January - April 2006 for "Present and Soon To Be" Nursing Moms

[LunaAshling]

Hello and welcome to 2006 everyone!

I had to change the title a bit as I ran out of space!

I will post a new thread every 4 months. The last thread can be found at: Oct-Dec 2005 Mommies and Nummies Support... for "Present and Soon To Be" Nursing Moms We had 1239 views and 77 posts as of 1/1/06 and 10:30 am my time... so alot of ladies were interested in what we had to say!



Some of you may remember me from early 2003 when I ran the "Mommies and Nummies". It has come back and forth over the years and alot of people still ask me to start it up again. So here we are!

I am a WAHM mom with two boys (12 & 4). I am also pregnant with baby #3 due in April 2006. My 4 year old weaned at 3 1/2 when I became pregnant. I am the last person on earth that I would have EVER thought would end up an extended nurser! It has been an interesting road!

Most of our early "Nummies" threads are gone now... along with a ton of great info! But there are still some left and you may browse them here:

September 2005: http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/s...ad.php?t=375062

August 2005 (a great month): http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/s...ad.php?t=369524

January 2005: http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/s...ad.php?t=306748

Links to a few of the old threads in 2003 & 2004: http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/s...threadid=306745



Here are the Nummies rules:

Every mom on here is looking for support, help and advice on breastfeeding. Every mom on here has chosen their own lowcarb path and some moms may or may not eat the way you do and some may even choose ketosis. Our goal here is NOT to flame anyone but to SUPPORT all moms in staying healthy through lowcarb living and to help them breastfeed as well as they possibly can. If you can NOT deal with varying points of thought.... LEAVE now. If you don't agree... then walk away.

If you come in negative and flame moms... you are out. If you get nasty you WILL be reported!




I look forward to meeting everyone and to seeing all the "old" moms!


You can also foolow the links in my siggy if you are PG or TTC and want a support thread... or if you are doing lowcarb with your kids and need new ideas!

[vanderbrat]

Hi Everyone-

I'm a nursing mom to a 21 month old DS. I'm sick and tired of my pants not fitting, so I'm back to my low-carb ways. I was following Atkins when I got PG. I was down 33 lbs at that point and feeling fantastic. I LC'd for most of my pregnancy until my 3rd trimester cravings hit. After DS was born, I was paranoid about dieting because of my milk supply. Now that he's older, I figure I can risk a supply drop. (He's 37 lbs, BTW!) I look forward to hearing about what is working for you and sharing the ride with people who have been there, done that.

Christia

[metroames]

Christia! Don't worry too much about your milk supply. Just make sure that you are eating whole foods and enough calories and fat and you will do just fine. I've lost more than 15 pounds after my initial postpardom loss of 25 pounds (10 of that was just child! ) without even trying. I pretty much stay away from the sugar except for the occasional dark chocolate indulgence and eat only whole non processed foods. This is the first time in my life I've been able to eat enough to feel satisfied and still lose weight. No wonder I want to keep breastfeeding, LOL! I think the only time I haven't lost any weight this year was the month I was on a sf Beachgirl cheesecake kick. If I would have ignored it I might be at my prepregnancy weight by now. I know some women cannot lose weight while lactating because of the hormones, but if you change your eating habbits you might be one of the lucky ones like me!

Ames

[metroames]

Ok, gotta share my latest nursing picture. I think we've almost outgrown the chair and the Bobby! What are we gonna do! (Note that he is playing with the tag on the Bobby....he just doesn't nurse well without his "comfort", so much for the $40 nursing necklace I bought. )



This was him after a marathon nursing session the other day. Took a while to get him to wake up! Mommy milk sure has some knock out power!



He is almost half my size! I can't believe he was inside me just a year ago! Can you believe that he has gained exactly as much as I've lost? It is amazing! Oh, and this outfit doesn't do me justice....it makes my butt and thighs look big.

[LunaAshling]

WELCOME Christia!!!! I highly reccomend reading back through the last hread for a TON of good info and disscussion!

I never had an issue with supply, but a few moms have and talked about it in the last thread!


