gemini,
i inherited my late mum inverted nipples and she could not breastfed anyone of us. you know, i've got the worst inverted nipples I can ever imagine. both of my breast also like that and nipples totally inverted in. but i'm determine to breastfeed/express whatever as long as my baby gets breast milk.
was a bit worried in the beginning whether got milk or not (don't even talk abt supply). right after delivery i called for LC. told her my worries and she helped me latch my baby on but failed..so no choice, she squeezed my breast to express the colustrum out. it was v v painful but slowly she accumulated abt 2 teaspoon of colustrum. i was already over the moon!!! everyday, i would be pumping but milk only come in on day 5. pumping session not very consistent lah as i have no time to pump since i have no confinement lady but whenever i can i tried to pump like every 4hourly. for the 1st 1 mth, i can only feed my girl 3 feeds of EBM per day(my, she's a big drinker, by 2 weeks old, she's drinking 90ml, 3rd week, 120ml, how to meet her demand right??) the rest is formula milk. now, i think i can feed her 6-7 feeds a day when i'm no working. well, i'm quite all right with giving her FM and EBM cos we also believe that some breast milk is better than nothing. also, i would not be so stress as not to meet her demand. I've already trying my best liao..
would like to share with you my journey of latching my girl too..i took the opportunity to see the LC again when my girl was hospitalized for jaundice when she was 5 days old (due to dehydration cos we were not feeding her enough). for the 1st time, the LC managed to help me latch my baby on using a nipple shield (pigeon brand). I was so amazed and totally jumping for joy. i thought nipple shield is to protect the nipple but actually it's very useful for women like us. i could never imagine myself able to breastfeed my girl. but unfortunately, when we went back home, i could not latch her on using the nipple shield..the nipple shield kept falling off and very diff to hold her and she was crying so loud..so, here i am, back to square one..stop latching her and resort to pumping only but i never give up on the thought of latching her. then one day when she was 5 weeks old, suddenly i felt ready to trying to latch her again. she was also bigger and easier to handle, mouth also bigger lah..haha...the first few minutes was very tough but eventually i manage to latch her.. the way i held her was very awkward, the latching was quite painful and i had to bend my body towards her. i knew i was not doing a correct breastfeeding but who cares, hey, my girl is drinking from my breast!! after 1 hour, my nipple was so so sore. when my nipples got too sore, i stop breastfeeding her and go back to pumping..when healed, i try latching her again..i kept practising my latching whenever i feel confident (sometimes, i physcho myself to persevere) and one day after 1 week of latching, i suddenly found a comfortable position to breastfeed her (cradlehold). it came in so naturally, i was so amazed.. that moment, i knew i was latching her properly (no pain) and am very very comfortable breastfeeding her. mind you, i only breastfeed her on my left breast, and was struggling with my right cos somehow just not so natural. but after another week, i'm ok with latching her on both breast. my left breast is still my favourite breast and now, sad to say, i have lopsided breast. left breast produced 70% more milk than my right breast and appears bigger. i'm still trying to balance them back but i think will need time..i have come back to work and my baby is going 2 months old (taking 3rd mth seperately). I'm pumping twice in office and evening and morning and weekends i will latch her on.
i'm planning to breastfeed her for 6 months and aiming for TBF but i'm not stressing myself to achieve that immediately. i just let time and experience to lead me on.. see, from the worry of having no milk to latching her, i've managed to resolved all this slowly. so, morale of the story, try your best, don't give up, don't stress over not enough milk, take one step at a time and take your time to see result. something is better than nothing..now coming to 2 months, i can express 120-150ml in office every 4 hourly compared to my 60-90ml during my early days..it's still not a lot compared to some mummies but i'm contented that my milk has increased and my girl is still taking some breast milk. i will try to total breastfeed her but if cannot, so be it. Mixed FM and EBM is fine with me.
so, jia you and don't give up!
P.S: I hope mom-to-be to be encourage with my storey too