17, 2009
All things aside:

Mnemosyne, the most important thing is if you want to stick to breastfeeding you have to pump at a bare minimum every four hours. Or else you will start loosing your milk. Pump both sides too. My son was born prematurely and was in the nicu and for the first three days unable to latch on at all. I got given a huge arse pump and told to pump every four hours at a bare minimum. You are not going to produce huge quantities of milk straight off the bat, especially not exlusively pumping. The most important thing is to NOT stress about it. Whatever you get you get. As for having a bad latch, go online, look at different feeding positions. I had to do a football hold, cradling them never worked for me (big boobs ahoy).

My daughter was had a tongue tie. They never did anything about it at all. We just hosed around until we found a way for her to latch on.

The most important thing however is to keep mum and baby happy. If you both are going to just stress over it and it becomes the be all and end all of your life it is not worth it.

However I will also say this: it is not a lifethreatening situation. There is no need to rush off to see specialists quite yet. Try getting a hold of a good LC first.

I breastfed my daughter til she was a couple of months old, due to a lot poo poo that went on I lost my milk, we then switched to formula. My son I breastfed for about 15/16 months when he self weaned.

Mnemosyne
Jun 11, 2002

There's no safe way to put a cat in a paper bag!!

vanessa posted:

There are a few things that stood out to me:

- Posture: You should be sitting up straight (as much as you are able to without causing yourself pain) when you pump. When you have good posture, the horizontal part of the flange will naturally slope downward. If you are leaning too far back, put a pillow behind your back or find a different chair. You don't need to lean forward, but you can't relax either. Side note: I recently discovered that pumping at home works best for me if I sit in one of our patio chairs.

- Flange fit: Your nipple itself should not touch any part of the flange, but you need to make sure that you're putting the flange on so that your breast helps create a seal. It's possible that you need a different size flange. Standard is 25 mm but there are inserts that can reduce it to 21 mm or enlarge it to 30.5 mm. (Troubleshoot)

Are you double pumping? If so, how are you keeping the flanges in place? Are you holding them with your hands or using a pumping bustier? If you're holding them with your hands, it will be harder to maintain a hold that keeps suction. If you don't want to buy a pumping bustier, then I would single pump until you are able to figure out how the flanges should fit and how you need to hold them to ensure that fit.

Sitting position: The LC that taught me how to use the pump told me to sit up, but I think the only thing that keeps the leak from happening is literally leaning forward. My boobs don't slope down, if anything, they point a little bit upwards, which might have something to do with it? It's amazing the amount of weird/funny comments that I've heard from all the different nursery nurses and lactation consultants I've seen through the past few days. Nothing like anyone saying that they're weird or hosed up, it's just bizarre to have several strangers assessing your boobs and making comments about them each day. One told me that my boobs are not good for "sandwiching."

Flanges: As soon as I tried the pump out at the hospital, I told the LC that I didn't think the flanges fit properly. She told me they were fine, and since she was the expert, I figured I should just stick with them and I'd eventually figure it out. All the sizing stuff I see talks about sizing based on the nipple, but my problem is that the flared out part doesn't follow the way my breasts are shaped, so only the outer edge of the flange "seals" against my skin, which doesn't look like it's the way they should be. But I don't think I need a bigger or smaller flange, just one that flares out wider? And I don't know that those even exist.

Keeping them in place: I rented an Ameda hospital pump, which is a double pump. I do not have a pumping bra because today I'm 7 days out from my C-section, so going out shopping isn't really an option. I've really got my doubts about those things working to keep the flanges in place anyway, because I'm small and it's going to have to be really tight to keep those things in place. Right now it takes both hands to keep one flange on. One hand doesn't seem to cut it.

Honestly, until you posted this, one of the many things that never occurred to me was using the double pump as a single pump. That's actually what's kind of working for me now, though I consider it a temporary fix.

