Mums/Moms after Recurrent Losses (MARL) - Come join us!

[melfy77]

Starry: Sorry about AF being such a...witch!! I haven't had a period yet, and hoping I won't have one for a VERY long time. I had a bit of spotting when Zoe was 3 months but I got pregnant right away with Alexa so haven't had a proper period since May...2012!! And i don't miss the witch

Dairy:

 

[vietmamsie]

Your period sounds horrible! I am so sorry. Not looking forward to that! I am Lucky I guess that I haven't gotten mine back yet. I am hoping that between the 6 months of EBFing and then slooowwwly getting into solids with BLW, I will keep the witch at bay for another few months.

I got toxic shock syndrome when I was a teen and was told that I can never use a tampon again because I'm allergic to the powder they use in them. Not ever supposed to have anything in there for a long time so can't use a diva cup either. Between an eating disorder that brought AF to a stand still for 4 years, then BCP that made it very light, and then irregular periods while we ttc, pregnancy and now breastfeeding.... I have really only had a handful of real periods in the last decade. Not looking forward to getting them back at all! We live in the tropics and without a tampon, they are really just a stinky mess :/

 

[Starry Night]

I'm feeling much better now. I think my period is over now. It's day 8 and only some brown spotting but even that seems to be going away. It's normal for me to bleed through a tampon every 2 hours on my first two days so I'm used to heavy flows. This was something else. I don't think most women have first periods like me though so try not to worry. I was already having iron issues before DD was born so I'm guessing that hasn't helped. Really hoping my cycles settle down soon!

I'm not a bleeder when I get cuts. My wounds tend to heal quickly. It's just my reproductive organs that give me trouble. My DD's pregnancy was also the first one to not have a clot/SCH. Oh well.

And DD's poops have returned to normal while still on the full lactose formula so I think it was just adjusting to the new formula.

dairy - your babies must have been tiny. My DD is 4 1/2 months and is in her 9 month clothes already. Her length is 85th percentile though. Taking after her daddy. LOL I'm short and stumpy. My weight is clinging on too. I think it's all of my stretched-out skin. I"m in my prepregnancy jeans now and they're getting loser too. But the scale is staying at about 10 pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight.

 

[petitpas]

Oh Starry, that sounds awful! I didn't have af visit until 18 months after ds was born as I was still feeding through the night. Have you ever been checked out for your heavy periods?
Congratulations on the cheaper baby poops

Dairy. I never had problems with my milk but I was wondering - how do you know you have a supply issue? What's the symptom, as such? (not criticising, just nosey)

I stayed a bit heavier until I weaned ds. Until then I wasn't bothered. It wasn't much weight and I enjoyed eating so much I might make more of an effort this time round... Maybe...

 

[dairymomma]

Starry-she was a wee one at 6lb9oz but the irony is she was my biggest baby (at birth) so far. My DS and DD1 were 6lb3oz and 5oz14oz respectively and both have stayed firmly in the 25-35 percentiles for height and weight since they were born. LO is 10th percentile for weight but 50th percentile for height so she's long and lean. I'm thinking she'll be like my dad who is tall and slender. Everyone else on both sides is short.

Petit-I know I'm having supply issues because of how much I can pump first thing in the morning. Two months ago, I could get 1.5 oz for every hour between feedings. A month ago, it had dropped to 1oz for every hour. Now? I'm lucky if I can get 7oz after a 9 hour night. No engorgement after a 9 hour night either. Sure I feel full, but I'm not overly full iykwim? And I'm having to supplement at least once a day because LO is still hungry even after nursing for an hour and a half.

 

[petitpas]

Dairy, I would never have known as I didn't pump regularly. Sometimes I got milk out and sometimes I didn't J used to cluster feed most evenings but I put it down to tanking up for the night. I don't know whether he was properly hungry like your lo, though. I have to say, I was quite haphazard with the feeding and once I didn't even realise J was going through a growth spurt and draining me until I almost passed out on the street Thankfully, I was near my friend's flat and could go there to lie down

 

[Tasha]

Hi girls. I hope you don't mind me popping in, I was thinking of you and your babies, so I thought I would pop in and say hi and see how you all are x

 

[dairymomma]

Hi Tasha! Hope everything is going well for you.

AFM-AF showed for the first time. I thought it was going to be bad because CD2 was 'the floodgates are open!' heavy and I had some cramping but that was 2 days ago and I'm down to intermittent light flow now. :shrugs: I can live with that I guess. I just wish my milk hadn't literally dried up overnight. It's slowly coming back now that AF is gone but it was low to begin with so I have pretty much nothing. I can nurse/pump 2-3 times a day total now. But I told DH that maybe I should just stop. I bought an exercise program (P90X) that I want to start and I know my milk is going to dry up even more once I start that, and I feel like the combi feeding is disrupting LO's digestive system too much. If she gets more than 6oz of formula a day, she starts having stiff poops and gets really gassy. I think it would be better to have her exclusively on one or the other so her system can adjust accordingly. But I don't know. I'm going to get another type of formula next week to see if it helps at all and we'll go from there. She's 4 months next week so I feel like I met my goal there. I'm still hoping I can combi-feed until at least 6 months but we'll have to see how that goes.

