Want to hear from BTDT moms re: nursing thru pregnancy

[babygrey]

My DD is just over the one year mark. We are TTC our next child. I'm completely on board with tandem nursing and nursing during pg (assuming I can *get* pg while nursing, but that's another forum... )

In the past few week, tho, I've heard some stories that have given me pause to wonder if I'm going to regret nursing during pg. Basically, my DD is way too young to wean. She's not anywhere near showing signs of wanting to reduce nursing. I don't want to inadvertently put her in a situation where we would have to wean before she was ready.

Can BTDT moms tell me about your experiences with nursing thru pregnancy? If I do conceive, is there a way to assure she will continue to be able to BLW?

ETA: I have some reproductive health issues and right now really is the time to be TTC'ing our next (tho I won't wean/reduce DD to get pg), so I'm not considering *not* TTC, I just want to know what I'm in for with nursing thru pg/tandeming

[Peony]

Honestly, I love nursing, but I loathe nursing while pg. I have done it through two pgs and hated every second o it. The nipple pain is really bad for me, I lose my milk supply right away, the creepy crawlies are horrid. I would just want to throw the nursing child off my lap and run down the street screaming. I do it because my children still have a huge need to nurse and I am not going to take that away just because I decided to get pg, it made both my nurslings drop down their nursings to almost nothing during the course of each pg. I did have an issue with DD2, she was 1 when I pg with DS and eating food but when I lost my milk, she lost weight. Like 6 lbs in a month. That made me really regret my decision to get pg sooner rather than later. I do like to warn moms that nursing while pg may not be anywhere near your current nursing relationship.

[woodchick]

DD1 was just 2 when DD2 was conceived. She nursed 6-8 times a day for the first 14ish weeks of the pregnancy when she suddenly dropped to twice daily. She didn't complain and I assume it was a drop in supply. After DD2 was born she ramped back up for a while, but tandom nursing was instrumental in fostering a smooth transisiton from being an only to being a big sister. She is nursing once every couple of days now and she is just shy of 4.

I found that I went through a roller coaster of feelings while nuring during pregnancy. Sometimes it hurt like heck and I really disliked it. Then it would be fine. Then not so fine. Darn hormones! I spent a lot of time mentally disengaging while nursing, but DD1 needed the connection time so I worked through it.

My eldest was older than yours is now, so I don't know how that might effect things, but I haven't regretted going through the pain and bad feelings that I experienced on occassion during pregnancy. Good luck!

[redvlagrl]

DD is 18 mths and I am 39 weeks pregnant and have nursed throught this pregnancy. Because DD was only 10 mths when we TTC, there was no way I was going to wean.

Luckily, my milk pretty much stayed in the whole time, though it did decrease after about 29 weeks and now it's pretty much colostrum. I had pain during the first tri, but that went away and it's been fine ever since, except for the general toddler discomforts, like contorting while nursing and twiddling the other nipple.

[aylaanne]

I just had baby #2. In the hospital, the pediatrician said to me, "so this is your second time breastfeeding?" and I said, "well, technically, it's still my first time!" DS never seemed to be bothered by the lack of milk or the change from milk to colostrum and back again.

However, I had SUPER sore nipples through most of my pregnancy, and I got blisters. I think my montgomery glands stopped producing as much lubrication or whatever it is they do, and I used a lot of lanolin. I did get the creepy crawlies sometimes, but I used it as an opportunity to teach DS that sometimes, he wouldn't be able to have "guik" because either I'd be touched out or the baby would need some. He didn't like me putting limits on it, but it had to happen.

If he had chosen to wean because the milk was gone, i would have been fine with that. He turned two when i was about six months pregnant.

[pbjmama]

I had no problems nursing during pregnancy, dd was conceived when ds was 13 months (first month ttc). I tandem nursed for 16 months and then weaned my ds at 3.5 years. The only problem is that you just don't know what will happen until it happens. I had milk most of my pregnancy but some women seem to dry up immediately. I didn't have much pain at all. No morning sickness, just very light nausea for a couple of weeks.

[Katie T]

DS was around a yr when I got PG with DD2 and I was fine in the beginning, and then I got the nipple soreness, creepy crawlies, all that. I stuck with it because I knew he still needed it, and now looking back I am so glad I did! It was worth it in the end 10 fold.

[Dov'sMom]

DS1 was 5 months old when DS2 was conceived (not TTC, but not avoiding either). He nursed avidly throughout the pregnancy, though there was virtually no milk -- in fact, we had to fight with him to take formula when he was losing weight and getting dehydrated. He kept nursing avidly when DS2 was born and for more than a year thereafter was by far the more enthusiastic of the two.

DS1 was 30 months and DS2 16 months when DS3 was conceived. Tandem nursing during pregnancy drove me crazy, so the first limitation was no tandeming. Then I ended up cutting them down to twice a day , morning and night, because it was painful for me and taking up huge chunks of time. Toward the end of the pregnancy, DS1's nursings would last minutes, and he weaned with some gentle encouragement when DS3 was 6 weeks old. DS2 and DS3 going strong.

