My main point about breast feeding is that it's just not as straight forward as some of the books and lactation consultants can make it seem. If you've read my blog, you know I've had a 'take it as it comes' attitude about pretty much everything! With breast feeding, the book I read really made it a point to talk about how expectations and stressing about breast feeding just makes it more likely to be hard for you. So I approached it with the same open attitude. I believed the book when they clearly said, if it hurts, you need to adjust what you are doing.
However the reality of any situation is that a variable can throw a wrench into your plans. My main variable was anatomical - my child's mouth did not match up with the size of my nipple. So in trying to make it work, my nipple developed a blood blister and then cracked. Despite the cracked nipple, I kept trying which made it worse. Finally I had enough and started pumping that breast instead until it healed. Now, I just have to wait for the anatomical situation to work itself out. Already it is much better.
So essentially, while the book is correct in that you need to adjust what you are doing if it hurts, trying to recover from something like a cracked nipple while still feeding your child is not straightforward. I think this kind of thing happens to a lot of women who are not prepared to deal with it. It's probably like being infertile. You should be able to get pregnant or breast feed without any problems, but that's not how it works out for some of us.
xoxo
Good tips :) Thanks again for sharing.
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