Wednesday, January 7, 2009

It Hurts.

The problem with the new night time routine? I end up with a boob that hurts.

See, breastfeeding is all about supply and demand. Since Zach would nurse many times a night, my boobs were producing what he needed. He demanded and I supplied. If he went several nights cutting back, I would produce less. If he goes several nights demanding more, I produce more.

So now we are at the lowest demand ever. He nurses both sides at bed time, draining them. Then he nurses on one side when he wakes at midnight. Leaving the other side anticipating a draining within a few hours... but it never happens.

Night One's midnight feeding was on the left side so yesterday afternoon, I had a moderately sore right boob.

Last night, he nursed on the right side. My left boob is raging, angry, tender, sensitive, ow-y hurting. Hard spots and heat radiating sore. It's part of the process. And it sucks.

Walking back into my office a moment ago, I brushed against the door frame as I cut the corner too close. OW. At the gym, I lay on my stomach so Christy and I can "fly" and "plank" and such. OW. If I flex the muscles near my boob... OW. It's a pain like nothing else. It isn't constant but it is always there- if that makes any sense at all. And it is draining (and yet needs to be drained). Oy.

So now I'm off to my office bathroom where I will run the sink faucet as hot as possible, expose myself over the basin, and attempt to hand express to relieve some of the pressure and pain. It wont help much but it will help a smidge.

***

The job is done. I eliminated enough of the hard tender spots to get through my last hour at work. My boobs are so lopsided right now... it is insanely comical. My left is twice as heavy, twice as big as the right. Literally took 2 hands just to hold the damn thing. Never in my life did I ever dream did that I would spend 5 minutes in a bathroom, leaning over a sink, spraying milk down the drain as it streamed from my own nipple. Crazy places that motherhood can take us...

2 comments:

mimbles said...

I'm wincing in sympathy, you've brought back vivid memories of rock hard painful boobs.

We used to go horse riding every second week from when Dave was about 3 months old, we'd be gone over a normal feed time and I'd leave expressed milk for my in-laws to give to him. By the time I got back from riding I was desperate to start expressing. OW.

Boozy Tooth said...

The worst time I ever had nursing was when I returned to work and had to run to the ladies room to express milk into bottles that wound up in the breakroom fridge (how embarrassing!). One day, I was walking down the hall with a clipboard clutched to my leaking breasts when a guy in much too much of a hurry ran squarely into me and my rock hard knockers. OH.MY.GOD. White hot pain pierced my brain and tears streamed down my face. I gulped air. My eyes rolled back in my head. My hair stood on end. I raced past the idiot but not before noticing him nudge the person behind him and ask "what's up with HER??!"

Now I know why some people commit homicide.