After my husband got the hand pump for me, he sat down with me, got some hot compresses, and dedicated some time to helping me relax and try to at least get something out, because after 3 days of engorgement, I really needed to make a firm decision and stick with it. We pumped first with the hand pump, because by that time, I was afraid of pain from the electric. I laid on my side in my bed, with my body all the way up to the edge of the bed so that the pump would hang over the edge of the bed towards the floor. Managed to pump out about a half an ounce each side, which gave me some confidence and got me past the engorgement. A few hours later, I did the same thing, but with the electric pump and got another half ounce from each side. Of course, this positioning means I can only pump one side at a time, even with the electric pump, but I have a few ideas about other things I can try.

I'll see what the pediatrician says tomorrow about the latch/tongue issue. The whole not being sure if he's tongue tied thing is that if he is, it's not a severe case. The lactation consultant said she was going to have another LC come in and check him, because that one was best at recognizing tongue ties, but in the end, that LC was too busy and didn't make it before we were discharged. (The hospital was a bit of a madhouse by the time we were discharged. We've been having some excessive heat, which was either sending women into labor or was causing them to get dehydrated and go into labor, and they got 22 new admittances the day before I left. They only have 16 Labor and Delivery rooms, so they were putting people into Post-partum rooms and they really wanted my room freed up. They also got all new computers that day, which turned out not to be functioning correctly, so all the nurses were computerless. It was kind of insane.) They did give me a referral to an ENT though, but told me it was fine just to see the pediatrician first.

Lingling
Jun 13, 2008

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, yeah~
Even if you do have to resort to manual pumping, I exclusively pumped with a manual pump for 6 months. I manage to produce about 48 ounces a day. Go on, beat me, I dare you.

bamzilla
Jan 13, 2005

All butt since 2012.


I couldn't pump well, but I always got more out of the manual than the hospital electric.

e: to clarify. I knew how to pump, I just didn't respond well to pumping ;)

bamzilla fucked around with this message at 13:42 on Jun 26, 2012

Ben Davis
Apr 17, 2003

I'm as clumsy as I am beautiful
Just thinking about 3 days of engorgement makes me wince. You need to get that milk out if you're going to feed. No one's breasts fit perfectly, I promise. Just do what you need to do to keep the flanges on. If I want to pump one-handed, I have to either press it hard against my breast, or press and pull down slightly. It's not the most comfortable thing, but it works and it's not horrible. It's really not a diagram-type thing; just move it around until you're in a good spot.

If you do want a pumping bra, you can get one online easily. Amazon + Amazon mom = free Prime shipping, too. They have measurements on there. Or you can go through Buy Buy Baby or Target and just return it at the store if it doesn't fit. Target will return practically anything that doesn't work as advertised.

http://www.target.com/p/medela-easy-expressions-white-bustier/-/A-13138409 BAM

Lingling
Jun 13, 2008

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, yeah~
Sometimes I would get cramps from pumping manually so long. But I would look into my sons eyes and grit and bear it. He had the most sensitive little stomach.

Chickalicious
Apr 13, 2005

We are the ones we've been waiting for.
Couldn't you just cut some holes in a sports bra to use until you get the real deal?

No Butt Stuff
Jun 10, 2004

Wife is 39.5 weeks now. She's feeling intense pressure and pain quite often, but no labor. Her doctor checked her yesterday and she was only 1cm dilated and the cervix was still thick. We're going in Thursday to see if she's getting any closer and if she can be induced.

I'm ready for this little girl to come out and meet me!

bilabial trill
Dec 25, 2008

not just a B

No Butt Stuff posted:

Wife is 39.5 weeks now. She's feeling intense pressure and pain quite often, but no labor. Her doctor checked her yesterday and she was only 1cm dilated and the cervix was still thick. We're going in Thursday to see if she's getting any closer and if she can be induced.

I'm ready for this little girl to come out and meet me!

Ooooh you're going to have a baby soon! :3 I know the last few days seem like forever but hang in there! I went 9 days overdue and didn't really feel any closer to giving birth, but suddenly I had contractions and he was born like 8 hours later.

