Holy engorgement!

jenesiso

Ok shoot me if there's already a thread on this. I'm bumping it up in my own way lol...

So my milk came in and i woke up engorged to the max this morning. I sh*t you not, i have literally pumped nearly 600-700ml today already. (Maybe more) I'm pumping every three hours and even started pumping into bags for freezing. 

I had a sore red spot that was hard and red...I tried everything from heat, ice, massage...short of using cabbage leaves, nothing has really helped.

Is this engorgement crap gonna happen to me every morning?! 

mammabearursamajor

Your body will adjust according to what you tell it to make by feeding and pumping, so eventually you will only become engorged by missing feedings and pumpings. You can get infections so keep an eye on that red spot. 

MrsBigTime

Your milk has come in. I'd suggest cutting back on pumping and focus more on putting baby to breast more and more. What you ask of your body, your breasts will make and the pump may lead to over supply. If you focus on nursing, they will regulate.
i found that while I was super engorged, baby couldn't latch, so I hand expressed into a cloth until my nipple was soft enough to latch and that helped. this is when I used my receiving blankets as burp cloths because there was just so much freaking milk!

atcwag

Are you exclusively pumping?  If not, I suggest stopping pumping and putting baby to the breast often. By nursing and pumping, you are just signaling your body to produce more and prolonging engorgement. Look up reverse pressure softening if baby has a hard time latching because you're engorged. 

SandNStarsNJ

MrsBigTime said:

Your milk has come in. I'd suggest cutting back on pumping and focus more on putting baby to breast more and more. What you ask of your body, your breasts will make and the pump may lead to over supply. If you focus on nursing, they will regulate.
*snip*

This exactly. The more you pump, the more you'll produce and the engorgement won't quit. I know you said you did heat, but a hot shower with just a little hand expression might help. But I know what those rock hard lumps can feel like - stick with it! It gets better (and easier) over time!

sweetsasaurus

Stuff your bra with cabbage leaves. It sounds crazy and it doesn't smell pretty, but I promise that it helps. I had massive oversupply and didn't actually start feeling relief until I wrapped my boobs in cabbage.