questions from a very-soon-to-be mum

[cakewench]

Hello!

I'm due to have our first baby... tomorrow. I'm very keen to BF. I've noticed on online forums (and various magazines, etc) that women talk about having some leakage far in advance of the birth, sometimes up to a few weeks ahead of time.

I haven't had any of this. Outside of the fact that they've gotten bigger (but not larger in the last month or two - just whatever growth happened during the second trimester) I haven't noticed any change at all.

So I'm wondering, should something be obvious by now? I just worry, like every new mum I suppose, about whether or not anything is going to happen when it needs to!

(I ask also because I've already been forewarned to do 'as much research as possible' on my own, because the MWs at my hospital are too busy to help much with this. Also, follow-up visits by the MW are next to nonexistent in my area of Leicestershire, according to all of the ladies from my antenatal group.)

I never leaked but did have supply problems.

Don't think the two were necessarily linked though.

Leakage has got nothing to do with milk supply. I bf 2dc, and will bf no3 who's on the way too and have never ever leaked through pregnancy. I only ever leaked afterwards if for some reason I had longer between feeds than usual, expecially at night, when I ended up sleeping on bath towels At night I also had it more often that boob2 used to leak when boob1 was in use, folded muslin squares stuffed in my bra worked a treat (much better than breast pads).

Follow the advise so many on here have given, join your local breast feeding support group. Pop in before babe is born if you can, it's usefull to see real live babies bf. Try different positions, not only you, but also your baby will have it's favourite position (e.g. my ds loved feeding lying down and that's how I learnt, my dd hated it) Read everything you can and ask for as much help as you can from your local lactation consultant/NCT advisor/La Leche League advisor if you do run into problems. Just remember, not everyone has problems. I have never experienced cracked or sore nipples or any of the other problems people talk about and because so many people focus on what can go wrong, in a way I thought I was doing something wrong, because I was NOT getting any problems IYKWIM.

Success, once you get the hang of it and become a confident breast feeder, it will be the most enjoyable and fulfilling thing you've ever done. I'm looking forward to do it again soon and I missed it a lot my dcs decided to call it a day.

Cakewench, not sure if you are still around but anted to tell you about Cafe Mama, which is a breastfeeding support cafe that meets every Wednesday 10-12 at the Unitarian Church in East Bond Street (round the back of Highcross - the nearesr car park is John Lewis about 2 minutes walk). It is run by La Leche League and there is always at least one trained BF counsellor on hand. It is free to go and the room is lovely, clean and modern. Just turn up, and if you manage to get the word Cakewench into the conversation I'll introduce myself! (not this Wednesday though). Even if everything is going perfectly it is still a nice place to meet other BF mums and feed in comfort.

Good luck

Ooh TPL do you go there then? I might see you sometime...

I bet I already know you

No I never leaked, still feeding 13.5mo ds!

Sparklingsarah made a good suggestion about cabbage leaves - I shall expand and say apparently dark leaved ones like savoy are the best, keep them in the fridge. Oh and DON'T put them, over your nipples, just around on your breast. Though I have to correct Sarah on one small detail:

'make sure you are eating & drinking properly and your milk will always be in good supply.'

Is not true. You will still make milk even if you have a poor diet. But still mkae sure you eat & drink plenty as your body will have lots of healing to do after the birth, and looking after a baby (not just feeding it!) is hard work and you'll need the energy. You need a good diet for your OWN healthy, not for your milk supply.

Oh just one last thing, which really helped me in the early days. Breastfeeding is more difficult than bottlefeeding in the early days - bottlefeeding can seem like the easy option, BUT once breastfeeding is established (which takes a few weeks) it is so much easier than bottlefeeding - there is no equipment, no fuss, just easy.

No response from the OP...maybe she is having her baby right now!

Hello everyone!

Cyteen- sadly no, we're still waiting here! I have to admit, though, he feels even lower than he has on previous days (or at least, has moved, because my legs last night for the first time in months weren't in pain...)

I'm sorry I didn't get back here straightaway. I've only just discovered these forums and I have to say, I'm really excited about how active they are! Also, you're all speaking in full sentences with punctuation and everything. It's a nice change from the forums I've found up until now.

To those who mentioned the BF group in Leicester - it sounds absolutely lovely, but I'm in Loughborough, and not driving, so I think that might be a long trip for me to make in the early days.

I will be around these forums a lot more, and will certainly let everyone know when he decides to make an appearance!

lol at 'full sentences with punctuation' - that's exactly how I felt when I arrived here as a refugee from Another Place

No leakage here.

My advice

1. It's sooooooooooooo hard at first and it hurts. I cried and was miserable and nearly gave in to formula loads of times. But - is you can stick at it for a month it gets much easier.

1. Pester the mw at the hospital. I was constantly on the buzzer as I couldn't get dd to latch on

1. Get some good dvds to watch while feeding for hours - or a book to read over babys head

1. Go to a bf support group - everyone is lovely and helpful

lol I breastfed through pregancy and still didn't leak! Everyone is different so don't worry about what other people's bodies do when pregnant.

Have a look here and see if there is a group near you you can go to.

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to post a short follow up and let you all know how things are going. I gave birth to my son on the 20th, and the next evening (I had complications, lost 2 litres of blood and needed my stitches re-stitched after a blood clot formed behind them. I imagine that's all a story for a different part of these forums, though!) I transferred to the midwife centre at St Marys.

The midwives there were lovely and helpful. Things were rather quiet while I was there, except for my poor son who spent at least one entire night crying or feeding (no switch in-between!) It turns out, the loss of that much blood slows down the milk creation process (there must be a better term) so my milk was a day or two late coming in.

We seem to have the hang of it now, though, and at his first week weigh-in he'd just lost 5% of his weight, which the midwife said was just fine. I'm happy with it as well, because I know it would have been slightly better if it hadn't been for the slow start I had feeding.

Anyway, I wanted to let you all know I appreciated the support, and I'm sure you'll see me around here when I'm able to post.

Message withdrawn

Congrats cakewench. Take care of yourself and enjoy your new baby!