Not to be nosy but won't she be barely 40 weeks on Thursday? Unless there's a reason to induce, I'd personally wait at least a week past the due date, induced births can be tougher.

MoCookies
Apr 22, 2005

No Butt Stuff posted:

Wife is 39.5 weeks now. She's feeling intense pressure and pain quite often, but no labor. Her doctor checked her yesterday and she was only 1cm dilated and the cervix was still thick. We're going in Thursday to see if she's getting any closer and if she can be induced.

I'm ready for this little girl to come out and meet me!

I hope your wife decides to hang in there and get as much sleep and rest as possible vs. inducing. The lungs are pretty much the last organ to develop in the fetus, and you want to make sure they have all the time they need. Due dates are really only general estimates, and research indicates that it's the developing lungs that trigger labor. You can check out some of the researchy, science stuff here: http://www.drmomma.org/2008/01/fetal-lungs-protein-release-triggers.html

Ceridwen
Dec 11, 2004
Of course... If the Jell-O gets moldy, the whole thing should be set aflame.

MoCookies posted:

I hope your wife decides to hang in there and get as much sleep and rest as possible vs. inducing. The lungs are pretty much the last organ to develop in the fetus, and you want to make sure they have all the time they need. Due dates are really only general estimates, and research indicates that it's the developing lungs that trigger labor. You can check out some of the researchy, science stuff here: http://www.drmomma.org/2008/01/fetal-lungs-protein-release-triggers.html

I feel the need to point out that, while there may be a link between fetal lung development and triggering of labor, it's abundantly clear that this link is far from perfect and this is not really a good reason to avoid induction of labor if you've reached term and your doctor thinks induction is a good idea.

For example, here is a study showing a link between going post-dates (41 weeks or more) and increased risk of SIDS, but NO link between induction at term (37-41 weeks) and SIDS. And here is another that shows no link between induction and SIDS. If induction at term really meant that you gave birth to a baby with lungs that were not mature enough we'd expect to see an obvious relationship between the two, and it's just not there.

When to deliver is a very careful balancing act, not an example of "waiting is always better". Although infants born earlier (37-39 weeks) are at an increased risk of needing some help breathing in their first couple of days, this isn't associated with long term problems. And the risk of stillbirth increases starting at 37 weeks and goes up dramatically as you approach 42 weeks, which is why doctors have moved away from allowing women to go past 41 weeks over the last 20-30 years.

No Butt Stuff, I hope the appointment on tomorrow goes well and you get to meet your baby soon!

Lullabee
Oct 24, 2010

Rock a bye bay-bee
In the beehive
nah.

Lullabee fucked around with this message at 23:44 on Mar 21, 2017

Awesome Kristin
May 9, 2008

yum yum yum
Wintergreen Lifesavers worked amazingly for my nausea. Plus they're addictive as hell.

Ma_NiC
Mar 6, 2004

Lullabee posted:

Also, everyone is telling Mr. Lullabee to expect a bed rest order for most of my pregnancy, since I had those incidents. Obviously I won't know until I see the doctor, but how true is it? Like, are they right, that most women who bleed, have troubling pregnancies?

Not necessarily. I had bleeding in my second trimester, and it scared the poo poo out of me. I went to labor and delivery, where they discovered via ultrasound that I had a low-lying placenta, which eventually resolved itself as the placenta moved up in my uterus and my baby got bigger. It would have to depend on the cause of the bleeding, I'm sure. I was told to avoid lifting really heavy things/people and to not have sex until the placenta was well away from my cervical opening.

Ben Davis
Apr 17, 2003

I'm as clumsy as I am beautiful
Exactly, it totally depends on your situation. No point in worrying about it if it's not going to happen!

Try whatever you like for the nausea. Some people swear by the preggie pops, but they're really just expensive suckers, so you might as well just buy your favorite type. I found them too sour for the most part.

bamzilla
Jan 13, 2005

All butt since 2012.


