New here - pregnant and nursing...

[geogirl]

Hi There I believe I belong in this forum. I tested positive today, and my last menstrual period started June 12. The last week was crazy with negative tests, tests that turn positive later and no period. SO I waited a few days and finally tested again and here I am.

Ok who has nursed through a pregnancy here? My little guy is only 18 months and I really don't want him to wean, he is so young. DOes anyone have ideas on keeping milk supply up? I am really worried about this.

Thanks...

Rebecca - oh and congratulations to you all!!

[Patchfire]

Well, I haven't nursed through a pregnancy, but I may be doing so!

Dd still nurses at night, so it works out to 1-2x per 24 hours. I know she's getting older, and there's a chance she'll wean herself because of the prenancy... but I'll never know when she would have weaned herself otherwise, you know? And at this point, she's so old (lol) that she might just persist and keep nursing until the baby's born. Then I'd end up tandem nursing a newborn and a four and a half year old .

No real advice for you, but have you looked at the book Adventures in Tandem Nursing? I think the author's Hilary Flower (Flowers?). I read through it a couple of months ago and most of the advice is geared to people in your situation, more, with a younger eldest child.

Congratulations!

[Finnsma]

Hi Rebecca! Welcome and congrats!

My 3 yr old (dd) nursed through my 2 yr old's (ds) pg and for over a year and a half after. He was born when she was 20 months. Fortunately by the time my supply diminished as is normal she was no longer nursing for nutrition so much as for comfort. I don't know about the safety of any of the milk increasing herbs/meds and pg. Honestly, I just don't worry about it, it's just part of nature. If your cutie continues to nurse regularly you'll continue to produce milk, though towards the middle of the pg it could be very little. DD didn't seem to mind that lack of milk, she continued to swallow while nursing just not as often as before and it didn't seem to bother her. Some kids will stop nursing during pg and begin again once the baby is born. I've heard the taste of milk changes during pg, so that can also be a factor that we have no control over. My best advice, and it's cheap so take it as you like , is relax and go with the flow. If you stress about your milk, both your milk and your children will be affected.

DS is 'of course' still nursing so I'm in your shoes again. It was so funny with dd, at 28 weeks she came off the breast and said, "MMMmmmm YUMMY!" My colostrum had come in! I continued to make colostrum through delivery and Koen got the usual 2-3 days of colostrom too! Just has nature designed it! How cool is that?! Oh and Gretchen gained about 8-9 pounds in those 2 1/2 months! LOL

There are several of us Marchies that are nursing and pg but I don't know how many have already done it. I'm sure they'll speak up. Best of luck to you and I look forward to getting to know you!

Ok... must find coffee... I just woke up from 9 hours of sleep and feel like I only slept maybe 3! :LOL

[mimim]

Another nursing and pg mama here!

This is also my first time bfing during pregnancy, and I'm wondering if my milk will dry up too. My DS is 26 months, though, so it's not as much of a nutrition issue for us. I have a feeling that my little one will keep nrsing even if there's no milk left. I'm pretty sure my supply has dropped already and he's been nursing about 2 or 3 times as often to compensate.

To be perfectly honest, I'm already a little annoyed by it. I hope I can make it through the pregnancy, because I think that if I wean it could cause some resentment of the new baby.

[pixiemama]

Yet another pg and nursing mama. I nursed my DS through my second pregnancy. He self weaned at 21 mos (I was about 6 mos pg) and while I was sad, I was also a little happy b/c my nipples were killing me! DD (22 mos) is still nursing and I am hoping she doesn't wean (ask me again in a few mos though). It's more b/c I'm attached to her thatn the other way around though. :LOL

[SagMom]

This is my first time nursing during a pregnancy. Glad to see that I have company!

Finnsma, do you remember having any cramping while nursing during your pregnancy? I shouldn't even call this cramping, it's so slight...just wondering what's "within normal."

