pain management

my little voracious eater... all parts sweet and innocent here :)

In our childbirth class, every week we played a couple rounds of a game called, "Breastfeeding Fact or Crap." Basically the point was to extol the fabulous benefits of breastfeeding (which is sort of funny since there were only three couples in the class and all of us had already decided that we would breastfeed, so it's not like anyone needed convincing).

Sometimes as I feed Burke in the middle of the night, I remember one particular round of this game. The screen read, "Breastfeeding: Fact or Crap... Breastfeeding hurts!" Of course, all of us chanted, "Crap!" in unison and our instructor, Ellen (incidentally a local La Leche League leader) outlined why pain in nursing is one big myth.

But that was a lie! It DOES hurt! Alot! My sister assures me that this painful part is temporary and that it'll get better... In the meantime, I'm a little bitter about receiving faulty information.

In all of this, I have found one benefit of my 30+ hours of labor and delivery. During that Saturday/Sunday, Adam and I tried pretty much every pain management technique we'd heard of... and I found several things that work pretty effectively for me. So now, when Burke is voraciously attacking me, besides reminding myself that he is a sweet and precious baby that doesn't know how much he is hurting me, I start counting. Yep, counting. I don't know why it works, actually... maybe it gives me something else to focus on, or maybe it makes me feel like there is an end in sight. I know it sounds basic, but right now it's getting me through the 40 minute feedings. That and crying. Again, Jord said this part will be over soon. I hope so!