Lullabee posted:

I've read/heard that lollipops work great for some, is that true? If so, does type/brand matter? Ive recently read about those Preggy Pops, are they worth the money/any good?


Yes only organic pure juice suckers will work. The most expensive suckers are obviously the best. None of that HFCS stuff. :smug:

Just get peppermints, ginger candies, or lemon candies to suck on.

bamzilla fucked around with this message at 14:14 on Jun 28, 2012

bilabial trill
Dec 25, 2008

not just a B
I just got some sour drops. Sour things in general helps for me. I think you just need to try some different ones and see what works for you. It's not a huge investment after all ;)

ChloroformSeduction
Sep 3, 2006

THERE'S NO CURE FOR BEING A CUNT, SO PLEASE KEEP REMINDING ME TO SHUT THE FUCK UP

Ceridwen posted:


When to deliver is a very careful balancing act, not an example of "waiting is always better". Although infants born earlier (37-39 weeks) are at an increased risk of needing some help breathing in their first couple of days, this isn't associated with long term problems. And the risk of stillbirth increases starting at 37 weeks and goes up dramatically as you approach 42 weeks, which is why doctors have moved away from allowing women to go past 41 weeks over the last 20-30 years.

No Butt Stuff, I hope the appointment on tomorrow goes well and you get to meet your baby soon!

This. The placenta isn't meant to sustain the fetus indefinitely, it does begin to degrade along with the cord, thus leading to the sudden spike in stillbirths (though often cause is unknown, and there are a zillion factors to consider.) Usually scheduled caesareans are done at 39 weeks, because this is considered the optimum time taking into account lung development and increased risk of still birth.

From the CDC (graph on page 7):
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr57/nvsr57_08.pdf

I do not think that the link between lung development and the onset of labour is necessarily causal, as often when women are at risk for premature labour, they'll be given steroids in order to speed up lung development, yet that doesn't seem to change the chances of them then going into labour (awkward phrasing, I know.)

skeetied
Mar 10, 2011
While there is a small increased risk of stillbirth above 41 weeks (and this risk can be mitigated through appropriate monitoring of placental health -- remember that the average gestation for first time moms is 41 weeks), the poster's wife wasn't even 40 weeks yet and we have no information regarding whether her due date is based on LMP (horribly inaccurate) or something like an early ultrasound, which is a lot more accurate. Inductions have their own set of risks that should be accounted for (such as stillbirth!) before deciding to use one in a non-emergent situation (placental malfunction would qualify as emergent).

bamzilla
Jan 13, 2005

All butt since 2012.


Personally speaking I'm not a fan of inductions unless it's for a medical reason. Being close to your due date or over by a week is not a legit reason to induce imo.

car dance
May 12, 2010

Ben is actually an escaped polar bear, posing as a human.

Unlikely because Polar Bears do not know how to speak.
Also it does not make any sense.
I know it's a long time away from now, but since my daughter was an emergency c-section and I was really planning on doing a natural birth, I wanted to attempt a VBAC and get that vaginal, natural birth with my second kid when I have him/her in a few years. Does anyone have any experience with that? If so, was it hard to get a hospital to let you and why did you originally have a c-section?

Lullabee
Oct 24, 2010

Rock a bye bay-bee
In the beehive
nah.

Lullabee fucked around with this message at 23:44 on Mar 21, 2017

Stairs
Oct 13, 2004
I'm so hot. I feel gassy and hungry all the time. My best friend is gettting increasingly needy and whiny because she has to move out of my house soon and I'm so over being pregnant. I just want her to get born already! It's summer and I feel like I'm dying. My new doctor is awesome and has determined that my old doctor was an idiot and I'm not diabetic at all so at least I can have sweet tea and ice cream.

I've had induction before, and I really want it this time, but my doc wants me to try naturally first. My only real issue with that is the fact that school starts right at my due date (a week after I'm due) and if I wait my husband won't be as able to be there the whole time, since he's a teacher. Also my other kids will have to get to school, but thankfully my mom will be here to help with them. I just don't want my husband to miss anything!