 

[petitpas]

Dairy, if you would like to keep feeding maybe try seeing a bf consultant? They usually have good suggestions and will be able to help regarding the poo situation. At four months babies have a higher demand for milk and this seems to be the hardest time to continue. If you get through the growth spurt you should be able to continue feeding for however long you like

 

[melfy77]

Dairy: I second Petitpas, try putting your LO at the breast as much as possible to increase your milk production. As for your exercise program, what makes you think it will affect your milk supply? I was underweight to begin with but between breastfeeding and taking care of the girls I don't really have time to eat so I lost an extra 6 lbs (puts me at 89lbs which is just ridiculous lol) and it never affected my supply. I am taking extra calcium to make sure I get enough (I only drink milk in my latte or cappuccino). I did notice that eating oatmeal seems to increase my supply, as do lactation cookies. Maybe you could try this before your exercise program and see if it makes a difference, and if so, slowly start your program. But I`ve heard that some women have a very hard time losing weight while breastfeeding, and quickly lose some when they stop.

 

[Starry Night]

No real tips on helping with the supply as I struggled too and hated BF on top of all that so didn't really put in much of a fight. Yet, in spite of all that, when I did quit it took forever this time for my milk to dry up (with DS my breasts went dry by the next day). After a week of FF I decided to put DD back on the breast to see what would happen and I could tell she was getting something but that familiar anxious and depressed feeling began to overwhelm me as the letdown began and I remembered why I quit. I didn't get that warm rush of positive hormones during nursing.

I did lose 30 pounds those first 3 weeks when I was nursing....

I think my anemia is rearing it's ugly head again. That last AF was pure hell. I'm starting to feel breathless and tight-chested like I did at the end of my pregnancy. I was up nearly the entire night because I couldn't breathe deeply enough. Even being propped up didn't help much. I took an anti-anxiety med to help me sleep and it did relax my body but the chest tightness remained so at least now I know it's not simply pyscho-symptomatic (sp? you know what I mean) I'm dizzy a lot too and sore in my pelvic region. I have another appointment coming up soon to go over my anti-depression medication so I'll bring up my iron issues then.

 

[petitpas]

Starry, breathing problems are never good. Please get checked out sooner rather than later

Regarding bf, I didn't lose weight but I did eat a lot without putting much on hello, cake and ice cream!
I also had porridge for breakfast most mornings. I don't know whether that helped but it tasted nice (with golden syrup). Yum!

 

[dairymomma]

I just know from previous experience that increasing my activity level always means a decrease in milk supply. It's like I can't drink enough fluid to keep my milk going if I'm working out. And I NEED to work out. I need to do it for my health and my sanity. It's my ME time and lord knows I could use the endorphin rush. And like starry says, I'm not really getting that 'yay, she's nursing' feeling this time. I'm sad actually that I'm not doing the best with nursing this time round but it's not good for me mentally if I'm sitting there getting stressed about it either. I loved it at first but now I feel almost jittery and anxious when I feed her. I honestly feel like it would be best for everyone if I switched her to formula and was able to focus on my own health for a while. But even though I'm struggling and stressing about nursing, I also don't want to fully quit either because I know even the little bit she's getting is beneficial. So I don't know. And I've been trying all the other methods for increasing supply too-increased water, fennel, Mother's Milk tea, lactation cookies, etc. and nothing is really working. It just makes me more frustrated. So my plan is just to keep nursing her the few times a day that I can and see how things go.

 

[petitpas]

Dairy, I've heard of a lot of women switching to one morning and one evening feed and maintaining that for quite a long time. Especially Mums who go back to work. Exclusively feeding isn't for everyone and you would still be giving your lo antibodies etc when combi-feeding. So rather than make yourself miserable maybe pick a certain number of feeds you would feel comfortable with and focus on just those?
By all means speak to a bf consultant of some kind to help make those feeds as easy as possible for you

 

[dairymomma]

She's pretty well on a morning/evening schedule (with a midday feeding or two though she doesn't get much) right now so I'm going to stick with that. I feel so much more comfortable with nursing now when I've decided to not worry about it and just combi-feed til I can't nurse anymore. It's not a failing on my part. This is just how it is this time.

 

[petitpas]

Absolutely no failing! You've done well to come so far with bf
I know I've been lucky to easily bf my son for a long time but I like to think I'd have been comfortable with feeding formula, too. Let's see what this next baby is like...

 

[wookie130]

There is NO failing when it comes to feeding your baby, honestly. There just isn't, and I wish all women could really process and see this!

Combi-feeding is one of those things that is seriously underrated, IMO. You can enjoy the best of both worlds, and no, it doesn't have to utterly destroy your supply. It has worked very well for lots and lots of women, and for some, the use of formula has allowed many mothers to CONTINUE breastfeeding!

 

[melfy77]

There is NO failing when it comes to feeding your baby, honestly. There just isn't, and I wish all women could really process and see this!

Combi-feeding is one of those things that is seriously underrated, IMO. You can enjoy the best of both worlds, and no, it doesn't have to utterly destroy your supply. It has worked very well for lots and lots of women, and for some, the use of formula has allowed many mothers to CONTINUE breastfeeding!

Totally agree!! I did the same for DD1, although not fr very long, and she's super healthy, smart...and skinny lol She just cannot sit still!!

 

[dairymomma]

I saw my naturopathic doctor yesterday and he said something that totally makes sense. He told me to approach nursing as 'medicine not as food'. So yes, she's getting the antibodies and the therapeutic benefits of breast milk but I'm not pressured to use that as her only food source. And I don't feel like this is a failing on my part. But sometimes I feel like wearing a shirt that says, "I'm sorry but my boobs aren't as bountiful as they look. Don't judge."

 

[petitpas]

To be honest, you're probably more judged these days when you get your bountiful ones out to feed in public
As one of my friends put it: At least you don't show my boyfriend both your boobs at once...