For Women in My Situation, Part II

Posted in Whatever Wednesday and tagged with , , , on 07/01/2009 04:01 pm by lori

Here’s another post that you men don’t wanna read.

Ladies, remember this post about Reduction Mammoplasty.  I got several emails from women, asking for more information.  So, here’s what I was asked and some information given, in no particular order. . .

Question: My reduction was 10 years ago.  Can I nurse?
Answer: Typically, the longer it’s been since your surgery, the better.  It gives some of the ducts that were damaged by the surgery more time to reconnect, known as “recanalization.”  But I had my BR 2 years and 3 months before I nursed Abigail.

Question: What did you struggle with?
Answer: Here are some things that were a struggle to me, which may have been due to the BR (some of these things, non BFAR women deal with, and some BFAR women don’t deal with them):

  • It really really hurt me for the first 5-6 weeks.  I cried when Abigail nursed.  We think due to nipple blanching and maybe because of the scar tissue sensitivity.
  • I was horribly engorged, which was very painful, for the first few days.  This was probably due to some milk ducts being cut and therefore clogged, so the milk didn’t have anywhere to go.

Comment: I’m afraid it will hurt, and I won’t be able to do it.
Response: I understand your feelings.  But you can do it!!  And it might hurt, but it’s totally worth it!  I just made weekly goals here and there.  Like in the beginning, I was said, “I just wanna make it to two weeks.” Once I got to that point, I said, “I just wanna make it 6 weeks.”  Once I got to that point, it didn’t hurt, and I said, “I hope I have enough milk to 6 months.”  And then, I said, “I wanna make it a year like the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends.”  After the first 6 weeks, there were times it did hurt, but for the 95% of the time, I couldn’t even tell she was nursing.

Question: How will I know if I can nurse?
Answer: I guess you won’t really know until your milk comes in after your baby is born.  But a good sign that you’ll be able to nurse well (at least for me) is leaking colostrum (pre milk) while you’re pregnant.  I started leaking at about 30 weeks.

Question: When you breastfeed, you don’t have a period?  Is this true?
Answer: This is correct for many women: no period!!  Yea!  I did not have one until Abigail was 13 months old.  Prolactin is a hormone released during breastfeeding, and when you have high levels of Prolactin, it  suppress the period.  But, this doesn’t mean you can’t get pregnant while nursing, without a period.  It happens.

Question: What if I don’t make much milk?
Answer: A lot of the women who don’t have full supplies use an at breast supplementer (SNS or Lact-aid).  It’s a system that has a pouch full of formula or expressed breast milk that has tubes that connect to your nipples, so the baby drinks from it and boob.  I don’t know about it because I’ve never had to use it, but many women on BFAR can give you information about it.

Question:Are there ways to increase your milk supply?
Answer: Oh yeah.  In the beginning, I took fenugreek (an herb that increases milk production).  I didn’t notice a difference, so I stopped taking it, but it does work for many women.  There are many many teas, mother’s milk, herbs, etc that you can take to increase your production.  Even eating oatmeal can help.  There’s also two prescription drugs: Reglan (known to cause depression in most of the cases, so I didn’t take it) and Domperidone.  I started taking Domperidone when my daughter was about 8-10 months (I can’t remember when).  Domperidone is the most effective.  It’s pretty expensive because insurance doesn’t cover it.

Question: I haven’t had the surgery, but I want to.  Can you tell me a little about it?
Answer: Here’s a website I frequented when I was getting the reduction done. I had my surgery done Dec 16, 2005 (I was almost 22), and I had to be back in school on Jan. 9.  I could carry a backpack, but I remember being a little sore.  It is a long recovery time. The surgery lasts about 2 hours, if I remember correctly.  I can’t remember when I started feeling pain– if it was the surgery day or the next.  But, it is pretty painful and HYPER sensitive, an awkward feeling.  My husband washed and dried my hair for awhile.  He helped me up every morning.  He slept in another bed for the first week or so– because of all the moving.  You have to sleep on your back for a long time.

