For 3 days now, I've been using this little witch hat.
Why yes, that is a nipple shield.
Since using it, my right one has finally gotten time to heal. It was like a sigh of relief. After a full day of using it, my left one got jealous too, and wanted to use it. OK, in reality, the sores and cracks probably never healed fully, and decided to come back with a vengeance. At any rate, it felt like they were on FIRE.
Suddenly, at 3:12 AM on Wednesday morning, I had a moment of clarity. Who the FUCK cares if I start using the nipple shield on the left side too? I'm already using it on the right side. Using it to let my chewed up nips take a break is not going to ruin my boy's chances of having a healthy childhood. So I DID IT. I used the friggin' shield on my left side as well and gave in. Sweet mother of God, this was what I'd been waiting for - breastfeeding that DOESN'T feel like a school of piranhas are feasting off my girls.
This morning, I woke up not yearning for my ibuprofen like I was a drug addict waiting for the sweet nectar of his next heroin fix. This is HUGE improvement! All morning, I started actually noticing that 2.0 was starting to bat the shield off with his hands. He was starting to show other signs of frustration - like taking the shield in his mouth, then refusing to suck. Or spitting it out, despite a perfect latch and lots of milk available. In a fit of frustration myself, I pulled the dang thing off and fed him. And lo and behold, IT DIDN'T HURT! And he ate and ate and ate until finally, he fell fast asleep.
We're back to breastfeeding without the nipple shield now. Yay! I am sure thankful for whoever invented those silly little witch hats.
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