Breastfeeding after breast reduction

As a teenager I had a lot of shoulder and back pain. So at the age of 18 I decided to have breast reduction surgery. The surgeon told me that there was a chance that the surgery may affect breastfeeding. I was told that I may be able to breastfeed 100%, breastfeed some and have to supplement,or not be able to breastfeed at all.  As an 18 year old the thought of not being able to breastfeed didn’t really affect me. Now as a 29 year old mother the thought of not being able to 100% breastfeed my baby has been hard. I knew that there was a high chance that I may not be able to breast feed. Thankfully I have a great little sister Sarah! Sarah has a one year old and was a “milk making machine”!! So she was pumping and freezing her milk for me for almost a year; she had 1100 ounces of milk frozen. So I knew that if I wasn’t able to breastfeed that I would at least have breast milk to use. Our husbands at first thought this was gross and weird. Sarah and I told them it’s not like my child would be breastfeeding from Sarah. We explained the benefits to breastfeeding and how we feel it’s important to breastfeed.

After delivering Emma I attempted to breastfeed; but, Emma had a hard time latching on. A nurse suggested that I try pumping and feeding Emma what I pumped. So I started pumping and was getting about 1ml of colostrum each time and I syringe fed Emma. I was happy that I was producing colostrum and was thinking that I was in the clear and going to be able to breastfeed. I had met with the lactation consultant and she worked with me and I was able to get Emma to latch on and she nursed for 15 minutes! I was excited and was hoping that it would continue to go well. So I continued to try nursing and kept pumping. It had been close to 24 hours since Emma was born and she still hadn’t had a wet diaper and the nurse was concerned that Emma was not getting enough to eat and was trying to get me to give her formula. I felt strongly about breastfeeding and wanted to stick with breastfeeding and pumping. Emma finally had a wet diaper so I felt that she was getting enough milk. During the night Emma was getting fussy and the nurse kept telling me that formula feed babies would be eating 1-2 ounces and that Emma was not getting enough. I knew that formula and colstrum is different and that the amount they need is different. Emma was still fussy and I was worried that she wasn’t getting enough so I finally gave her 2 ounces of formula. The formula seemed to satisfy her and she slept through the night. We were discharged the next day and I knew that I had Sarah’s breast milk at home to give Emma. When we were waiting to be discharged Emma was getting fussy so I tried to nurse her again; she latched on right away and nursed for 10 minutes!! When we got home and it was time for Emma to eat I tried to nurse her; but, couldn’t get her to latch on so I gave her 2 ounces of Sarah’s breast milk. I continued to try to nurse Emma and every 2 hours. It was a struggle to get her to latch on because my nipples are flat. So I looked into nipple shields. Medela has great resources about the nipple shield : Mother’s may have has flat or inverted nipples. Some new mothers have nipple tissue that is not very stretchable. If it is difficult for the baby to draw in the mother’s nipple, the baby may pull away, cry, or simply fall asleep. The Medela nipple shield provides sensation deep in the mouth that stimulates the baby to keep sucking. As the milk begins to flow, the baby discovers that breast feeding works! Over time, the mother’s nipples will become more pliable,and the shield is no longer needed to trigger the sucking reflex. http://www.medelabreastfeedingus.com/tips-and-solutions/112/nipple-shields. So I finally got a nipple shield and my life became so much easier! Emma would latch on right away and start nursing! I was nursing Emma every 2 hours during the day; however, I usually had to wake her up to nurse and she would often fall asleep half way through nursing. I was getting concerned that she was not getting enough to eat since she was not back up to her birth weight. So I decided since it was the weekend that I would pump every 2 hours and give her the milk in a bottle so I would know for sure how much she was getting. So I pumped every 2 hours all day and was only getting about 1 ounce each time. I realized that I was not producing enough to feed Emma. This was really hard for me to process.I struggled with knowing that I was not able to 100% breastfeed. I knew that I had Sarah’s breast milk and that would last a couple of months; but, it wasn’t me breastfeeding my daughter. In a way I felt like I was failing as a mother. I came from a breastfeeding family and breastfeeding is very important to me. My mom reassured me that it was okay that I couldn’t breast feed and that I had tried for two weeks. She advised me to do what I felt I could handle. She said that if I felt that I could keep on pumping to keep doing it; but, if I felt to overwhelmed with pumping every 2 hours that it was okay too. So I had a big decision to make and felt overwhelmed just thinking about it. My husband told me that he supported what every decision I made and that Emma would be fine with Sarah’s breast milk and then formula down the road. So I really thought about my choices and knew that I couldn’t handle pumping every two hours when I was home alone with Emma during the day. So I have decided that I would pump four times a day and have been getting around 5 ounces a day. I am so thankful that I have a great sister and that she was willing to pump for almost a year and freeze milk for me!!!

Check back to see how my breastfeeding experience goes!

~Karen