Hi guys !! I just found out that I am 9 weeks pregnant my second child and I am considering breast feeding with this one. I didn't with my daughter because I just assumed it would be very hard work with my T1.
Does any one know if I can with my Type 1 ?? I am curious to hear from others with experience from others that have experience with breast feeding and having type 1.
Thank you in advance for your advice !!
-Courtney :)
Congratulations, Courtney! That's very exciting news! :)
I know you'll find many ladies who fit that criteria on here, and I know there are also some D-blogs out there that discuss people's experiences with doing it. Kerri at www.sixuntilme.com has had some posts about it lately, for example.
Sorry I can't provide any first-hand advice for you - I only know what I've heard from others. :)
Congrats to you again!
Kim
congratulations!! i'm excited for you :o)
while i'm not a mother, i can tell you breastfeeding with diabetes is perfectly okay. you will need to consume more calories as your body will burn more energy. this could result in more low blood sugars, so checking often will be important. but it shouldn't interfere with your ability to feed your baby.
congrats again!
Thank you !! I appreciate your advice :)
Thank you !! :)
No Advice, just a great big "Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!"
Yay!!! Congratulations! (:
I nursed my son until he was 16 months . It was important to me b/c it can help reduce a child's risk of getting T1. But, it was also beneficial to me b/c my BG's ran sooo low. Once I really cut down my insulin, they were pretty smooth and even, w/o lots of spikes. I was sad about my "new" numbers when I weaned him, lol. My first month or so post-birth I had some REALLY scary lows though, and I was too tired and out of it to really be paying attention to my BG's. In hindsight, I should have tried to run much higher, but again, I was a bit distracted. (;
They say T1's may have their milk come in later (sorry guys reading this, just plug your ears, lol). I had that problem, but it was also my 1st child so it could have just been one of those things. But I worked with a lactation consultant who came to my home (more helpful than the ones in the hospital b/c it was more in depth). She had me nursing w/o problems in a week.
Each time my son cut back his daily feedings (e.g., start of solids, etc), I had to raise my insulin slightly and noticed changes in my BG's, but not as extreme as the post-birth changes.
I have also heard you don't have to be quite as worried about high BG's while BF'ing, as compared to pregnancy, although there's less research out there. There are some old studies showing a high a1c while BF'ing may lead to an overweight baby, but my doctors all seemed to discount that research now. I tried to stay at a reasonable number, but not as low as when pregnant.
Send me a message of you have any more questions. I'm sure you'll be able to do it! It was so much hard work, but worth it in the end. (:
Congratulations!!!
My son is almost 18 months old. I exclusively nursed him for the first 3 months. The only impact is that nursing can make your sugars drop, but that's easily dealt with. Your blood sugars have no impact on your milk.
[quote user="Sarah"] There are some old studies showing a high a1c while BF'ing may lead to an overweight baby, but my doctors all seemed to discount that research now.[/quote]
A high A1c has nothing to do with milk. The sugar in the milk is produced by the cells of the breast, not from the mother's bloodsugar. So the docs are right to be discounting it. This was a big worry of mine when I was nursing, and I consulted with a doctor on it and this is what I was told. I also heard about that if a T1 mom is producing ketones, they could show up in the milk. The same doc said that it is highly unlikely, but even if it did occur, the ketones would be metabolized by the baby's digestive system and essentially destroyed rather than absorbed by the baby's body.
After posting on here earlier, I thought of one other thing. With T1, you're at a slightly higher risk of getting mastitis. My general docs all freaked out about it, and tried to put me on antibiotics. But, it's really no big deal if caught early, and not a reason to stop nursing. Soaking the area in warm salt water and massage always cleared up minor infections for me.
It's wonderful to see the pride of you mothers for having successfully delivered your children and fed them. It's my understanding that this used to be a lot more difficult, and that medical research has figured out the right way to do it. Congratulations!
Congratulations on pregnancy number 2. I enjoyed breastfeeding my 2 sons. Nothing beats free, warm milk and the bonding and nourishment that comes with that. Some people have looked forward to breastfeeding helping with weight loss. I think breastfeeding would be a lot less work than having to clean bottles and preparing milk for a baby.
Hi all ! Just a quick update , I have a beautiful healthy 5 month old daughter named Ariah Capri and I have successfully been nursing her since birth ! Now I need to tackle this weight gain :( nursing is not solving the weight problem, I'm assuming that my T1 doesn't help the issue. But anyways, I am so thankful to have another beautiful healthy baby girl !
Congratulations! It sounds like you're doing well. (-: