flea

Without wanting to minimize your touch issues, I do not think you have even mild sensory integration problems. From all that I've read and studied of the subject, it's not something that afflicts fully functioning adults like yourself. I know a lot of women who could not tolerate being touched while pregnant, A LOT of women. I totally agree, however, that one needs to address one's own issues while parenting, and I think therapy's great. Motherhood is simply overwhelming, especially at first. The first months are HARD, very hard. Hell, it's still hard on me, but nowhere near as intensely demanding or anxiety-producing as those first months.

FWIW, establishing nursing wasn't rosy perfect for me, I just didn't bring it up at Buffistas. But my milk supply was low at first, and Frances sometimes had difficulty latching so I used a nipple shield. Actually, I came to really appreciate the thing because IT WORKED. So many new baby doo-dads don't work, but that one did. I used it for the first two or three months. I just flipped a big raspberry to the lactation lady who said I should rely on it and figured that Frances would eventually sort things out on her own. She did.

I'm not implying that you should try nursing again. I think if you've got a feeding plan that works, then go with it.