Is 5 weeks too late to start?

[Arimeh]

thanks Jen

[{sarah}]

I don't think I'm a fantastic mum really, otherwise I would have done this from when she was born!!!!

You can stop that right now Mel!!

How much did you go through in the days / weeks leading up to Mehkelti's birth hun? There were so many other things happening, no wonder you didn't want to think about it to start with. Your baby girl is only five weeks old, it's not like you said when she was two, hmm let's try this EBM thing :P You are a great mum for even trying to do this when it's a very stressful thing for you. Not many would be prepared to deal with your nausea to be able to provide breastmilk for her little girl like you are.....

And I agree 100% with Jen, there is a whole lot more to being a mum than giving your baby breastmilk.

[Janie]

Mel, you are a great mum As Jen said, the easier thing would have been to keep on as you were. But you've had the courage to stand up and say you'd like to try this.........it can't have been easy, so good on you

Oh, and your DH sounds like keeper! What a great guy

[MantaRay]

Mel hun, what a great job you are doing. Who'd have thought you'd be doing so well in such a short time! Well done.

BTW, the nausea/vomitting that you experience is a recognised medical condition - so you're not that strange hun.

[Arimeh]

MR - seriously??? WOW!! I'm not that weird after all....

I gave her all the BM that was in the fridge - so bout 10ml...lol... thats like a days worth of expressing... doesn't seem like much!!!

[Nelle]

Wow Mel, really? Is there a name for the condition? Anything Mel can do about it?

You're doing ace Mel, 10ml is great! Si only gets 1ml of medicine, so um...the moral of my story is that small amounts of stuff can be beneficial to babies!

[Janie]

10ml is ACE Mel, WOOHOO! I love how you've thrown yourself into this, you really are a dedicated mumma (and Mehkelti has a dedicated daddy too, by the sounds of things ).

[Arimeh]

Thanks Janie xxx

I wanted to express again at 4 but DS was being a right little turd.... so had to settle for doing it at 7.30. Didn't get much out though (but TBH both me and DH were yelling at DS cos he was STILL being a turd - toddlers just don't listen when you say no! - so wasn't very relaxed....)

Hopefully I start seeing progress soon!!!

[thepixie]

Makes me vomit (yes I'm QUITE strange)

Well I don't know what this condition is called but apparently you're not the only one:
https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...while-b-f.html
Sounds like the expressing is going well so keep up the good work and keep us posted!

[Arimeh]

thanks Pixie chick - nice to know I'm not alone....

(although crappy to know everyone else just soldiers on through to BF and I just express!!)

[Janie]

It's reasonably common for women to feel nauseous in the early days of BFing (sometimes longer), usually triggered by the let down. I certainly had it, expecially during the night feeds! I'm not sure about vomiting though, that's outside anything IME. That's not doubting you have it Mel, just saying that I don't know anything about it, or it's causes!

I'm sure you've tried everything, but the one thing that has been 'proven' to help, is to have a snack just before you feed/express. Being hungry will only exacerbate the problem. It did help me to an extent, although I still felt a little sick. It's worth a go anyway

ETA, Mel, don't feel crappy, you're doing a really good job Vomiting is NOT fun, especially with a sore tummy

[thepixie]

I found something on the ABA website that said the most likely cause of nausea during breastfeeding was hunger because the let-down triggers the release of gastric juices.... sounds like a bit of a crock to me, but they suggest a high carb snack before feeding or expressing... I suppose there's no harm in trying it out?

[Janie]

Mmm, I don't think it's a crock Pixie, it was suggested to me by a number of BFing mums, and we all found it to help!

[thepixie]

There you go Mel - you're officially under instructions to eat something yummy every time before you express!

[Janie]

LOL Pixie, that's the license I gave myself too

You might not actually feel hungry Mel, but sometimes the food helps anyway. And I wanted to add that while you might think you're 'just' expressing, I think you're doing a huge amount! Expressing is not always easy, and you're really giving it your all You know you can PM me if you have any questions

[kelebek]

thanks Pixie chick - nice to know I'm not alone....

(although crappy to know everyone else just soldiers on through to BF and I just express!!)

Mel will you please stop beating yourself up, you obvously care a great deal about your kids or you wouldn't be thinking how you can change the status quo which is obviously working for you. You are doing a wonderful job keeping a great sense of humor. Think about it you are putting in a lot of effort for not a lot of output at this stage but it will pay off in the long run.

I think you need lots of & for something that is a work in progress

[razzle]

Hi there Mel,

Just had a quick read through your thread and just wanted to say that what you are doing is AWESOME!! Getting 10mls only after such a short time is wonderful btw! Expressing is very hard for some women and can take a lot of effort so to you Mel!

Re the nausea, I experienced this for the first 6 months of feeding my DS, didn't vommit but felt very sick, almost like morning sickness. Had no idea what is was, very interesting that it is related to let down and hunger. The things you learn on bb!

[Aimz]

:woot:

You are doing such a fantastic job Mel!

I'm loving being back in your cheer squad