[Burnindinner]

I got pregnant when DS was about 11 months old. I had a supply dip for a week or two, but then it went back to normal, I think. I am not sure, I don't pump so I didn't have anything to measure by.

DS kept nursing like it's his job. He never slowed down. Right now he is 17.5 mo and nurses first thing in the morning, down for a nap (once or twice depending on day), and before bed, then sometimes once or twice overnight.

I will go through times where it is really uncomfortable. I believe this is related to hormone changes and breast changes during pregnancy. It will last for a few days to a week or two, then it is OK again. Sometimes nursing is just incredibly overstimulating and makes my skin CRAWL. Other moms suggested this is a good time to practice relaxation exercises for birth! So far we are making it.

Eating enough was a problem for me in the first trimester. If I didn't get enough protein, I felt GROSS and was not hungry, just sick feeling. That is starting to come back (I'm just about 34 weeks).

Pregnancy has been an intense emotional roller coaster. Another, oh by the way, is that I had to be hospitalized overnight once due to placenta previa. I am fortunate that it was just once, DS was already 17 months, and it was just 24 hours. He seems OK, but keep in mind there is a possibility you'll have a complicated pregnancy, so make a plan for how you will handle that. Bf'ing hasn't caused contractions for me, but if it had, we would have had to figure out what to do.

[mamadelbosque]

DS1 nursed through my pregnancy w/ ds2 - he was 20 months when I got pregnant. The nipple pain really is fairly astounding, and I seriously discouraged nursing because of it. He weaned a couple months after ds2 was born, though he'd only nursed occasionally (maybe 2x a week) for the last couple months of my pregnancy. Good luck!!!

[1babysmom]

I have nursed through 2 pregnancies and there are some rough patches (slight soreness in the beginning but not bad at all, LOTS of soreness at the end of my pg's but just at latch and it goes away after a few minutes), but we've made it through both with no weaning (and I even nightweaned each girl during the pregnancies). I never "lost" my milk, changed to colostrum early but I make a lot of that (I just make a lot of everything that comes from my boobs- period ). I'm now nursing all 3 of them and I'm so glad we didn't wean either girl because of pregnancy.

[emamum]

my dd is 13 months and i'm 25 weeks pg, my supply isnt fantastic atm but its not been too bad... it was painfull at first with the breastpain you get in early pg but it went away... the best thing was that i only got morning sickness once a week for 5 weeks!! i found that it can be because of the breastfeding hormones after being really sick with my other 2 pregnancies it was great!

[langdonslady]

I was totally on board with nursing past infancy, tandem nursing, and child-led weaning with my first, whom I had struggled so hard for, to overcome serious nursing hurdles, and succeeded. I wasn't giving up that nursing relationship lightly. So when I got pg with #2 when she was nearly 2 1/2, I planned on nursing through pregnancy.
As others said, your mileage may vary. Some women are fine with it, others can't, others dry up or like me, get such serious hormonally-driven "heeby jeebies" that they just cannot continue trying to nurse while pg.

I couldn't do it. I even heard that if you push through the heebies the first tri, they go away, yet they were so bad for me that there was no way. It was horribly painful, and aside from that, strange strong negative feelings came over me and I wanted to shove her away. These feelings, I think, were hormonally driven, not some psychological thing.

So I weaned her. It was ok. It was not traumatic at all, just that she fell asleep in my mother's arms 2 nights in a row after getting longer stories than usual, and after that, I dried up.

Now, with DS, he is 2 1/2, I am not pg, and premenstrually, I get a mild case of heebies. For a while I got serious nipple pain at ovulation, and now I don't, but the overwhelming sensation of "ICK! GET THIS KID OFF ME!" is there. I really can't help it.
I really had planned on doing child-led weaning with him, because I know 3 women who nursed til their child was 4 or 5, and I was up for that, in my mind, but now it seems that physically, it's not that easy for me.

So my thought is, don't be too hard on yourself, and just see what you and your body are up to. We aren't all the same, and some of us (like me) have funky hormone situations like high testosterone and possibly perimenopause to contend with.
I feel a bit sorry if I end up weaning my son before he would choose, but not like I would then be an evil person, because if the heebies get bad enough that I am choking back the urge to run screaming each time he nurses, that is when it is time to quit. That is the time when the negatives outweigh the positives.

Hormones are powerful things, and I personally think my son is better off weaned at 2 1/2 with a calm loving mother, than continuing to nurse while it sets my teeth on edge and makes me feel horrid toward him.

If this feeling passes when I get my period, as it has so far, I will just keep nursing, and try to get through the next occurrence next cycle. If it keeps on feeling this bad, though, I will go ahead and wean, much as I would rather not have to.
I know from experience we will both survive, and I will be a better mother not fighting the hormonal horrors, in that case.

Hoping it will be better, and different, for you. But forgiving myself that I am not like some other women for whom this never became an issue. You just can't tell how it will be for you until you try. Good luck and positive vibes in any case!