Where to start...

C section baby, currently on pp day 3 or 4 (it's the middle of the night currently!)
Since being home, baby girl has not been feeding too well. She latches, but only for a few seconds then either falls asleep or just screams and cries and comes off. My milk is not in yet (I don't think?! But boobs are v hard and painful no change to feeding though) so she's getting bits of colostrum here and there. We have been doing a lot of hand expressing and pumping then using the syringes to feed her, on midwives advice. This works like a charm in terms of getting food in her, but doesn't help her take the breast. First home visit from midwife today was helpful but she was a bit concerned about how few wet nappies baby is producing. She's had some urate crystals in her nappy too, because she's obvs dehydrated from not feeding enough. She is going to call us tomorrow then visit again on Monday and see where we're at. Baby can latch, and clearly has the right instincts for food so I think we'll get there but right now, the screaming and lack of feeding is a massive struggle. We are trying to take it in turns to get bits of sleep here and there but she won't go down on her own, will only sleep on one of us (usually my partner because I clearly smell of milk. Currently she's asleep onme though, which is unusual, my partner is sleeping and I'm desperately trying not to fall asleep with her in my arms. Difficult to get up and walk around because of c section recovery.
Anyway, a long ramble but if anyone has any thoughts, advice, anything I'd massively appreciate it. I feel like if I can just get a decent stretch of sleep in me and/or a decent feed in her, I'd be able to manage it all a lot better. Thanks in advance!

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The hard fullness means your milk is likely in. That is engorgement and to prevent clogs, you need to remove milk via hand expression, pumping, or latching. Try a warm shower or gentle massage before expressing to soften the breast and encourage letdown.

For latching, use the CHINS technique. Hand express while baby is at the breast to keep milk flowing and keep her interested.

Since wet nappies are low, watch for actual swallows (deep jaw movements), not just sucks. That tells you milk is transferring.

You are in the thick of it. C-section plus day 3 to 4 is brutal. The syringe feeding is buying you time. Hang in there and keep expressing and feeding while your baby gets better at this. It’s not easy but try to empty your breast with pump and hand to keep your supply going. https://laleche.org.uk/signs-effective-feeding-early-days-2/

Can you top her up with formula to avoid dehydration? We had to do this with our first as we also weren’t getting enough wet nappies. We also got a private tongue tie assessment as 4 NHS midwives missed it and she was 80% tongue tied so always slipping off my boob. It was so frustrating for her and me. They said no wonder I couldn’t breast feed. Once we knew that, it really helped me as I was so upset why it wasn’t working for us. Good luck

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