how is it different the 2nd time around?

[COgirl19]

We just found out we are pregnant with number 2! We are very excited and are going to breastfeed again. DD (2.5) was a great nurser and I was blessed to have no problems BFing until she was a little over 2. I am just wondering if/how it can be different the 2nd time? After DD weaned by breasts really shrank and now they are slowly coming back but not like they did in my first pregnancy. I am just curious to other's experiences.

[ElliesMomma]

i had trouble with #1 (jaundice, given bottles in hospital, then bad latch that lasted 10 weeks, considerable pain, but persisted, she is still nursing now at 3.5); i nursed through pregnancy and am now tandeming. with #2, i knew not to give bottles for jaundice. got the baby on my chest *immediately* after birth, nursed immediately and never stopped. coslept with him in the hospital and now at home. nurse nurse nurse all the time. no problems!

i don't keep track of the size of my breasts. big i guess, come to think of it, but no worries. just all around, an easier time nursing, for me.

[dogmom327]

I got pregnant with DD when DS was only 15 mo so my breasts never shrank--they just got bigger (which I honestly didn't think was possible; I ended up in a J cup!).

Overall though, #2 was so much easier. No comparison. I knew what I was doing and so I was able to guide her as well as be relaxed enough to watch her cues.

[thebigfam]

Originally Posted by ElliesMomma

i had trouble with #1 (jaundice, given bottles in hospital, then bad latch that lasted 10 weeks, considerable pain, but persisted, she is still nursing now at 3.5); i nursed through pregnancy and am now tandeming. with #2, i knew not to give bottles for jaundice. got the baby on my chest *immediately* after birth, nursed immediately and never stopped. coslept with him in the hospital and now at home. nurse nurse nurse all the time. no problems!

i don't keep track of the size of my breasts. big i guess, come to think of it, but no worries. just all around, an easier time nursing, for me.

Thank you for that! I had SO many problems with my first (jaundice, poor suck, LOW LOW LOW supply because of what was already mentioned) and I am worried it would happen again with this one. Thank you for your story! I hope mine turns out similarly!

Big Momma

[marrymeflyfree]

I'm 2 months in to breastfeeding #2, and was just thinking about this earlier today!

So far, the differences have been pretty striking. #1 just didn't want to nurse much at all until about day 3. Luckily I had a great LC who wasn't concerned. No one ever pushed formula, and we discovered that she had a voracious appetite once it got going! She would have been latched on nearly 24-7 if I hadn't needed the occasional pee or shower! (She would likely do the same now at 19 months, too, if I didn't have another babe to feed..) Her latch wasn't great at first, and I had terrible pain for the first 8 weeks or so.

Contrast all of that to #2: perfect latch right from the get-go (maybe because my nipples are larger now?), nursed happily and hungrily and for quite some time at her very first moment on the breast. (I find this interesting since #1 was a natural birth and #2 was a c-section, but I digress..) I had maybe one day of *slightly* sore nipples with #2, but it was easy and brief. Her personality at the breast is much different than #1. This baby doesn't need or want to nurse nearly as much as her older sister did. #1 would attack my nipples every time and never turned it down where this baby will lick a bit and then take a few 'appetizer' sucks before getting down to business - and she seems to get annoyed when I offer her the boob when she doesn't want it.

Things are a bit different on my end, too. With #1, I just had to have my perfect pillow arrangement *just right* in the early days, otherwise it was just awkward and uncomfortable. With #2, I was quite comfortable just holding her without all the accessories right from the beginning. Before I had the second baby, I'd have told you that I needed the pillows because she didn't have the muscle control to help us both out - but now I realize that it is just easier in many ways once you're experienced and confident (both with breastfeeding and with tiny babies in general!). Nursing my older daughter was really trying during those first few weeks, but it was truly a joyful experience right from the beginning with the new one.

[Bokonon]

With #2, I just felt so much more prepared and confident. #1 was born at 32 weeks and was in the NICU for 6 weeks, so I pumped and then it took a couple of months to get him really breastfeeding well. I had bad oversupply and never even knew that could be a problem - I would come out of the pumping room in the NICU with 10 oz. and the nurses would be amazed, but no one said it could be a bad thing! So trying to transition Doodlebug to the breast was challenging to say the least, and I just kind of muddled through. But we figured it out and nursed to 22 months. I never gave him a single bottle of formula (though I think he had a tiny bit in the hospital before my milk came in).

So when Peepers was born at 34 weeks, I was elated when she didn't need to go to the NICU right away and I was able to nurse her when I got out of recovery. And she latched! At 34 weeks, with no labor, she knew what to do! Unfortunately she had magnesium toxicity (I had been on mag. sulfate for a week for preeclampsia) and had to go to the NICU, so I pumped - but I knew that when my milk came in, to be careful of oversupply, so I pumped 5-6 times a day because she wasn't even eating when my milk came in.

When she came home at 10 days old, she took to the breast very well, and when I had a stomach virus or H1N1 5 days later, I ditched the pump and she has been exclusively on the breast ever since.

I have never timed her feedings or counted how many times she feeds in a day. I know that my body is doing what it needs to do to feed and grow my baby, and she is thriving!