Seriously???? That's All?

So I am trying to solve the plugged duct in my left nipple. (Oh yeah, I should have warned about the TMI coming up....) And I go from the 24mm breastshields to the 27mm ones. I use those for a couple of days, pumping 8 times per day, and something happens. Pain. And swelling of areas you do not want to be swollen. And I can't see because I am up close and personal. So I stand topless in the bathroom and call John in to see if he can see anything wrong. And he says, "Oh my God, Andrea, you're bruised!" Yep, my girls are bruised. Actually bruised. And so I make a 9-1-1, code-blue trip to the Women's Wellness Boutique at the hospital, which is where I buy all of my nursing paraphenalia (both because they either have anything I could possibly need, or can order it with just a phone call, and I get an employee discount). And they help me do some research. And we watch videos online of correctly fitting breastshields. And we realize that I have been using the wrong sizes all along.

So let's recap: Pump In Style Advanced ($300), Freestyle ($400), Reglan, Fenugreek, Blessed Thistle, Alfalfa, pumping pumping pumping, Breastfeeding Medicine specialists, visits to lactation, different bras thinking that the ones I had were cutting into me and causing the plugged ducts and thus decrease in supply. Lab test to check my thyroid. Biting the bullet and buying the $2K hospital-grade pump...

And I spend $10 on a set of shields in the next size up and actually pump double my average pumping yield in the first time I used them.

You have got to be kidding me.

I feel like a moron. And am having flashbacks of the first time I spoke to a LC about the drop in my supply. When we were puzzled that despite Zach's poor latch, my pumping with a good quality pump was not able to keep my supply up. And I started doing anything and everything to get it back up. And she aked me, "Andrea, do the flanges fit well?" And I said yes, thinking to myself, "Well duh!". But they didn't.

I found the solution. I'm glad it was such a simple one. I wish it had come sooner. I hope it isn't too late to fix it.