BFing checkin...

WearingRed

Sorry ladies lost track of day looking at my bouncing baby boy and non stop tot. So you know the drill. accomplishment, failures, goals, problems. Anything else you need want to share.
GTKY: breastfeeding as weight lost? What do you think old wives tale, worked for you, or somewhere in the middle?

Scooby2358

Hi ladies!

Accomplishments: No sign of thrush returning so far, knock wood. DS reluctantly took a bottle at his first daycare visit yesterday, and another one from Grandpa at bedtime.

Problem: Foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. My oversupply had seemed to be regulating and my morning pump was down to 4oz or so. Then I started getting headaches and realized I wasn't drinking nearly enough water. I upped my water intake, and boom! Oversupply is back. The next morning I pumped 10oz (didn't mean to, but I was watching the news and not paying attention, and looked down after a few minutes, and the bottles were full!) and DS started having bright green poops. I've been block feeding and pulling him off after letdown to let the extra spray into a burp cloth, but he's still having green poop and his bottom is getting red. I've even considered not drinking enough water again, but I get splitting headaches when I'm dehydrated. I could pump for a while first, dump it, and let him get more hindmilk, but that wouldn't help my oversupply issue in the long run. Any ideas?

GTKY: Partly true, partly old wives' tale for me. I was down to pp weight fairly quickly (8 weeks) but have only lost 1/2 lb since then. I'm just so.darn.hungry. I have 25 lb to lose that I can't blame on my pregnancies, but I think it might hang around at least until DS starts solids. Then maybe I'll stop eating everything that stands still.

SharonB222

Accomplishment:  BFing for 15 mos!

Problem or Normal?  They say babes don't wean themselves before 2 yrs old, but DD has refused the bedtime BF each night for over a week and I think I will stop offering it today.  So, for what it's worth, we're down to BF 1x a day: morning.  DH would like me to wean so it was a pleasant surprise when he brought DD in this morning to BF and she did.

GTKY: I gained 35 lbs in pg; I lost 29 lbs in six weeks pp, but at fifteen mos pp am still holding onto 4 lbs.  I have not had to try to lose weight at all, so that's nice.  I'm still BFing and my bbs are still at least 1 cup size larger, so I figure that's at least 1 lb.  Time will tell.

bmv1980

Hi! We're still BFing, so all is well. I'd like to start pumping more still, but I'm not actively working on it. There's always something else to do!

I went out for a couple hours last night and dd didn't much care for the bottle DH gave her. I guess she fought it a bit. It's my fault...since its only the third bottle she's gotten. I just prefer to feed her straight from the tap :] So, we are going to start giving her a few bottles a week to get her used to it since I'll be going back to work part time soon.

Gtky: I've lost about 25 lbs. I still have like 50 to go to get to my goal weight [not all pg weight...I started heavy]. I feel good though. I'll crack down and count calories and increase my workouts when DD's bigger. I don't want to change things up too much and mess with my milk supply.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

adoxyinherear

Well, I'm pretty sure DD is going through her 3 month growth spurt. She nursed all morning, slept all afternoon, and nursed all evening before passing out again. She's usually content to go pretty long between her feedings, so nursing every hour is a big time departure for her. Hope she still STTN... I've gotten spoiled rotten on that front.

I gained 32 lbs. during pregnancy and lost most of it pretty quickly. But I've been hanging on to about 8 lbs. since 4 weeks PP or so... I'm hoping the 3 - 6 month PP weight loss holds true. I'd love to get back down to a weight I'm comfortable with (I wanted to lose 10 lbs. before I got pregnant, so I still feel too heavy). But I'm also a bottomless pit most days. How will I ever get back to a normal diet? Pregnancy plus BFing might mean as much as 2 years of saying yes to dessert!

