TTC and still breastfeeding? You're not alone! Thread# 2

I find I bore talk to DH much less about this ttc while bf'ing malarkey since I started regularly posting on here - it's so good to have an outlet with people who understand

That's the one good thing that came out of my recent trapped-in-bedroom-with-flu-for-second-time-this-year-pity-party, feeling sorry for myself with just my iPad for company (apart from when DD was brought to me for boob)... I was frustrated and feeling sorry for myself as both times I was poorly I should have been ov'ing, typical! Still, it got me venting posting on her to over share, so it's all good

ava

I really appreciate this threads too. I don't know anyone in RL who breastfed beyond the first few weeks and we haven't told anyone that we're ttc. I'm free to witter on talk about both on here

I don't know why my auto correct keeps changing breastfeeding to Breastfeeding?! Think my ipad must be a bf advocate too... Ha!x

Yes Mary, I agree about family and friend's support being so important. Even relatives who Breastfed during the 80s seem to have spaced the feeding (3-4hours) and have no idea about feeding on demand and don't seem to understand the whole concept... I'm so glad we have each other for support (not just me and my sis, but (cue gushiness!) you ladies too)

And if I had to left it to DH, DD probably wouldn't have been fed, or she'd at least never be full... He's always slept like a rock, so if we had to rely on him waking up for night feeds DD would've gone hungry... Think that's why I haven't had a deep sleep for 22 months - it seems I'm always on the cusp of sleep in case DD needs me, that's my job as her mama

And, baring in mind we've had DD for 22 months, when I'm ill and (reluctantly) bed-ridden DH shouts upstairs, at lunch time "should I feed her?" Waits for reply (which I couldn't possibly post on here) "what should I feed her?" Incredible......

Mary, although my mam didn't bf she does trust my judgement implicitly, which helps and eventually stopped asking during DD's first summer to 'top up' her feeds with water to give her a nice drink and cool her down

Hi Mumo! That is a sad statistic our mam didn't Breastfeed us, it never even occurred to her to (early -mid 80's) but we've come a long way since then and I guess I just took it for granted that those who could, just did bf? my mam is so proud of her girls for breastfeeding though and is very supportive ...

Impressive stats eagle, thanks for sharing them and inspiring us .
It's interesting that you didn't get a full smiley on your opk. I've been tinkering with doing internet cheapies and the test line has never quite been darker then the control line. I did wonder whether my body was just gearing up to ovulating, but never quite managing to. AF has been turning up regularly for around 18 months thpugh so I would hope I'd be ovulating by now!

I can totally relate to the comments about needing a lot of practical help from dh. It's so crucial when you're breastfeeding isn't it? I did practically nothing but hold and feed dd for the first three months. As hard as it was I would give anything to go through all that again and maybe enjoy it a bit more, instead of worrying so much.

I think family, friends and a lack of information are the main obstacles to breastfeeding. For example, if I had known that cluster feeding was totally normal then I could have avoided the self doubt about my supply. Family and friends (who may only have experience of once-every-four-hour formula feeding) are all too quick to suggest that dc needs 'topping up' Grrrr.

And don't get me started on the outright ridiculous myth that breastfeeding denies the father the chance to bond with their baby.

Sorry, rant over.

Oh, forgot to say evening everyone

Ava I love the idea of a little goody bag for your sister. That's so thoughtful. I remember spending what felt like whole days at a time, & definitely evenings, with dd attached to my boob in the early days.

I don't get this formula feeding craze either. I read in the paper the other day that apparently the UK has the lowest rates of bf-ing of any European country. How sad

That should read 'practically lived IN my well-equipped bedroom'...

The housework / laundry was shared between my mam and DP (!) as I just didn't have the time or the energy to do anything but feed, and it was lovely.........x

ISpy - same here - I practically lived well equipped bedroom for the first 12 weeks with DD almost permanently attached to my boob (fully stocked bedside table filled with copious drinks and snacks. I decided to do this after the umpteenth time I asked dh to fetch me a drink while I fed DD and he 'forgot' and settled down in front of the TV with his headphones on "so as not to disturb me with the sound of the TV" so I couldn't get hold of him to remind him or throttle him)

I have prepared a goody bag for my sister filled with ambient drinks and snacks to make her bf'ing a little easier. She too has an awesome, but equally forgetful DP. She, much like your sis, would have no one to offer advice if it wasn't for me (she found me more helpful with breastfeeding support than midwives, HV and even breastfeeding consultant! )

I don't get it either Ava. I found it hard to stay on top of the dishes/laundry before I had children, there's no way I'd manage to wash up, sterilise, make up bottles especially with a newborn. Never mind that I find it difficult to ever put my babies down!

