I breastfed my three kids (not as long as I wanted, for differing reasons) and had good milk supply... and couldn't pump. I'd get more milk flow from a nice warm shower than from any pump I tried, even a borrowed electric one. I tried pumping when I had to stop breastfeeding my second and third babies, but it was pretty useless. I couldn't pump enough to keep my milk supply from disappearing. It was gone within a few weeks.
FWIW, though I never had mastitis (thank everything), I had considerably less trouble with plugged ducts and the feverish "damn that area's too hot, better get that freed up quickly" precursors with my second and third babies.
My second child never did learn to suckle correctly, tucking his lower lip under no matter how many books I read and things I tried. (I was living in eastern Idaho and had no access to lactation consultants.) My letdown was powerful enough that he could still get milk. The first two months of breastfeeding him involved timing the painkillers so they'd be in effect while nursing but not much in the milk, biting down on my fist so hard I drew blood, and lots of crying in pain. (This is not meant as a boast. If anything, it's a stellar example of the line between "stubborn" and "foolish.") If I'd had any other problems on top of his faulty suck, there's no way I'd have made it past a few weeks. The reason he was weaned at 6 months instead of 12 or 18 is that when he got his bottom teeth I started bleeding again, and figured at that point I'd fulfilled my maternal martyrdom contract.
I'm really sorry you went through all this... the difficulty itself and the "not a good enough mother" stuff. You're obviously a phenomenal mother.
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FWIW, though I never had mastitis (thank everything), I had considerably less trouble with plugged ducts and the feverish "damn that area's too hot, better get that freed up quickly" precursors with my second and third babies.
My second child never did learn to suckle correctly, tucking his lower lip under no matter how many books I read and things I tried. (I was living in eastern Idaho and had no access to lactation consultants.) My letdown was powerful enough that he could still get milk. The first two months of breastfeeding him involved timing the painkillers so they'd be in effect while nursing but not much in the milk, biting down on my fist so hard I drew blood, and lots of crying in pain. (This is not meant as a boast. If anything, it's a stellar example of the line between "stubborn" and "foolish.") If I'd had any other problems on top of his faulty suck, there's no way I'd have made it past a few weeks. The reason he was weaned at 6 months instead of 12 or 18 is that when he got his bottom teeth I started bleeding again, and figured at that point I'd fulfilled my maternal martyrdom contract.
I'm really sorry you went through all this... the difficulty itself and the "not a good enough mother" stuff. You're obviously a phenomenal mother.