Nursing, pregnant - no breast pregnancy symptoms: normal?

[kitikatuka]

I'm newly pregnant (about 5 weeks) and am nursing my nearly 17 month old 2-3 times/day. My milk supply dropped significantly almost immediately, although she is still happily nursing away and "reports" (with a nod) that she is, in fact, getting milk. I used to feel my let down (painfully) but that has also gotten much more mild.

My questions are about breast-related pregnancy symptoms - or my lack thereof - and what to possibly expect. In my first pregnancy, my breasts became very tender early on, and also got bigger. With this pregnancy, my breasts felt like they were heading into tender-territory, but that hasn't increased - I feel no tenderness. What's that about? And, they are smaller than ever -- could this be because my milk dropped? Will these things start to happen?

I'm curious about your experiences in nursing/pregnancy - how did this stuff work out for you. I'll also admit here that I've had previous losses and am feeling very anxious about my lack of pregnancy symptoms. Having sore boobs was oddly comforting last time! Thank you for your thoughts.

[Catherine12]

My ds (16 months when I got pregnant) was still nursing when I got pregnant with my third child. He ended up weaning a couple months into the pregnancy (not sure if this was caused by my pregnancy or not).

I remember having a lack of breast-symptoms then too. In fact, I had less pregnancy symptoms in general than in my other, non-nursing pregnancies. I didn't start getting morning sickness until after ds weaned (it set in pretty much immediately after he weaned and I've always wondered if there was a connection). I don't think nursing during pregnancy had any ill effects on me or the baby.

I think the longer you nurse the less you feel it - my breasts are just much less tender now, after three kids, than they ever were before. I used to get breast tenderness around my period, and now I get hardly any. I say, enjoy it and don't worry.