My sister didn't bf her first 2 dcs (she just wasn't interested as her DH and his family were very unsupportive) however, bless her, with some encouragement from me, she managed to bf her twins for a few weeks! I was so proud! Went down the pan when her mil moved in to 'help' and started doing all the bottles

Eagle, I was totally flabbergasted to hear that everyone in my sister's circle of friends, who have had a baby in the last year (lots of them! all mid-late twenties ), have chosen to formula feed their babies! My sister is the only one who breastfeeds (her beautiful girl was born early February) - apparently they all think bottle feeding is the easier Option and are surprised my sister is breastfeeding - I just don't get it?!

And some jerk told her DP that he was surprised to hear that my sister chose to Breastfeed as it'd "ruin her boobs"

That's so nice your Dh is so supportive. Lots of luck with it all x

My DH is amazing, I had a rough birth and tough start to BF with DS but DH was my champion all the way through! He's really supportive of my wish to feed the twins.

I bought a second hand "my brestfriend" twin feeding pillow - it's an enormous yoke so that will be attached to me for a while I'd say! I've also read the excellent LLL book "Mothering Multiples" which has loads of useful info about BFing twins, and twins in general.

aurora, I think people just love to give parenting advice no matter what it is. I can't see how getting up to sterilise, prepare etc 2x bottles in the middle of the night is easier than taking out your boobs

We don't know yet if they'll be identical. There are two placentas so there's only a 30% chance they will be identical. We're keeping the sexes a surprise too!

Hi Eagle, thanks for sharing your stats. How exciting to be having twins! Do you know if they will be identical or not? I would ideally like to bf twins too - good luck with it! My friend who bf hers bought an amazing huge feeding pillow from JoJo maman bebe.

Good work pear!
Sorry I was a bit scant in providing info earlier! :)

Auroraboringalis:
Late thirties
TTC #2
Cycle: 1 (or 2 depending, as I manage to catch ovulation before first AF but my luteal phase was too short to support implantation )
Dc: Dc is 11 mths
Bf story: feeds 2 x day at 4-6am/3-5pm
AF: returned February after deliberately cutting down from 24/7 on demand so as to kickstart AF
Bfp due: 15 March (the ides of march can only be lucky, right?)

Am so impressed eagle by the conception while still bfing fully. And honestly what do other people care whether or not you can/should fb the twinnies. It's not like they have to do it or make the decision. Try it and if it works it is great and if it doesn't it doesn't, and maybe you can bf/ff one off one on during the day. It'll be a really good and interesting experience either way with them (plus having to negotiate the little one who might get jealous! Hope your DP will be a big help!)

Thank you pear, that's fab

Oh and I used OPKs during the cycle when I conceived but they never showed a smiley!!!

It's likely that on the day I conceived I got an error message on the OPK -

Here are my stats:

Name: TheEagle
Age: 34
DCs: DS aged 17mo
AF: returned when DS was 7.5mo
TTC: Conceived twins on Cycle 3 when DS was 10.5mo
BF: DS was BFing 3x a day and 2/3x a night when I got pregnant. He weaned when I was around 12 weeks pg and he was 13mo

Hi Eagle, thanks for the update, sorry to hear you're dealing with negativity though

Oh, and my BFP is due 8th March... It's so not going to happen this month though...(but I did eat a lot of cake, so maybe... ) x

Nice job Pear, thanks for doing that. Just filling in my info:
MarysPrayer -
37 yrs
TTC #2
Cycle: 3
Dc: Dd is 2.4 mths
Bf story: feeds 2-3 x per day
AF: returned when Dd hit 8 mths
Bfp due: 21st march

Hi the eagle. Congratulations! Thanks for coming back on to say hi. It's a bit cheaky but would you mind just giving us your ttc/bf/af stats? Or I could scour the pages of the prev thread)

Hi Eagle, wow that time flew by, I hope the remainder of your pregnancy and delivery goes well. And everything that comes after that too obviously!

Wow Pear thanks for doing the stats, clever indeed! My missing info is: 31yrs, ttc #4 actually, bf on demand which is more at night than during the day!

Good work, Pear (AF returned when DD was 16 months though, not 6 months) thanks for doing this x