Women’s Health Blog

The moment you find out your pregnant you want to tell everyone, including your kids. The way you tell your child depends on their age, an older child will understand what it means when you tell them you are pregnant or that they are going to be a brother or sister soon. However, a toddler is a little bit harder to explain this too.

Think about your childs personality when it comes time to tell them. You know your child best. They may enjoy being sent little clues like you did with daddy, or they may just want you to tell them straight out. You could get lucky and have them walk in the room while you are announcing it. This happened to me when I was expecting child number four. I had just walked out of the bathroom waving the wand in the air to show my husband. I had no clue that my kids had walked into the room until I heard them screeching I was pregnant. Oops.

Their Reactions
Dont be shocked if at first your child acts distant, many children will respond to the news in their own way. One of your children may even start to pretend to be pregnant right along with you, mimicking everything you do. While another child may tell you they dont want you to bring home a new baby. These are all common reactions to the news, the way you handle it will determine the outcome.

If your child seems reluctant to want another child in the home you may want to find out why. The only way to find out whats bugging him/her is to ask. Maybe they are just scared that you are going to stop loving them, or that everyone will forget about him/her when the baby is born.

Showing them They are Important too
A good way to do this is to make sure they get something the moment the baby is born, some have had the doctors give the sibling their own baby doll when their sibling was born. Try reading childrens books with them to show them that itll be a good thing. Dad can always spend some one on one time with them.

Involving Your Child in the Pregnancy
This is their baby too, have your children accompany you to a few of the doctor visits. Let them hear the heartbeat of their little sister or brother. Watch their faces light up when they see the baby for the first time on the screen. There are many ways you can involve them, you can encourage them to help you decide on a name. Try letting them feel the baby kick for the first time by placing their hand on your swollen belly.

Its easy to prepare the siblings for your new arrival as long as you involve them in the pregnancy along the way. Theyll be happy to be part of it and feel more of a connection to the baby when he/she is born.

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Within the first two to three days after you have
given birth, you may discover that your breasts
feel swollen, tender, throbbing, lumpy, and
overly full. Sometimes, the swelling will extend
all the way to your armpit, and you may run a
low fever as well.

The causes
Within 72 hours of giving birth, an abundance
of milk will come in or become available to your
baby. As this happens, more blood will flow
to your breasts and some of the surrounding tissue
will swell. The result is full, swollen, engorged
breasts.

Not every postpartum mom experienced true
engorgement. Some women’s breasts become only
slightly full, while others find their breasts
have become amazingly hard. Some women will hardly
notice the pain, as they are involved in other
things during the first few days.

Treating it
Keep in mind, engorgement is a positive sign
that you are producing milk to feed to your
baby. Until you produce the right amount:
1. Wear a supportive nursing bra, even
at night – making sure it isn’t too tight.
2. Breast feed often, every 2 – 3 hours
if you can. Try to get the first side of your
breasts as soft as possible. If your baby seems
satisfied with just one breast, you can offer
the other at the next feeding.
3. Avoid letting your baby latch on and
suck when the areola is very firm. To reduce
the possibility of nipple damage, you can use
a pump until your areola softens up.
4. Avoid pumping milk except when you
need to soften the areola or when your baby
is unable to latch on. Excessive pumping can
lead to the over production of milk and prolonged
engorgement.
5. To help soothe the pain and relieve
swelling, apply cold packs to your breasts for
a short amount of time after you nurse. Crushed
ice in a plastic bag will also work.
6. Look ahead. You’ll get past this
engorgement in no time and soon be able to
enjoy your breast feeding relationship with your
new baby.

Engorgement will pass very quickly. You can
expect it to diminish within 24 – 48 hours, as
nursing your baby will only help the problem. If
you aren’t breast feeding, it will normally
get worse before it gets better. Once the
engorgement has passed, your breasts will be
softer and still full of milk.

During this time, you can and should continue to
nurse. Unrelieved engorgement can cause a drop
in your production of milk, so it’s important
to breast feed right from the start. Keep an
eye for signs of hunger and feed him when he
needs to be fed.

