Hmm... is this a sign that my milk production has slowed too much?

[MrsMar]

I've been having a few problems with breast feeding (see the million or so other threads I've posted on here!!) my ds is 16 days old and he's losing a bit too much weight. I think I'm having problems with latching on, especially on one side. Anyway.... to cut a long story short, I think I've started a period today. I had a cs on the 13th and my bleeding finished about a week ago, so I'm fairly sure this is a period. So my question is, is it normal to have a period so soon or has my milk production slowed so much that I've got a period?

I'm expressing and feeding like a demon to get it back so I do have some hope, but it's taken an hour of expressing to get 40ml from both boobs combined. I'm v of sparklygothcat with her 310ml!

[MrsSeanSlater]

Some get periods back straight away (I did and I bf for 18 months) and some don't. So it's not necessarily an indication that your milk is drying up. You're doing the right thing increasing your feeds.

[sparklygothkat]

sorry mrsmar. Has the HV said anything about his weight loss? When I had a CS with DS1, i bled for a week or so and then stopped, and it restarted and carried on for a few more days.

[blazingsandals]

Hmm, when my bleeding started again like that it was the sign of a retained bit of placenta. Go to the GPs Monday and get it checked out.

[jamila169]

Mine did that when I had my C/S as well, stopped then restarted - it sort of coincided with me being able to get up and potter about a bit and ended up lasting about 4 weeks altogether.
lisa X

[DaisyMOO]

I think it's pretty unlikely to be a true period this soon - you would have had to have been maturing an egg even whilst pregnant!

Retained placenta can cause problems with milk supply, so might be worth checking that out with your midwife. Otherwise, make sure the latch is right, lots of skin to skin and keep feeding. How much you can express is not an indication of how much you're producing.

[MrsMar]

Hi everyone, thanks for replies.... can you get retained placenta even if you've had a cs? Ds was born by cs so I assumed they took everything out during the op. I have been slightly over doing things, so maybe it is just my postpartum bleeding starting up again, what a pain. DaisyMoo, of course you're right, I can't possibly have been maturing an egg while pg! Sorry, sleep deprivation !!

I've been uberfeeding this weekend, lots of skin to skin contact and so on, and milk production is much improved, bleeding still there though, I'll mention it to midwife when I see her on Friday. Would I have some kind of other symptoms if I had retained part of the placenta?

[daisyandbabybootoo]

MrsMar...one of the women on my PN thread had something similar. She had bleeding for about 18 days, after a break of a couple of weeks. She thought she was having a very long period, but when she got checked out it was her internal scar that was bleeding.

Please get yourself to the doc just to make sure as this can cause you to get very run down as well as a possible risk of infection. If you have been overdoing things as well...

And if you are getting run down, then any potential BF problems will seem so much harder to deal with.

You are doing a great job you know

[blazingsandals]

You shouldn't retain placenta but it is possible. I did. You normally get symptoms of flu as well as the bleeding though - or discharge which is smelly. Sounds more like you are overdoing it. Glad the bfing is getting easier. Rest up as much as you can and keep up the good work

(I was WMMC btw)

[tiktok]

MrsMar, I know you have had a few threads, and I haven't read them all, sorry, so the full info of your story may not be in my head...hope I can help.

Your baby should definitely not still be losing weight - seriously, this is not normal.

Your bleeding will definitely not be a period. It needs checking out. It's probably normal - most people do continue to have a discharge for some time after birth, whether vaginal or section, and it can start up again as fresh blood, often after a period of activity. But you need to call the midwife about it.

Priority now, after getting that checked, is to ensure your baby has enough nutrition. If he is still actively losing weight, then this might need to be formula, but this does not have to mean no breastfeeding, of course. Breastfeeding needs to be fixed alongside whatever you are doing.

HTH