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If you’re planning on breastfeeding your baby you have probably heard the term engorgement tossed around by doctors and lactation consultants. You may have thought to yourself that it sounds like a relatively unpleasant - albeit intriguing - process that you’ll figure out when the time comes.

I can only speak from my own personal experience, but I can tell you a little about this interesting phenomenon. You see, your breastmilk probably won’t start right away when your baby is born. Instead, you’ll feed your baby colostrum, which is more of a rich, yellowish liquid. If you’re anything like me, though, you’ll head home and then suddenly your breasts will get HUGE and you’ll feel like they may explode if you don’t get the milk out pronto. I got too big to pump, and my daughter actually had problems latching on because my breasts were so swollen. When she did latch on properly, it was honest-to-goodness the best feeling in the entire world just to relieve some of the pressure in my breasts.

So yes, engorgement can hurt. I couldn’t wear a bra and I’ll never forget my grandmother’s horrified expression when I walked into the baby’s room to nurse and my shirt was soaked, and it was obvious where the wetness was coming from. There was no hiding what was going on.

I’ve heard about various methods to relieve engorgement, but the only things that helped me were nursing as much as possible and waiting it out. I don’t remember the real pain of engorgement lasting much longer than a day or two, and I didn’t even have the same problem with my second baby.

Don’t let the fear of engorgement stop you from nursing your baby. It’s merely a brief bit of discomfort you may or may not have to endure, but your baby will benefit greatly from your milk. Besides, if you’ve ever wanted to see what you might look like with a breast augmentation, now is your chance.

Tags: colostrum, nursing, swollen breasts