I have been breastfeeding pretty much non stop since my now 10yr old was born. With each new bub I was unable to express milk prior the birth. I still had milk as the older one was still feeding or had only stopped a month before hand. But you would never have guessed it. For me, my milk came in AFTER the birth just as it did the first time.
Thankyou ladies! I very much appreciate the help and advice. I breastfed my first baby and found that my boobs became over engorged and he wasnt able to get much out, it would also give me extreme pain when I did try feed him... the nurses kept pushing me to breastfeed, but it was so painful so I gave up and started to express using a manual avent breast pump, but after a month my milk dwindled and ended up stopping. When my son was about three months old, they found he had a tongue tie (which was never picked up by any doctor or nurse earlier!)... That ended up being the reason for the painful breastfeeding experience! Do you think if I chose to express this time round my milk supply will dwindle again...Can expressing using a pump cause the milk supply to stop?
Ok, if you became engorged, there are ways to treat that - it is really common, many mothers find it happens to them. You can manage it to help relieve the pain and make it easier for baby to attach when they feed. If you find that the midwives this time aren't being helpful, pop on here and ask for advice, or ring the helpline I gave you above. Expressing using a pump can help initially but it doesn't need to be the final result. Engorgement is natural as your body produces milk and tries to produce the right amount for your baby. It can take some time for what you are producing to match what baby wants, so engorgement might not go away immediately, hence needing to manage it and make sure you're handling it the right way.
Having said that, it might not even happen this time. You might not need to pump at all! And your little one might not be tongue tied. But if you are worried, at least this time you know to ask the midwife or doctor to check for tongue tie.
Try not to worry about the "What if.."s and just focus on having your beautiful baby!
If you do choose to express full time, your milk supply will not necessarily dwindle, but expressing full time is a hard path to walk - you need to be committed to making it work. There is a long term expressers thread on here, but to be honest, I think most mums who express for any length of time will tell you it is much easier to breastfeed, if you are able. Of course if there are reasons that the breastfeeding road isn't for you, then expressing is a wonderful alternative. But if you can breastfeed, try that.
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