Breassesses, part II

I don't think my boobs have been such a huge part of my daily life since they first started to appear and I would sneak and sew little training bras by hand from pairs of underwear (why I didn't just ask my mother to take me shopping, who knows - I found pretty much every aspect of puberty utterly mortifying).

Today I went shopping for more sleep bras and bras with underwire, since the nice soft unsupported ones I bought while pregnant are ok but don't give me much of a figure, and I sweat and leak so much these days I go through them too quickly. I am a 34 DD. That's not an easy size to find. The two I bought aren't great but will hopefully see me through until I'm not breast feeding anymore, whenever that may be.

My boobs still hurt a lot. I would consult the LC that helped me, but I'm afraid of being shamed for still using the nipple shield. I'm sure that's part of the problem - he's probably sucking too hard because of it, and thereby causing me all this pain, but trust me, I simply cannot nurse without it. He just squirms and cries and gets frustrated. And so it goes. According to my chat boards I'm not the only woman still using one at this late stage, so I may just use it for the duration.

In order to help my reluctance to pump, I bought a pumping bra online. Oh boy, is this the best invention ever! So now instead of having to jam the pumps on each boob, hunch over, and stare into space bored out of my mind while the dog barks and the baby screams, I can now hook this thing up and go about my business. I got 2.5 oz today in just about five minutes - if I can just do this once a day I will always have enough milk for sitters. It sure helps to have these little conveniences. As much as I use maybe 10% of the things in the nursery, for sure indispensable are the Breast Friend (I call it the Baby Tray) and this pumping bra.

I've been using some nipple butter but I'm not sure if it actually does anything. I also use little silicone inserts in the bra to protect my nipples and keep them nice and cool (for a few minutes anyway). It'll be nice when my breassesses go back to being just another part of my body and not this super-important mechanism that keeps my child alive!