TTC/Pregnancy while Breastfeeding and Tandem Nursing: Information and Support

[blessedmomma]

hi ladies! no time to read all the posts, i have 6 children and homeschool the 3 older ones. i definitely belong here though.

we will be ntnp the rest of our lives so could have many more, wont know til life happens. i am currently bfing, and not cycling yet. he is almost 6 mos old and i read fertility can increase around that time slightly. i know everyones different. he is my first bfing experience, and even though it was filled with issues at first- im really loving it now! im so thankful the Lord gave me the strength to keep going.

i wanted to know if this is normal though...

the last couple months i have been having symptoms of ovulation and af, even though my cycles arent back. i feel dizzy and have light cramps and a couple weeks later i get really crampy like af is gonna start- but it doesnt. this month i took my temp the day after i felt dizzy and it was in the area its usually at after i ov. that was about 1 1/2 weeks ago. now im all crampy, but no af. could i be ov even though there is no af??? or is it just hormones trying to get back to normal? its very strange. any light on this would be lovely. we would love more children, although we arent actively trying or preventing.

and praying for those of you ttc right now, hope you are blessed very soon! well wishes to those who are pregnant as well

 

[soph77]

hi ladies! no time to read all the posts, i have 6 children and homeschool the 3 older ones. i definitely belong here though.

we will be ntnp the rest of our lives so could have many more, wont know til life happens. i am currently bfing, and not cycling yet. he is almost 6 mos old and i read fertility can increase around that time slightly. i know everyones different. he is my first bfing experience, and even though it was filled with issues at first- im really loving it now! im so thankful the Lord gave me the strength to keep going.

i wanted to know if this is normal though...

the last couple months i have been having symptoms of ovulation and af, even though my cycles arent back. i feel dizzy and have light cramps and a couple weeks later i get really crampy like af is gonna start- but it doesnt. this month i took my temp the day after i felt dizzy and it was in the area its usually at after i ov. that was about 1 1/2 weeks ago. now im all crampy, but no af. could i be ov even though there is no af??? or is it just hormones trying to get back to normal? its very strange. any light on this would be lovely. we would love more children, although we arent actively trying or preventing.

and praying for those of you ttc right now, hope you are blessed very soon! well wishes to those who are pregnant as well

For me mine came back at 6 months after feeling a little crampy for a couple of weeks. I was surprised because I didn't get af back until 10 months with my 1st ds and that was after he had stopped bfing altogether. I don't really have any help or answers for you

 

[blessedmomma]

forgot to add...

i have so many questions! i dont want to wean if we were to get pregnant. i have heard that your bm changes with the baby as they grow. how does that work while doing 2? which baby does it follow? i heard supply can drop from hormones, does it come back or not til you have the next baby? if it doesnt drop, will it drop after birth and you have to wait for it to come back like when your milk first comes in after having a baby?

sorry, i try to look these things up on the internet but there really is not many resources

 

[blessedmomma]

thanks soph77! its crazy how different it can be even with the same woman. i guess just like every pregnancy being different though. its wild not knowing what my body is doing. i must have some control issues or something. i just want to know lol!

 

[elohcin]

forgot to add...

i have so many questions! i dont want to wean if we were to get pregnant. i have heard that your bm changes with the baby as they grow. how does that work while doing 2? which baby does it follow? i heard supply can drop from hormones, does it come back or not til you have the next baby? if it doesnt drop, will it drop after birth and you have to wait for it to come back like when your milk first comes in after having a baby?

sorry, i try to look these things up on the internet but there really is not many resources

I have nursed through 2 of my pregnancies, tandem nursed through the most recent one. I have never completely lost my milk, but I know for a lot of women they lose it early on. Mine changes to colostrum early, like around 16 weeks, but I seem to have copious amounts and so I have never completely dried up. When I was already nursing during the pregnancy, after birth it was still "normal"...colostrum first, then milk, but it seemed to come in MUCH faster, like within a day.

Hi, btw! We are a homeschooling Christian family as well. (we are a ntnp family too, though it seems to be working out the other way for us, unfortunately...but I'm praying that will be different now!)

 

[blessedmomma]

forgot to add...

i have so many questions! i dont want to wean if we were to get pregnant. i have heard that your bm changes with the baby as they grow. how does that work while doing 2? which baby does it follow? i heard supply can drop from hormones, does it come back or not til you have the next baby? if it doesnt drop, will it drop after birth and you have to wait for it to come back like when your milk first comes in after having a baby?

sorry, i try to look these things up on the internet but there really is not many resources

I have nursed through 2 of my pregnancies, tandem nursed through the most recent one. I have never completely lost my milk, but I know for a lot of women they lose it early on. Mine changes to colostrum early, like around 16 weeks, but I seem to have copious amounts and so I have never completely dried up. When I was already nursing during the pregnancy, after birth it was still "normal"...colostrum first, then milk, but it seemed to come in MUCH faster, like within a day.

Hi, btw! We are a homeschooling Christian family as well. (we are a ntnp family too, though it seems to be working out the other way for us, unfortunately...but I'm praying that will be different now!)

awesome to meet you! i read your siggy, you sound like an excellent mom! so the colostrum that started at 16 weeks didnt bug your LO at all? i have a slight oversupply so im hoping if we were to get pregnant it wouldnt dwindle too much. my LO wont touch a bottle, even with my milk in it. he hates binkys too. i dont want to see him struggle if we were to get pregnant. someone told me if i let him go hungry enough he will take a bottle. i wouldnt want him to suffer like that though.

its amazing to me to hear of you moms that fed (are feeding) while pregnant! amazing women imo!!

is it normal to have a higher temp while bfing?