 

CheesyPeas

Scooby2358:

Problem: Foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. My oversupply had seemed to be regulating and my morning pump was down to 4oz or so. Then I started getting headaches and realized I wasn't drinking nearly enough water. I upped my water intake, and boom! Oversupply is back. The next morning I pumped 10oz (didn't mean to, but I was watching the news and not paying attention, and looked down after a few minutes, and the bottles were full!) and DS started having bright green poops. I've been block feeding and pulling him off after letdown to let the extra spray into a burp cloth, but he's still having green poop and his bottom is getting red. I've even considered not drinking enough water again, but I get splitting headaches when I'm dehydrated. I could pump for a while first, dump it, and let him get more hindmilk, but that wouldn't help my oversupply issue in the long run. Any ideas?

It sounds to me like you're doing everything right.  Block feeding and letting the fast pace of letdown spray into a towel is what I did for oversupply too.  I don't recommend pumping and dumping to allow LO to get more hindmilk because I'm guessing you'll find yourself in an even worse position with oversupply. 

It sounds to me like your body might be "stupid" like mine was.  I kept hanging on the words of every article I read about how my body would adjust and start making only what was needed for LO.  Yeah right.  It was a constant struggle for me.  I always said that my body would ramp up production on a dime (during growth spurts and when I was paranoid about having a freezer stash when I went back to work) and slowed down like a freight train. 

The green poop eventually went away for DS although it took a lot more time than what I (and I'm sure he) had hoped.  I've always continued to produce more than what he needed but block feeding and an aging LO seemed to take care of our problems over the course of several weeks.  I say just keep doing what you're doing and hopefully your body will soon accept that you aren't feeding triplets.

CheesyPeas

We're at 12.5 months and counting, nursing about 3 times per day.  While I don't know that I can really consider this an accomplishment, I was pretty excited to see that I ovulated a few days ago!  AF stayed away for 11 months, and the first cycle after her return was anovulatory.  My body is obviously still a little wonky becuase I ovulated really early this cycle, and I wouldn't be surprised if I end up with a really short LP this month but I'm excited nonetheless that things are kicking back into gear.  I was glad that AF stayed away for so long but I'm also really happy (not sure if happy is really the word I'm looking for ) that she's back and I'm starting to return to normal because it means DS won't have to wean in order for us to move onto TTC next year!

GTKY: My family is pretty fortunate in the weight department, so I'm not sure if my return to pre-pregnancy weight was due to breastfeeding or genes.  I guess we'll see how my metabolism was affected by pregnancy once DS weans.  I have noticed that over the past few months my appetite isn't as insane as it was, so a reduced number of feedings is definitely affecting my body.  I'm considering this a good thing for the time being though because even though I really enjoy eating and indulging in fattening foods, that ravenously hungry stage was downright annoying.

Scooby2358

Lindsey8301:

The green poop eventually went away for DS although it took a lot more time than what I (and I'm sure he) had hoped.  I've always continued to produce more than what he needed but block feeding and an aging LO seemed to take care of our problems over the course of several weeks.  I say just keep doing what you're doing and hopefully your body will soon accept that you aren't feeding triplets.

Thanks for weighing in! One of DS' diapers today was slightly more yellowish so I'm hopeful this will resolve. As for my body accepting reality...it reminds me of DH's attitude toward my freezer stash. He looks in the freezer, looks at me, shakes his head, and says "ONE baby. ONE."

CheesyPeas

Scooby2358:

Lindsey8301:

The green poop eventually went away for DS although it took a lot more time than what I (and I'm sure he) had hoped.  I've always continued to produce more than what he needed but block feeding and an aging LO seemed to take care of our problems over the course of several weeks.  I say just keep doing what you're doing and hopefully your body will soon accept that you aren't feeding triplets.

Thanks for weighing in! One of DS' diapers today was slightly more yellowish so I'm hopeful this will resolve. As for my body accepting reality...it reminds me of DH's attitude toward my freezer stash. He looks in the freezer, looks at me, shakes his head, and says "ONE baby. ONE."

Haha, yep same here.  Our deep freeze has several hundred ounces we're working our way through, sending about 8 ounces to daycare every day.  I don't know exactly how much we have but given the dent we've made in it thus far, I'm guessing it will be summer before we're through it.  I guess it saves me from buying whole milk!