Good luck hun!





Ames... that is soooooooooooooo cute!

[fstroup]

I have been on again off again low carber. I now have a 5 year old son and a 3 month girl. I want to start low carbing again, but everytime I eat vegetables -my baby gets gassy. What do you do to make it comfortable to them without giving gas medicine everyday?

[metroames]

Is she just passing a lot of gas or is the gas making her miserable and not coming out? If she does not seem miserable I wouldn't worry about it. I found that squash, carrots and salad veggies were fine, but other veggies, like broccoli, made for a miserable day. The mylecon drops are supposedly safe, but I found that only helped with gas in the tummy and not the intestines anyway. Maybe trying a different veggie every day for a couple weeks to find out what she can or cannot tolerate. Good luck!

Ames

[LunaAshling]

Yeah I would keep a log and do a different veggie each day then mark down the ones where she seemed gassy. Then go back and try them ONLY for a day or two to see if it is really that veggie. And then I guess just avoid it for awhile. She should grow out of it eventually.

[fstroup]

Thanks for the advise. I really appreciate it. When I eat broccoli or alot of salad it really seems to cause discomfort. Most other veggies just cause gas.

[Burien Buttercup]

How nice to read all your posts! I am a returning LC'r. I used to post under the name Nance. I doubt anyone would remember me, tho. I was not an avid poster.

I am mother to a 1 year old son, and we are still BFing at least twice a day. On the weekends he will nurse before naps, too. Weaning doesn't seem to be near, and since we both are still enjoying it, I'm not quitting anything! I have not been on LC since before pregnancy.

I did the Bradley Method of childbirth (man oh man was that great! I had a 10 lb. 3 oz baby without any pain...who needs drugs when labor doesn't hurt?!?! Crazy lucky, I know.) I followed Brewers Diet, which goes with Bradley Method, but did quite a bit of junkfood scarfing toward the end. I gained 40ish pounds (I didn't even look at the scale towards the end), lost 20 of them postpartum, and then started WW about 8 months ago. With WW I lost a grand total of, you guessed it, 10 lbs...sigh. I will lose that in the first week of Induction...So, I am back. I guess I was scared to try lc and bfing. Maintenence seemed like too many calories, so I didn't do that either. Idiot.

Anywho, I started induction on the 1st. I tried to read the old posts to see what is wrong with ketosis and bfing, but didn't see much. I saw several references to lots of info, but never saw the actual info. I know Atkins didn't recommend it, but I have got to get my eating under control and my body back. I guess I figured that if I 'taste' different, the boy will wean himself, and that will be ok. I will miss it, cuz man I love our time, but at some point I have to get me back, right?

So, ladies, it is a please to meet and read you, and I look forward to more.
Have a great night,
Nancy

[LunaAshling]

It comes down to know doctor or organization will ok something for pregnant women to save their own butts legally.


While I am NOT telling every mom out there to jump inot ketosis, ketosis is a NATURAL event (different than ketoacidosis). When you puke all day from being pg you are in ketosis. Well our race did not die out from it and all the "damamged" babies.

Dr. Atkins actually did give a lecture once where he said it was all fine. We used to have a link to it in an old thread but those threads were deleted and I can't find my link.



In the end NO ONE in the world would EVER know they were EVER in ketosis if someone did not tell them about it! I had NEVER heard of it before getting the Atkins book! NO docotor let alone an OB EVER told me the "dangers" or to beware... because NONE ever mention it unless you say you are doing lowcarb.

Hmm... what does logic tell you then? How can eating no crap, lots of good protein and fats, and tons of veggies kill your baby? In what universe?

You tell ANY OB that daily you are eating chicken and lots of salads, some fruit and maybe some whole grain toast and you will get praised... tell them you eat lowcarb and BAM!!! They can't have that because they do NOT know any better or don't want the legal hassle.

I got lucky in that my specialist in my last pregnancy (in CA) was a lowcarb avocate... he KNEW the truth.


If Atkins and ketosis does not cause kidney damage and destroy regular lowcarbers...

