I have posted my story before, but it may bear repeating again. I was one of
those "big producers"--- my babies coughed, choked, sputtered and complained
through my let-downs, and often didn't need a second breast for quite a
while. Three of my babies thrived, growing large very quickly. But #4 was
different. Eric had a click that I could not figure out, but grew ok in the
early months. No one was unduly alarmed even though it bothered me that he
"fell" off the breast if I moved around. Being my 4th baby with the oldest
only six, I did not see the warning signs when I should have, and even then
was far too laid back about them; after all, I had successfully nursed three
other babies. But, Eric became failure-to-thrive between 6-9 mos when he
dropped two percentiles on the growth chart, and his weight probably started
falling off before that, probably in the 4-6 mos window.
Along with Eric's drop on the growth chart, my milk supply also dropped off.
Again, I just didn't realize it right away, because I was also dealing with
the experience of breasts that reduced in size sooner with each baby
(apparently adjusting more quickly) and the distraction of chasing an ADHD
kindergartner. By the time Eric was a year old, I felt like I had hardly any
milk at all; he continued to nurse till 2.5 years, but it seemed like it was
mostly for comfort on what felt like a fairly "dry" breast. He did not begin
to really gain weight until he was well-established on solids, around 12-14
mos.
What happened? There was something on Eric's part that just did not
stimulate my milk supply. Looking back, I now would conclude that he lived
off the overflow of my large supply; had I been a mom with a more
finely-tuned supply, he probably would have faltered a lot sooner. Eric does
have a split uvula as I do, and I was told my anatomy teacher (MD) that she
was taught in medical school to look for a cleft of the soft palate when you
see a bifurcated uvula. To the best of our knowledge Eric does not have any
clefts (I have minor clefts of the hard palate), but *something* was
different enough to cause suck problems.
In regards to return of menstruation, my period generally came back around 6
mos with the exception of Eric; that last time, it came back at 4 mos, an
ominous portent. With my second, third and fourth babies I practiced
ecological breastfeeding, desiring a sustained lactational amenorrhea, but
still never got past 6 mos. I would say that I fall into that category of
women who make a lot of milk initially and also have early return of menses.
Was it because my babies tanked up so fast that I didn't get enough time in
to suppress lactation? Were my hormones just closer to the threshold of
menses? I always wondered, but could only speculate.
Lisa Marasco MA IBCLC
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