Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

Advice needed for sudden weaning - possible hiv exposure risk

70 replies

HeartbrokenAndTerrified · 02/08/2006 08:05

i've changed my name for this.

I've discovered that there is a chance that I was exposed to hiv about a week ago. from what i've been able to find out so far (talking to terance higgins trust) if i was my chances of infection are low (

OP posts:

edam · 03/08/2006 11:54

I hope the results you get are reassuring HAT. So sorry you are going through this.

Chandra · 03/08/2006 18:22

HOw did it go?

RubyRioja · 03/08/2006 18:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DollyP · 03/08/2006 19:27

Thinking of you XX

Original poster

HeartbrokenAndTerrified · 03/08/2006 21:05

thanks everybody.

well good news - it looks (with a pretty high degree of confidence) like i wasn't exposed to hiv.

i can't tell you how relieved i am.

however - the consultants involved (virology and GUM, i think) disagree on the question of whether i should recommence bf. the virologist said if it was her, she would bf. the GU dr recommended that, because there remains a tiny tiny risk, i shouldn't restart yet. she said she was going to speak to collegues in london (I get the impression that's where all the hiv/aids experts are) and ask for their opinions. hopefully i'll hear back from her tomorrow.

so no bf for dd tonight - dp's taken her out in the buggy to try to get her to sleep.

the main thing is that i'm happy now that dd has not been placed in danger. thank god.

i bought an advent isis on the way home, and have just expressed 6 oz - my breasts feel much more comfortable now (i've been hand expressing a few times a day, but it wasn't helping all that much). i didn't clean the pump first (too urgent!) so i'm going to have to dump the milk rather than freeze it. ho hum.

sorry - i'm rambling.

i'm not totally out of the woods - retest in a fortnight and then 2 weeks after that. but i'm sure the baby is ok.

thanks so so much for your support. it's really helped me through this.

OP posts:

FanjoFanjoWhosGotTheFanjo · 03/08/2006 21:06

Oh, thank goodness.

Beauregard · 03/08/2006 21:27

so glad youre ok!

geekgrrl · 03/08/2006 22:02

oh, what a relief!!!!! Fingers crossed for breastfeeding. So glad to hear you're ok.

matnanplus · 03/08/2006 22:09

Great to hear you had such positive news HBAT.

Fingers crossed for the next 2 tests.

LaDiDaDi · 03/08/2006 22:37

Fantastic news!

Original poster

HeartbrokenAndTerrified · 04/08/2006 08:16

morning all

i could do with some advice/reassurance.

dd didn't have any formula yesterday. she refused every bottle/cup we offered - it's not that she's refusing the formula itself (she's had some on wheatabix and seemed to enjoy it). we're worried that she won't get enough nutrition from just her solids and also that she's not getting enough liquid. she had a tiny bit of water from my glass yesterday, but apart from that didn't drink anything all day. she had lots of fruit so i'm not too worried about dehydration yet but in the longer term, surely this won't be enough?

what can we do to encourage her to drink?

part of the problem is that this is a complete chage of approach, because we were baby led weaning and bf on demand - we've never had to worry about her eating/drinking and we've never had to persuade her to do anything..

we had a horrible night too with dd very upset and my breasts very uncomfortable and all of us miserable and worried

and i made the mistake of googling about the tests we had and am now less convinced that we're in the clear (although i'm still sure dd is ok).

sorry to moan on. thanks so much for your support.

OP posts:

FanjoFanjoWhosGotTheFanjo · 04/08/2006 08:35

At her age, I don't think she could become dehydrated if fluids are offered. (Hopefully it's not hot where you are?)

Other ways to get liquids in:

make a smoothie (with formula or cow's milk)
make herbal tea, cool it, offer it
at her age, she can have full-fat cow's milk, really.

I think I would probably just bf, but I don't know exactly what your exposure risk is, and obviously I'm just not in your shoes.

tiktok · 04/08/2006 08:51

HB&T, horrible to be going through all this.

Fanjo's ideas are good.
Others:

try giving fluid in an egg cup - little sips are fine
is she old enough to enjoy playing giving the teddies a drink and then her having a drink and then mummy having a drink?
sloppy solids with more fluid than you would usually mix in

I've posted before about how babies can react when they have to stop bf suddenly . They don't work it out 'uh....where's my bf gone?' but they do 'know' at their own baby level that something important is not the same in their lives and they may need a lot of comforting and other demos of love, which is exactly what you're doing.

I would be pretty sure she won't persist in the 'no fluids' thing for long, and she will adapt, 'cos she's secure and responded to, and you and she will find a way to get the fluids in somehow.

DollyP · 04/08/2006 12:25

Glad you got good news last night HBAT and really hope you get good news about BF soon. As well as offering sloppy solids, cooled herbal tea etc, have you tried offering watery fruit like melon or something very sweet like mango? This often does the trick when DD refuses everything else.

Keeping everything crossed for the tests for you.

Original poster

HeartbrokenAndTerrified · 04/08/2006 18:50

hello all

well after an up and down day, we got a very encouraging update from hte GUM consultant. she's spoken to the 'london hiv guru' who estimates my risk of having contracted hiv as 1/100,000 and the risk to dd as 'negligable'. phew.

however - there's been another test recommended that will provide conclusive (or as near as possible). we'll have the result in just over a week. dp and i have agreed that we'll await the outcome of that before we start bf again.

in a way, i think this is overcautious, because the drive to the hospital to pick up the results probably presents more risk than that, but on the other hand this is a risk that we can avoid.

i've hired a pump from the nct, i'm hoping that'll make expressing easier(only managed about 1oz each side this morning) - can anyone give me any info on maintaining supply? - how much do i need to pump? when? i'd be really grateful for references to previous threads on this if there are any? (i'm not very good at searching).

thanks

OP posts:

Caribbeanqueen · 04/08/2006 19:09

So pleased to hear you got an encouraging message today. I hope the test next week gives you the extra reassurance you need.

Good luck with the expressing. I did it for quite a long time and just made sure I did it every few hours to keep supply going.

Kiskidee · 04/08/2006 19:24

this thread should be helpful for expressing tips.

start reading from the old posts as those will be the helpful ones. the ones from 2006 is mostly the saddos like me who still pump for over 1's. thanks for sharing the postive news.

popsycal · 04/08/2006 19:27

hope things turn out ok for you all
thinking of you (from another saddo whp expresses after the age of 1)

SlightlyFamiliarPeachyClair · 04/08/2006 19:59

I ahd to cup feed ds1 for a while, and I fund the best cup was an avent bottle lid. bizarre but true.

Glad everything is looking up for you and I think you are a lovely, caring Mum and your little one is very lucky (your Dh sounds pretty amazing too)

mammyjo · 05/08/2006 16:41

Just a thought, would she be interested if you took her out to buy her own "special cup" that she chose herself. My ds loves to use things that he bought himself. I know she is only 10 months so maybe a little young but it may be worth a try.
Glad you had good news, hoping your results next week are just as good. Take care

Flip

1 2 3