Getting my nipple pierced was painful. Not nearly as painful as giving birth, I now know, but painful still. Having an ample bosom meant that the first couple of days any movement, especially laughter or movement that caused bouncing, was painful. I also slept with a bra on for the first few weeks just to make sure I didn't bump or snag the piercing at night.
The nipple piercing healed quite well and I never had any problems with infections. I ended up taking it out after some time because I started getting these sudden and sharp pains in my nipple, right around the piercing. I have no idea what they were and never had the pains again once I took the piercing out. It was such a pity and I was always a bit sad about it, but not enough to get it redone. Plus, Mr Siili wasn't and isn't too excited about "strange" piercings.
Fast forward 16 years to a couple of weeks ago when Paxlet was born.
I first nursed Paxlet on my right breast and everything was fine. When it came time to feed him with my left nipple, I noticed that the nipple itself was a bit smaller/shorter and that he had a slightly harder time getting latched on. This was especially the case once my milk came in and my breast was engorged and hard. I'm assuming that the reason my nipple is a bit smaller, or rather shorter, is because when it was pierced, a chunk of flesh was removed to make room for the jewelry (that's what hollow needles do and they are what should be used when getting piercings done).
Now that Paxlet and I have had some time to get used to breast feeding, the left nipple doesn't seem to pose any problems and he is able to feed just fine with it. The milk is still able to flow through the nipple and BabyBoy eats like normal.
Knowing now, what I didn't know then, getting my nipple pierced might not have been the smartest thing to do. But we do all sorts of things, smart and not so smart, when we are young and only hindsight is 20/20. I'm just thankful that everything still works as it should and I can feed my baby boy.
