Heather McFerrin-Dana wrote:
I am currently 7 months pregnant. While I nursed my other children through
pregnancy I am not comfortable attempting to relactate now. But I am dreaming of
the day just around the corner when I will breastfeed our new baby (hopefully
with no special feeding needs) and also pump fresh milk for Hagan.
Hi Heather,
I really admire your strength through your long struggle to care for Hagan, especially your fortitude in the face of negative comments (just when you needed *support*!) from staff whom I suspect are simply not well informed on breastmilk and breastfeeding. It is also pleasing to see the support for you here on Lactnet, and the learning that is going on, for list members.
You mentioned that you are 7 months pregnant, and that you are unwilling to relactate at this stage. You are the one who is there, and you know best what you can or cannot cope with at this moment. It is but a short time before you have your new baby in your arms and can share your precious milk with both your newborn and Hagan. I wish you well.
I do want to share the information with the list that it *is* possible to build up a milk supply during a pregnancy, but it is a case of weighing up the needs vs the benefits in each situation. (In no way is this meant to be a comment on your situation. The situation I'm going to describe was different.) I substantially built up my milk supply when somewhere around three months pregnant, in an emergency situation where our car was bogged in mud in a remote area, about half an hour from home. (No, I was not the driver!) My daughter was then having two 10-oz (300 ml) cups of cow's milk per day, and getting the rest from me. So I hadn't dried up. She breastfed at roughly hourly intervals overnight (I wasn't timing it) and was alert and bright and well hydrated in the morning. It was about 16 hours before we got a lift. It was summer, in the Tropics, and I was carefully observing her for dehydration. Judging by her condition, I'd brought my supply up enough to replace at least one of those cup drinks and go some way to replacing the other. From memory, I think we were back in civilisation by the time she usually had the second cup drink. It never occurred to me at the time that I wouldn't be able to increase my supply to meet her needs, and it was several years later that someone mentioned that she was surprised, pointing out that I was pregnant at the time. This was the baby I'd relactated for some months earlier, and I guess I saw boosting my supply as pretty routine and normal, not anything "gee whizz". It wasn't an ideal situation, but in an emergency it was certainly possible.
Virginia
in Brisbane, Queensland
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