when size does matter….
For the first week, I experienced rather intense breastfeeding dread. The pain and discomfort that breastfeeding caused me—the result of us not yet knowing that the tools we had were too small for my body—had me on the verge of tears. In between double-pumping with our electric breast pump, I resumed my internet searches, trying to find some answers. I discovered that a nearby store sold a nipple shield that was 24mm—the largest size available anywhere for a nipple shield—and asked my husband to purchase a set for me.
The larger shield size made a huge difference for me. The first minute after our baby latched was uncomfortable, but after that one minute—great! Our baby girl was now able to nurse with big gulps of mama’s milk. I felt my optimism returning as I put the 18mm shield into storage.
The lanolin that the hospital provided to me did its job in keeping the nipple shield adhered (for the most part), but I was not a fan of how sticky and difficult to clean off it was. When a friend recommended a soft nipple cream to me instead—I was in love!
A few days later, we met with another lactation consultant. They were able to show us a few different nursing positions for baby that are more effective at simulating the suckle. They told us that it was possible that we would not need the nipple shield forever—that our baby girl could learn to latch without it, despite my fully inverted nipples.
For another week, things were looking up. I was still feeling a little discouraged, since my nipples (or rather, my areolas) were being pulled outward by both the pump and shield during each session, yet each time that I prepped for the next session, I discovered that they were back to their original flat appearance. No amount of consistent pumping and nursing could convince them to stay extended. Regardless, our baby girl was latching with the help of the nipple shield, and we no longer needed to pre-fill the shield with pumped breastmilk. The hooked syringe went into storage!
ouch!
But—this is when I got my first milk blister. A bulbous, liquid-filled area appeared on my right areola, and it was painful. The breastfeeding dread returned, and I was worried that the stress would cause my supply to drop. I stopped using the nipple shield on my right breast and exclusively pumped that side, hoping that less friction would help the blister heal.
It was around this time that I discovered nipple rulers. Since I did not have a true nipple, I needed to base my measurement off of the circumference of my areola when it was stretched to its limit within the breast pump flange. This led us to the discovery that the flanges that came with our breast pump were too small for my body! I would need size 28mm flanges, and fortunately our insurance had them in stock and I was able to order them, expedited.
Similar to my experience with the larger nipple shield, the larger breast pump flange made a huge difference for me. My areolas no longer rubbed against the side of the flange during a pumping session. I still experienced 30 seconds to a minute of discomfort at the start of every nursing or pumping session, but after this short time, everything felt natural. At times, I could nearly forget that I was pumping and start daydreaming, coming back to reality and realizing—oops! I had pumped for 30 minutes instead of my usual 20 minutes.