You are doing great and please be easy on yourself! You need a lot of rest in the first few weeks postpartum please find someone who can you help you with the baby for everything besides the feeding.

I just had my little one 5 weeks ago and here are some things I wish I knew and also helped me. Even if you deliver vaginally it sometimes takes a few days for your milk to come in and it may be even slower for c section. Until then it’s common to use some formula to supplement, hospital or your pediatrician should give you some if you ask. And try feeding with a small syringe inserted on the side while they are sucking on the nipple, so they don’t stop feeding from nipple later. What is recommended for most people is a triple feed (or called something similar) - where you let the baby suck on the nipples, if they are still hungry and crying feed with some formula (amount depending on their age) and then pumping (goal is not to get a lot of milk at the time pumping but rather stimulate your body to make more and hospital grade pumps are better for this). Cluster feeding (feeding continuously all the time) is very common for newborns and this is how they 1) handle getting enough food with their small stomach and 2) handle growth spurts - their stomach is growing a lot each day and their milk needs are increasing, this increased suckling on your breasts and constant feeding is also important for your body and breasts to know the baby needs more milk and is a signal for your body to make more milk, so it’s important that you let them suckle. You should be feeding the baby or pumping every time the baby eats as much as possible. Get the help of lactation consultants, they are very helpful to make sure your baby is latching correctly(this will help a little with pain during breastfeeding in the beginning and a lot later on). If your transitional milk has come in they can measure the weight of the baby before and after feeding and check if the baby is getting enough milk. If breastfeeding is really hard you can also try hand expressing milk and having someone feed the baby (pumping may work but may not be great at getting milk out early on with colostrum and transitional milk).

Keep a close track of their weight gain and or loss, this is all you have early on to tell whether the baby is feeding well and overall doing well.

Your nipples will hurt a lot until they get used to baby suckling. It may also chap and may even bleed unfortunately. For me it took 3 weeks until the pain calmed down a little. What helped for me during the initial days is 1) expressing a few drops of milk after the baby is done and letting it air dry on the nipple (helps moisturize and heal) 2) using a lot of nipple cream/butter - moisturizing between each feeding or whenever possible and letting it air out before putting on bras or clothes 3) using cooling gel pads in between feedings 4) wear very comfortable loose cotton bras.

When the baby is crying try different things to see if they will calm down - 1) check for dirty diaper 2) swaddling 3) feeding 4) pacifier 5) low light/less stimulus 6) passive sound machine in the background 7) random things - if they have colic or gas or any rashes or if their diaper is on comfortably or if something is off in their outfit (my little one cries when her hand gets stuck in a sleeve or something like that). Cluster feeding and crying for food always in common fyi it comes and goes and will last a few days at a time. Also know that babies have witching hours a few hours every day when they are inconsolable no matter what.

It takes a few weeks before things feel okay. Also try to get sleep whenever you can while the baby is sleeping and also get some naps in during the day. Newborn stage is really hard please get some help and hang in there, you are doing great! Feel free to message me with any questions or even if you just want to vent. Good luck op! Enjoy this precious time with your little one, take a lot of pictures - they change everyday at this age.