Other Advice about BFAR
I think my success was due to TONS of prayer, education on BFAR (researching, calling the surgeons office, reading books and forums), and working so hard.  I started pumping in the hospital, and I breastfed my daughter every two and a half hours– regardless of if she acted hungry or not.  I never let her have a pacifier or bottle in the hospital or for the first several weeks.  To get her extra breast milk, we would spoon feed her– very awkward, but I was so afraid of her getting nipple confusion.  I pumped with a Medela Pump in Style (electric double pump) after almost every feeding in the beginning, and then moved back to 4 times a day.  Even up until started weaning Abigail, I still would pump after her morning feeding.

My biggest advice (besides to pray about it all the time) is to join bfar.org.  Once you’re there, click on “Forums” heading.  Then, fill out the information; it’s free.  Once you’re a member, “introduce” yourself in a post.  Many women will welcome you and offer their tips, as well.  After that, you’re welcome to post any questions any time.  People are really good about responding promptly.

Also, make time to read Defining your Own Success: Breastfeeding after Breast Reduction Surgery before you have the baby.  I learned soooo much from that book.  If you have a Barnes and Noble near you, call them to see if they have the book in stock.  Otherwise, you could order from here.

Also, I had GREAT lactation consultants at the hospital.  I’d encourage you to call at your hospital to see if you can talk with one of the women– seeing if they have experience with helping bfar women.  You can do before and after weight checks to see how much baby is drinking.

Best of luck to you all!  Let me know if you have any comments or more questions, and I’ll get back to you through email.

**Go here to enter the YoBaby giveaway.**

Related posts:

  1. For Women in My Situation, pt I
  2. For Women in My Situation.
  3. Abigail’s Skills
  4. Pregnancy Update & Questions

8 Comments

  1. Jenna @ Newlyweds Says:
    July 2nd, 2009 at 9:06 am

    Great questions and answers, though I haven’t had br, I think lots of those questions could easily apply to any breast feeding mom.

    Jenna @ Newlyweds’s last blog post..Meet the Newlyweds – Mr. and Mrs. Newlywed

  2. lori Says:
    July 2nd, 2009 at 2:54 pm

    Thanks Jenna. I am definitely no expect, but I wanted to help all I could.

  3. Leah Dooley Says:
    July 5th, 2009 at 10:49 pm

    I just read this post and figured out the weirdest thing ever…I had my BR on December 17TH and you had yours on the 16th! Mine was in 1999 though. BUT STILL! That’s crazy that we chose to do it at the same time of year & practically the same day. Interesting, huh?

  4. lori Says:
    July 5th, 2009 at 11:02 pm

    @ Leah- Yes ma’am. Do you remember feeling sore going back to school? I remember that my bday (Dec 23) and Xmas were horrible! The meds made me woozy.

  5. Ashley W Says:
    December 11th, 2009 at 4:57 pm

    Thank you so much for all the info! I had a reduction at 21 and am 32 now and expecting our first child. My doctor (back then) also said 50/50. Everyone just says, oh, you’ll be able to BF fine, but they haven’t been through a BR. My nipples were removed and re-sized so I have wondered about the process and probability. I also had my reduction on winter break in December and remember I felt like I had been hit in the chest by a Mac Truck. By the time I went to school a few weeks later, it was better, but still tender. Thanks again for all the info.

  6. lori Says:
    December 13th, 2009 at 10:11 pm

    @ Ashley, No problem. Let me know if you have any questions, and I’ll try to help all I can. Congratulations on your pregnancy, and I hope you have a great experience w/ BFARing.

  7. Vanessa Says:
    February 18th, 2010 at 5:03 pm

    Hi! I also had BR surgery, and have been nursing my son with only my right breast as unfortunately my left one produced no milk (had an infection after the reduction surgery)..Because of this, I have been supplementing pretty much since day one, and now that I am at almost 3 months, I feel like I am not producing enough milk anymore and need to supplement more… Is there something I can to produce more milk or is it too late?
    Any advice would be great!
    Thanks!

  8. lori Says:
    February 18th, 2010 at 8:26 pm

    @ Vanessa- I’m so happy to hear that you’ve been nursing after a BR. And, no ma’am, it is not too late to produce more milk. You can take meds, drink teas, eat lots of oatmeal, drink lots of water, pump more, etc. I’ll send you an email with more information.

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