(word count 444)

PPPPP

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Being pregnant doesnt mean you have to stop breastfeeding your child. Long ago doctors believed it actually took nutrients away from the baby inside you, however that is not the case. Even today we have people that believe this and they will argue with you the entire time. Only you can decide if you should stop breastfeeding your toddler or not. Dont let someone else make that decision for you.

Reasons to Stop
A few reasons you might want to stop breastfeeding may be if you are feeling constantly drained of energy. Or maybe your child has started to bite. Sometimes your milk will just dry up, this is your bodys way of telling you that it has had enough and to take a break. Mastitis could play a big role in making you stop immediately as well. Mastitis is an infection in the breast when it isnt expressed enough and gets engorged.

Stopping or Weaning
If you do plan on stopping because you are pregnant, make sure it is for the right reasons. If your child has reached a certain age, it might be best. But never just yank it away from them. Your child could wonder why it is being taken away. Wonder if they had done something or become discouraged about the new baby coming. Some children decide to wean themselves, which is a big help to you and you wont feel so guilty about it. You can choose to do it cold turkey, or slowly wean him/her off. Cold turkey can have some bad results. Try limiting his/her feeding times to certain hours and gradually as time passes take away more. Your child will quickly stop on his/her own and it wont be a traumatic event.

Continuing to Feed
If you do plan on continuing to breastfeed while you are pregnant, talk with your doctor about it. Not all the time will the doctor agree with your decision. Sometimes he/she may see something in your health that you dont. Listen carefully and find out if it is a health reason or simply his/her own belief. If it is the doctors belief, you can always seek out one that agrees with you. Being pregnant is hard enough at times, knowing you have someone in your corner will only relieve the stress. Dont be surprised if your family and friends want to say something about it and they will probably give you all kind of advice on how to stop and what theyve read. Nicely explain to them it is your decision and youll do what you think is best for your children. Try finding a support group in your area so you have someone to vent to or talk about these issues. Check out if there is a La Leche League near you or online that you can join.

Remember that as long as you take proper care of yourself and your body, youll be able to safely breastfeed while pregnant.

read comments (0)

Being pregnant doesnt mean you have to stop breastfeeding your child. Long ago doctors believed it actually took nutrients away from the baby inside you, however that is not the case. Even today we have people that believe this and they will argue with you the entire time. Only you can decide if you should stop breastfeeding your toddler or not. Dont let someone else make that decision for you.

Reasons to Stop
A few reasons you might want to stop breastfeeding may be if you are feeling constantly drained of energy. Or maybe your child has started to bite. Sometimes your milk will just dry up, this is your bodys way of telling you that it has had enough and to take a break. Mastitis could play a big role in making you stop immediately as well. Mastitis is an infection in the breast when it isnt expressed enough and gets engorged.

Stopping or Weaning
If you do plan on stopping because you are pregnant, make sure it is for the right reasons. If your child has reached a certain age, it might be best. But never just yank it away from them. Your child could wonder why it is being taken away. Wonder if they had done something or become discouraged about the new baby coming. Some children decide to wean themselves, which is a big help to you and you wont feel so guilty about it. You can choose to do it cold turkey, or slowly wean him/her off. Cold turkey can have some bad results. Try limiting his/her feeding times to certain hours and gradually as time passes take away more. Your child will quickly stop on his/her own and it wont be a traumatic event.

Continuing to Feed
If you do plan on continuing to breastfeed while you are pregnant, talk with your doctor about it. Not all the time will the doctor agree with your decision. Sometimes he/she may see something in your health that you dont. Listen carefully and find out if it is a health reason or simply his/her own belief. If it is the doctors belief, you can always seek out one that agrees with you. Being pregnant is hard enough at times, knowing you have someone in your corner will only relieve the stress. Dont be surprised if your family and friends want to say something about it and they will probably give you all kind of advice on how to stop and what theyve read. Nicely explain to them it is your decision and youll do what you think is best for your children. Try finding a support group in your area so you have someone to vent to or talk about these issues. Check out if there is a La Leche League near you or online that you can join.

Remember that as long as you take proper care of yourself and your body, youll be able to safely breastfeed while pregnant.

read comments (0)