Hmmm, maybe I should start jumping jacks...

Ma_NiC
Mar 6, 2004

bamzilla posted:

Personally speaking I'm not a fan of inductions unless it's for a medical reason. Being close to your due date or over by a week is not a legit reason to induce imo.

I was induced for medical reasons (worsening preeclampsia), and welp, ended up in a C-section anyway. If your body's not ready, it's not ready.

bamzilla
Jan 13, 2005

All butt since 2012.


Ma_NiC posted:

I was induced for medical reasons (worsening preeclampsia), and welp, ended up in a C-section anyway. If your body's not ready, it's not ready.

Yea, I was induced, too. I was stuck at 5cm though and in active labor. I could likely be induced this time around but will try to avoid it if possible unless it's completely medically necessary.

Axiem
Oct 19, 2005

I want to leave my mind blank, but I'm terrified of what will happen if I do

bamzilla posted:

Personally speaking I'm not a fan of inductions unless it's for a medical reason. Being close to your due date or over by a week is not a legit reason to induce imo.

We went it for an induction for two reasons:
1. my wife had a pretty bad case of PUPPPs, and was ridiculously miserable
2. Her mother's line is apparently low on oxytocin or something, because they have all had the "start labor and boom baby comes out"; her mother had both of her kids in under 12 hours total. With each, she got an induction at 6am and the baby was born by noon. As we put it, my wife just needed a jump start (which was the case: drip started at 11pm, and baby was born before 5am).

Actually, when we got to the hospital, the nurse noted that my wife was having contractions three minutes apart, and my wife was like "what contractions?". So we were technically considered an "augmentation" :D

No Butt Stuff
Jun 10, 2004

We showed up to the hospital at 5am, and saw the doctor. She's 40 weeks today, and I think her doc decided to induce her because she was tachycardic(?), and baby butt stuff has been in utero hiccuping a few times a day for 15 minutes or more, which points to developed lungs.

Wife is attempting to nap, thanks to the magic of epidurals.


Edit: Noon. 8cm, 90% effaced. We wait more.

No Butt Stuff fucked around with this message at 17:53 on Jun 29, 2012

No Butt Stuff
Jun 10, 2004

Holy mother of god. Ten hours ago she was wrenched from my wife's vagina. She Got her shoulder stuck on the way out and almost caused a panic. Also the wife's epidural didn't seem to work and her blood curdling screams will haunt my nightmares.

8lb 15oz. 21.5 inches.

Attempting sleep now. She doesn't really cry unless she's randomly crying in her sleep or someone is poking her.

Hughlander
May 11, 2005

My wife is just over five weeks pregnant and is taking progesterone. She has some abdominal tenderness and wants to know if that's normal. (And she gets really dizzy but that's a side effect of the progesterone right?)

Andrias Scheuchzeri
Mar 6, 2010

They're very good and intelligent, these tapa-boys...
Meh. For the last couple of weeks I've noticed light--very light--spotting. I'm at ~21 weeks. I've been writing it off as just ordinary pregnancy stuff, but do you figure I should at least call my OB's office and ask about it?

...Okay, probably answered my own question, it's not like calling and asking is some crazy thing to do. Anyone else having this, though? I don't remember any kind of spotting with my first pregnancy.

bamzilla
Jan 13, 2005

All butt since 2012.


Andrias Scheuchzeri posted:

...Okay, probably answered my own question, it's not like calling and asking is some crazy thing to do. Anyone else having this, though? I don't remember any kind of spotting with my first pregnancy.

I would call unless I just had an internal exam or sex. I never had it with either of my pregnancies unless after an internal or sex.

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hepscat
Jan 16, 2005

Avenging Nun
I had some bleeding around that time and it was related to placenta previa - not dangerous but something that did require me to change my activity level and needed monitoring. Definitely get checked out, I'm sure it's fine but no one will think you're crazy for checking, as you said. Light bleeding and spotting is very common and could be for a variety of reasons.

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