[Finnsma]

Hi Joan! Welcome and congrats! I seem to remember slight cramping early on while nursing but that could have very well simply been my being hyper sensitive and nervous after mulitple m/cs. I think if they're so faint you can barely call them cramping, I wouldn't worry about them. Now if they change into significant cramping that's painful I would be more worried. Later in pg I would get the occational BH contrax while nursing but I don't think they were actually caused by nursing, just normal pg stuff that happened to happen while nursing.

Best of luck to you!

[SagMom]

Thanks! I feel better now.

[muse]

I'm here too, 5 weeks pg and nursing my 2.5 yr old 3x a day. So far it's fine, but I am sooooo exhausted I wonder if nursing is exacerbating that on top of all the pg stuff?

[JennInSeattle]

I'm here too and tested positive today. It's still pretty light but darker than all my m/c's.

I'm nursing my 11 month old currently and hopefully this baby will stick with us and I'll let you know how we do nursing and pregnant.

[Gale Force]

Congratulations Jenn.

[JennInSeattle]

Originally Posted by Gale Force

Congratulations Jenn.

Aww, thank you!

[rad]

I'm here too. Pregnant and nursing my 13 month old several times a day still. I really would like to let her self wean. My DS weaned weeks before I got pg with DD, so this is a new experience for me. My nipples are already killing me but I figure it'll be good pratice for labor.

[JennInSeattle]

I found this article interesting and helpful: http://www.lalecheleague.org/NB/NBJulAug00p116.html

[kimisaur]

With my first I nursed until I was 6 months or so... DS self-weaned then, when I think the milk dried up. He was 18 months, and I was ready for it. This baby is a bit different, since it's a big Ooops. DS is only 11 months old, (8 months adjusted since he was a preemie) so I really need to be able to nurse for several more months. We'll see how it goes!

-Kimberly

[NaturalBeauty]

Pregnant and Tandem Nursing here!

I nursed through the last preg as well. In my esperience you cant stop your milk from drying up and turning back into colostrum. You dotn want to anyway. The new baby will need the colostrum. Brennen (2.5) nursed until about 7mnths pregnant and then from there he just tasted it for a few secs periodically throughout the day/night. Then when Donovan was born he wouldnt nurse at all for about 2weeks. I beleive he was scared he was goign to take too much away from the baby. So I pumped and gave it to him in sippy cups. Sometimes with a lil Oveltine to make chocolate breastmilk. Then one day I asked him if he wanted to come have *ba* and he did. Weve been tandem since then. I truely think he was just wanting to make sure the baby got all he needed at first. My boys are so close. They hold hands when they nurse together and pat/rub each others faces and hair. It is just too sweet and I wouldnt trade it for the world! Now my worry is how the heck Im going to triandem nurse! WOW. I cant even think of nursign 3. I willhave to start a new thread to see if anyone has experience with that. lol.

Heres to a happy and healty preg!

Jamie

[crayon]

I am also nursing my 15 month old and it is hurting so bad- I just want to scream everytime she goes to make the lundge for the boob. And now she has been pulling my shirt up this week (she has never done that before) and she is doing it over at peoples homes we dont know and so on. It is a learning experiance and I am just praying that the pain stops soon. She has been nursing more- has anyone else noticed this? I am thinking the milk changed taste because we are now nursing 3-4x a day and I get so sick feeling when I nurse. I hope the 1st tri goes fast and this M/S will stop soon. I am such a cry baby- lol... But at least you are not alone in your worries!

[mimim]

Ang - my DS has definitely been nursing more since he found out about the new baby. I'm not sure if it's because my supply is dropping or if it's insecurity about the baby. He's 28 months, so we're able to discuss the issues surrounding bf, babies, mommy's booboos being tired and sore, etc. I don't know how I'd deal with it if he was younger or less verbal.

My nipples are getting more sore by the day I think. :
And when my milk lets down it hurts too. This is something I never heard of - it sort of feels like engorgement. Is this happening to anyone else?

I'm going to start going to LLL meetings in September. I've never gone before. I never have had any problems until now and I have a really supportive family. My mom nursed all of us for about 2 years and more than half of my 30 plus cousins were extended nurslings too.