 

[blessedmomma]

elohcin- how old are your babies if you dont mind me asking??

ours are 13, 12, 5, 2 1/2, 18 mos, and 5 1/2 mos.

 

[Srrme]

I just thought I would drop in.

I have a 21 month old and an 8 month old who I am tandem nursing. My period hasn't returned since the birth of my youngest (it returned straight away after having my oldest) but we're NTNP.

 

[elohcin]

Mine are 6, 4, and 2.

The colostrum did get them more runny poo, but that's about it!

My temp has generally been lower than usual since having my first. I get postpartum hypothyroidism, but since my 3rd was born it stuck around and became much worse.

 

[blessedmomma]

oh no hun, that doesnt sound good. is there anything you can safely take while bfing to help??

my concern is if i lose supply and he weans if we get pregnant. i have dealt with so much and its now going smooth. i had bad latch, undersupply, oversupply, thrush, mastitis, blocked ducts a few times, vasospasms that are almost gone from meds but still come sometimes, he still has a top lip tie, and a mole (yes mole) that had to be removed. the mole never bugged me before, it was on the underside of my breast, but it was real painful and even bled after bfing. of course blistered, cracked, bleeding nipples too. funny thing is that i overcame sexual abuse from my childhood and healed enough to finally bf my 6th baby (so sad i missed out on the first 5 but really had a lot of physical aversion to the thought of bfing). i really thought it would go smooth from the start and if it didnt i would just stop. now i dont want to stop though. i have fallen in love with it.

it would be so ironic to me if after pushing through all that i had to stop because i got pregnant. it makes me so happy to find this thread for support and education!

 

[LoPanda]

Hi all, does any have experience with morning sickness medication while nursing? Really struggling with all day non stop sickness but dunno ifi'll be able to have meds whilst breast feeding x

 

[Betheney]

Hi all, does any have experience with morning sickness medication while nursing? Really struggling with all day non stop sickness but dunno ifi'll be able to have meds whilst breast feeding x

I would say if they're safe for an unborn baby, they're safe for a baby being breastfed.

I took maxalon for the first 14 weeks during morning sickness. But to be 100% honest i can't guarantee i even check with the doctor if it's okay. It didn't even cross my mind that because i'm breastfeeding it might not be okay. All that was going through my mind was "I CAN'T STOP THROWING UP GIVE ME ANYTHING!"

 

[Celesse]

Those already tandem feeding and wanting a third, will you stop feeding the older child before getting pregnant?

I'm starting to think about #3( in a few months time, fertility not showing any signs of returning), but the rate DD is going she isn't going to be weaning any time soon. I can see her going til 4+ if we continue to aim for self weaning.

 

[LoPanda]

Hi all, does any have experience with morning sickness medication while nursing? Really struggling with all day non stop sickness but dunno ifi'll be able to have meds whilst breast feeding x

I would say if they're safe for an unborn baby, they're safe for a baby being breastfed.

I took maxalon for the first 14 weeks during morning sickness. But to be 100% honest i can't guarantee i even check with the doctor if it's okay. It didn't even cross my mind that because i'm breastfeeding it might not be okay. All that was going through my mind was "I CAN'T STOP THROWING UP GIVE ME ANYTHING!"

Thanks Hun. That's exactly how I feel At the moment I think I'd have anything. Really don't even know how i'll gt through a long weekend then however long it takes for the doctors to fit me in for an appointment. Sounds like the meds really work though so I hope it improves things!

 

[Lauki]

I'm sure there's at least one lady on here who has experience with triandem feeding. I think I would. But I doubt we'll be having a third .

 

[Srrme]

Those already tandem feeding and wanting a third, will you stop feeding the older child before getting pregnant?

I'm starting to think about #3( in a few months time, fertility not showing any signs of returning), but the rate DD is going she isn't going to be weaning any time soon. I can see her going til 4+ if we continue to aim for self weaning.

I won't be weaning my oldest. I'll continue to feed both (and eventually three, haha).

 

[silver_penny]

I am still bfing both of my boys, and don't plan on stopping the nursing relationship unless either one of them want to stop, even after baby arrives.

 

[cookielucylou]

How have all your older children reacted when you have had a new baby to feed?
My toddler loves 'his' boobs and I'm a little worried how he is going to react to sharing.

 

[elohcin]

Those already tandem feeding and wanting a third, will you stop feeding the older child before getting pregnant?

I nursed all 3 of mine after my 3rd was born. By that time, though, my eldest wasn't nursing very frequently, so it didn't FEEL like I was nursing more than 2.

 

[Tacey]

How have all your older children reacted when you have had a new baby to feed?
My toddler loves 'his' boobs and I'm a little worried how he is going to react to sharing.

Tandem nursing seems to have been a big help in easing sibling rivalry for us. I was a bit worried, but Alice even suggests that I nurse Arthur when he cries. She loves 'mukmee at the same time', and moves my breast around to help her brother latch . She's a total boobie monster, so I was surprised at how easily she accepted having another baby using them. If I'd had twins, it may have been different, but there's one for each of them!