If NO ONE ever talked about it before...

If not one OB EVER mentions the evils of it...

If almost every pregnant lady has been in it (some for months)...

If some societies are in it all the time still....

If TONS of women have breastfed with NO problems...



What does YOUR gut think? Do you believe REALITY or do you believe the butt saving legal hype that EVERYONE spits out without ANY real facts?




I know this seems extreme and many will argue for the "Why even take a chance with your baby?". Like I said I am not telling everyone to go and do it. If you are not comfy you are not comfy. But I was VERY careful and controlled and my nursing son got HEALTHIER. And then I started researching the truth and not all the hype.


I honestly do not believe it is harmful. I don't try to keep myself in it on purpose, but I let my body do what it wants to do.


There is another lowcarb forum which is not too hard to find if you do a search.... they have a HUGE parenting board section and a TON ( I mean hundreds) of women who lowcarb while pg and bf'ing and MANY of them are in and out of ketosis, including a NICU pg nurse with GD. I won't say the name or PM out of respect, but a quick websearch should get you there pretty easy.



I really wish all the early nummies posts were still here or that I would have saved them. We had links to a TON of data and now its lost. I will keep trying to find if any is saved anywhere.




Good luck ladies! Just like I tell the pg ladies.... you don't need that crap. What you need is REAL food because you are growing and then feeding a baby that has ZERO choice in what it eats. It has no say when you eat that candy bar or that bag of chips. And that kid is not getting any nutrition out of it when you do.


Treat your body and your baby right and install a lifetime of good habits from the beggining! Occasional treats are fine, but they should not be considered FOOD!

[krisfrogten]

Hello ladies! New here and currently bf'ing my 9.5 month old. Looking forward to meeting everyone! Here's my little man...

[LunaAshling]

Awww he is soooo cute Kristen!!!!!!! Look at that smile!

[ksgirl]

Hello everyone! I am a real newbie, I have never posted anywhere, but bf while I started Atkins was a real concern to me, but I now feel better. I am so glad I found this site! I do have one question. What supplements are okay and which are not, like Chromium Picolinate, is it okay. Do I just take what the Atkins books advise? I have not been taking even vitamins as I am not sure, I know I need to take somethings though.

My "little" guy is 20 months old and weighs 34 lbs and is 34 inches as of his 18mos visit. The nurse told me he was the average size of a 26 month old. He is very important to me and I don't want to do anything that might hurt him.

I had done Atkins before he was born and lost over 30lbs. In fact, I really feel the only reason I did get pg with him is because of lc eating, it was the first time in my life I felt "normal". I'm looking forward to that feeling again!

Thanks,
Lisa

[LunaAshling]

Welcome Lisa!

I am not too sure about the supplements and I never took CP at all. That one you might want to ask a doc about! Just ask if any of the ones you wish to take are secreted in breastmilk and if so if there is a known issue with them.

[krisfrogten]

Hi Lisa! I also got pregnant after losing weight on Atkins. Pretty cool huh?

[ksgirl]

Hey Kristen, yeah really cool! Especially since I have been non-ovulatory all of my life and had to take fertillity drugs to get pg before.

What about you, do you take any vitamins or supplments? What about calcium?

I have to celebrate a little, I started one week ago today, and I have lost 7lbs as of this morning! Yea!!! I hope to be close to my goal by Memorial day, I have my 20th class reunion coming up, (sigh). How is everyone else doing? Good I hope!

I also hope I will have DS weaned by then, but the way it is going I will be lucky to have him weaned by Kindergarden! I had a hard time weaning my last DD too, she if I remember right, was 2 and a half. Has anyone else had a hard time weaning, what did you do to help?

