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Two Under 2
lizardknitter
member
XP: Breastfeeding while pregnant - maintain supply?
lizardknitter
member
in Two Under 2
We are discussing trying for baby #2 when Vivienne is 6 months old. I'd like to continue to nurse her until at least the 1 year mark. I know that many people on this board have successfully BF while pregnant. I have read these posts and seen that many mention a dip or loss of supply in the later weeks of pregnancy. Is it possible to increase this supply? How - power pumping and/or lots of skin-to-skin and putting LO to breast?Being able to continue to nurse may be a factor in our decision, so any advice is appreciated.Thanks! I posted on the BF board too, but have gotten no responses.
Me - 40, DH 34 Married 11 years, TTC since 7/09 3 rounds of Clomid > Vivienne born 5/28/11
TTC#2 since 01/13 - 3 rounds of Clomid, 2 IUI w/injectibles, moving to IVF
IVF #1 - Lupron 20 6/19, Follistim 225 6/21, Menopur 75 6/27, Trigger 6/30
ER 7/2 (8R, 7M, 5F); ET 7/5 - 2 8 cell, grade 1 and 1 7 cell, grade 1 Stick babies, stick!
BFP on HPT at 11dp3dt
Beta #1 13dp3dt 787
Beta #2 17dp3dt 6,007
1st u/s 5w2d showing one "good" sac and 2-3 questionable
2nd u/s 6w2d showing one baby with HR 128bpm
3rd u/s 7w1d - HR 159bpm - graduated from RE!
MaternT21 test results: no chromosomal issues, it's a BOY!!!
EDD March 25, 2014
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Re: XP: Breastfeeding while pregnant - maintain supply?
you never know if you'll supply will tank or not. In my case, I got my BFP when DS was almost 10 months...I BF til 13 months. It was SO hard. I was VERY sick and lost a few lbs. I could barely eat enough for the pregnancy let alone the extra calories needed for BFing as well. Drinking water was so hard and you need to drink a ton. My supply went down a bit but I was slowly beginning to wean anyway. By 11 months he was down two 2-3 times a day, and then by a year 2 times, etc.
If you are really wanting to BF a year, I would wait until your baby is established on solids. At 6 months DD barely wanted to eat solids, by 7-8 months she loved them and nursed less. By 10 months both my kids were nursing only 4-5 times in 24 hrs...meaning you can get away with nursing less then. If you got pregnant when your LO is 6 months, you need to make it 6 whole months and what if your supply is gone? or really low? Are you willing to use formula? Nothing against formula, but I wasnt willing to. I had made it that far BFing, I wasnt going to supplement.
We are ttc #3 next month and I am still BFing, but weaning soon. I made the choice to make sure she was older than a year this time, so it would be easier. I couldn't imagine having to nurse for 5-6 months of my pregnancy. But people do it. You could pump now and have some stashed away for a few extra weeks of BM in a bottle in case you have supply issues....
Also know that some OBs are against nursing while pg, and you may experience some negative views from doc/nurses as well as family. Dont let that influence you too much, do your own research..BUT it is annoying and you need to be aware of it.
GL!
I think it's definitely something that varies person to person. I had a supply that was affected by every little thing - when AF returned I had a drop every month, when I started working out I had a huge drop, every time I lost weight postpartum I'd have a drop. Right now DD is nursing much shorter periods of time and I don't know if it's that there's not enough or she's just outgrowing it. I'm eating a LOT to compensate for still nursing and drinking a ton, but once m/s hits I don't know if I'll be able to keep it up (I'm only 4 weeks along). Also a lot of babies will wean because the hormones change the taste of the milk, so even if you have enough there are no guarantees.
I also have to confess I'm not loving it, which makes me sad. I was always kind of annoyed when she wanted to nurse around the time of AF so I know it's the hormones, but if she takes longer than normal during a session I just want her off! And she's only nursing twice a day, now, I can't imagine if it was more.
When we were meeting with my OB to talk about TTC #2, she mentioned something I hadn't thought of: the milk will ultimately (or could ultimately?) start to lose its nutritional value since everything is going toward the baby.
As far as I know, the milk stays the same, but your nutrients can get depleted from your body. Just like when you have bad m/s and you arent eating well, your baby gets the nutrients it needs, your body just gets robbed of them. SO you really do need to eat a ton and drink a ton to stay healthy. Its hard.
I conceived baby #2 when baby #1 was 6 months old. I really wanted to continue breastfeeding. I increased protein, whole grains and fluids, but nothing really helped to maintain my supply. I had to start supplementing at the end of my first trimester and now, in my second trimester, my supply has really dropped. My LO is basically on formula and solids now. (though soon to be whole milk and solids)
I would wait until your little one is 10 months if breastfeeding is really important to you. Unfortunately most women will have a decrease in milk supply because of all of the pregnancy hormones.
I agree to wait until your LO is at least 10 months old to get pregnant (if possible). With me, I wanted to EBF til DD was 12 months old but when I got pregnant when she was 9 months old I was really only able to nurse her for another month. Around 10 months my supply was basically gone. I was getting like an ounce or 2 here and there but she needed much more milk so I gave her formula for the first time at 10 month! I only had to give her a few cans of formula because I had a little BM frozen and then when she was right around 11 months old or so I started mixing in some whole milk. Now she's a year and gets only WCM.
Good luck!
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