Oh My Aching Boobs

This is a somewhat whiney post as my boobs are currently bleeding since A has achieved teeth and decided to use them. B (yes, you are deserving of a literary letter :-) ) always said this was the dirty little secret of breastfeeding, and indeed it is. By the time the teeth come in you are generally committed for the long haul and slog on through, figuring why discourage others behind you by giving the painful details of what sharp little teeth not yet worn down by chewing can actually do to your nipples. And I suppose it is the right thing to do as at week 5 with C, had someone told me what was to come, I might have run and never turned back instead of becoming the slightly over zealous breastfeeding mommy that I am.

I had actually forgotten the teeth issue but at the first brush of those little sharp prongs it all came flooding back. "Ooooh. Not good," I thought with a mental sigh as I settled deeper into the glider in anticipation of what was to come.

This evening was particularly bad as I think she is working on her top teeth (fun fun and more fun). As I kept poping her off and doing the firm "No" routine, C leaned over her and wagged his finger back and forth saying "Baby, don't bite Mommy. Not nice. You drink mommy milk like good baby." Which cracked me up to no end as his biting phase makes her look like a meek little kitten.

When C started biting I shleped us to the lactation consultant because he would bite, I would scream and he would then refuse to nurse. I was convinced she would have some magical cure as she had done so well by me in the beginning. When she gingerly suggested that he was self weaning, I suprised myself (and her) by freaking out among all the poor horrified new mommies in the room dealing with latch issues. "I am NOT weaning this child after all we have been through. He is going to nurse until I say it is over and it is NOT over." I huffed out and never went back. We eventually worked through it (C likes to eat, and when push came to shove, food won) and happily kept nursing for many more months.

This time around I had no such illusions that the stage would miraculously go away and instead pulled out the lanolin and soothies. Fortunately, A is more of a nibbler. She chomps and then pops off to look at me as if to ask, "How about that? Is that OK?" This first time she did it the look she gave me was so amusing I made the mistake of laughing so she chowed down until I screamed. She seems to be responding to the pop off routine fairly well, which is giving me false hope that she will also respond well to all sorts of disciplining techniques as she grows up (a mommy can always hope, can't she?). But for now I guess I should just count my blessings that my boobs may survive this in slightly better shape than they did the last time...