Thanks,
Lisa

[Orphalie]

I also got pregante 2 times while low carbing! with number 2 and 3( which im working on right now). I never knew what ketosis was but I guarentee I was in it for at least 6 months of my first pregnancy. My sickness was horrible. The only thing I could keep down were kids chewable vitamins and water.......thats it. I lost 15 lbs in the first 6 months when I realy didnt have a lb to spare. I lived over seas (in France) at the time and the doctors said I looked great what was I worrying about LOL. For some reason at exactly 6 months the nausia completely stoped and I gained about 20 lbs in 6 weeks and then wham my DD was born early (due to a functional problem not diet). I started low carbing when she was about 7 months old, who knew I would gain more weight sitting at home with her than when I was pregante and I still produced a ton of milk even though I had stoped nursing which was a bit uncomfortable. I plan to start low carbing around 60 carbs a day as soon as the baby is a few weeks old. This is our last child so its finaly time to get my butt in gear and get MY body back. I'm not LCing right now because I simply cant keep anything down again. What I an seem to keep down are cereals, whole grain breads, and dairy products like yogurt and cheese. I am probably having less than 100 carbs a day but nowhere near what I feel I should be eating.

[krisfrogten]

That's Awesome! I'm currently taking a generic multivitamin, Cal/Mag & also Potassium when needed for leg cramps.

[LunaAshling]

My second was an Atkins baby too!

[Aediekins]

Hi guys... I am currently posting in the "Pregnant or Trying" thread, but this catches my interest. I BF my daughter for 2 years. It wasn't the plan, I just waited until I didn't feel it anymore. She wanted to nurse sitting up and watching TV. That was the end of that.

But I plan on BF Baby #2 (not PG quite yet) and I'm sure I will be in here often.

Also, I had a lot of problems getting my daughter to latch on correctly, I had to feed her with a tube attached to my finger because the sores were so bad on my nipples. Then I had to use a "nipple sheild." I refused to give her a bottle. I saw 3 different lactation consultants and finally someone over at WIC helped her latch on correctly. Turns out she had a super-sensitive gag-reflex so she wouldn't take my nipple far enough into her mouth. So she basically stuck her finger pretty far back into her mouth and rubbed her finger around a little bit. She had her on her tummy so she couldn't pull back off of her finger. At first my poor baby gagged a lot and I almost grabbed her and ran the hell out of there. But then she started sucking and became quite peaceful. The consultant took her off her finger and I put her directly onto my breast and from then on she nursed perfectly and I had no problems. The whole ordeal took nearly 1 1/2 months to solve.

So the moral is, even if you run into problems, stick with it, there is help, there will be an answer and you can do it.

And as far as LC and BF I can't imagine eating a healthy diet of fresh meat, vegetables, salads, the occasional slice of whole grain bread, flax seed and no sugar is going to be bad or unhealthy.

[LunaAshling]

Aedie... if you did not before... get yourself some lanolin cream and smother them nips up alot when trying again! Man that really helped me ALOT! And make sure you are not having thrush instead of just sores!


That is so awesome you stuck it out like that! Way to go!!!!!



Oh and for everyone else... you can always pump and then bottle feed if there is a true issue going on! ANY amount of time and breastmilk you can give to your baby is priceless! Even 2 weeks is better than nothing! You have antibodies in your milk that formula cannot give!

[Aediekins]

I had thrush later... A totally different thing. But to begin with it was just latching problems. Hopefully baby #2 will latch on better!

[flaminghotsauce mama]

I'm new here! Just wanted to say hi and not be too much of a lurker.

I have been nursing one or two straight through since 2000. That was 3 babies ago! LOL!

The first time I tried low-carb eating was in 2002, after I had my biggest baby. I ate low-carb all the way through the next pregnancy and it was the best I ever felt while pregnant! Continued to eat the same way for a while, but gradually fell off with a particularly long stall.

My last pregnancy I hog-sucked chocolate the last trimester and ballooned.

I finally lost a couple pounds just cutting chocolate and junk, and decided to get serious. So here I am!

I hope to visit here regularly!

[LunaAshling]

Welcome flaminghotsauce mama!!!

[flaminghotsauce mama]

Lisa, I have taken Chromium Polynicotinate (ChromeMate) throughout pregnancy and nursing. I know other women take it, especially those at risk for Type II diabetes and GD. I take 200mcg daily. My brother recommended it to me, he is a personal trainer in another state so he can only give help from afar.