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@Cherrybee: I had a hard time nursing my oldest. I had low output, a horrible clogged duct and my milk dried up quickly and easily even with nursing and pumping. It was sad & not at all what I had hoped for! We bottle fed her exclusively by the time she was 6 or 8 weeks, I'd say. I remember never being engorged or leaking.

My youngest is almost 14 months and we are still nursing. I didn't do anything different with her. Both kids were c-section babies and both kids were immediately put to breast. Both girls were expert latches & neither had any problems, but I just didn't produce milk for one!

So, there's hope for the second time around!

@Cherrybee: just curious, how do you get mastitis without the production of milk? I guess it makes me wonder if there was milk there?

@Cherrybee: I read that when you get mastitis it is actually an infection of the breast tissue and you will never actually get the infection into the "milk" so you should not have been able to pump "pus." Not saying you didn't, but that was my understanding! Sounds like maybe your milk came in and you got mastitis at the same time to me.

When my milk came in both times my boobs were huge rock hard bowling balls. Super painful but never infected.

Did you keep trying to pump during that bout of mastitis or did you stop?

Yea to be honest it sounds like you maybe had some unique situations going on (placenta/infection,etc). Hopefully those are 1 time issues that if you don't have again you can have success.

My sister was able to with her second, she still had a somewhat low supply so had to pump a bit and supplement toward the end, by it was a million times better than number one. She noticed a lot more breast growth during pregnancy and after...

With my first LO, I had chronic low supply and had to supplement with formula from pretty early on until we weaned to cows milk at 1 yo. I blame it on a combo of blood loss during delivery, mild PPD, rapid postpartum weight loss (I had zero appetite for awhile, I think due to my high stress levels), and a "weak suck" per the lactation consultant. I was never able to boost my supply despite supplements and pumping.

So far with LO #2 (5.5 weeks old), we've been going strong with good supply and good baby weight gain. I use a bottle of EBM every couple days when LO is in a cluster feeding frenzy and my nipples need a break. And he's gotten a few bottles of formula here and there when I've needed a break (when your first was fed 50% formula, the fear of formula lessens)... but so far my milk supply and everything seem fine this time around.

@Cherrybee: retained placenta will definitely screw with your milk supply (it's the delivery of the placenta that signals the body to start lactating) and GD can also interfere with the hormones required for bf'ing.

Have you thought about meeting with an IBCLC before you give birth? I met with one in my last trimester and it was really comforting and confidence-building to be able to talk through the issues A and I had, and to build a plan for Felix.

Easy time nursing my first, terrible time nursing my second, ok time nursing my third. So it's possible.

My biggest piece of advice would be to talk to your lactation consultant in the hospital. They were awesome to help me be comfortable about nursing and getting my supply up.

Yep! I pumped with DD for a few weeks but switched to formula, this time I was able to actually breastfeed successfully (honestly almost too successfully due to her only wanting the breast and not taking a bottle.)

I did not have enough milk for my first and had to supplement quite a bit. Part of the problem was she was in NICU for almost 2 months and my supply never really got established with the pump (even though I was pumping every three hours...my boobs are just not very pump-compatible). I was so worried about breastfeeding my second one and we have had great success! She is 99% EBF with just the odd bottle of formula here or there when I am away. I do not pump because it's very discouraging for me to see barely anything in the bottle when I know she can get what she needs directly from the breast.

Good luck! Talk to a lactation consultant! I did prior to #2's birth as well as afterwards and it really boosted my confidence.

@Cherrybee: I always had a good supply, but LO 1 had a terrible latch due to a lot of issues, so I was pumping early on and EPing by the time she was 2 months or so.

This time, LO 2 also has a crappy latch (pretty sure she's tongue and lip tied) but we are nursing successfully so far at 2.5 months with the help of a nipple shield.

If you really want to give Bfing a go, I would bring a hand pump or something to the hospital and start pumping immediately as soon as you are well enough after birth, AND putting baby to the breast as much as possible. Both times I've pumped right from the beginning because both of my girls were jaundiced and the hospital wanted to "push fluids" and I didn't want to give formula. The time around, the LC came and helped me hand express too (I suck at it). She actually came twice to help and then my husband started helping me after (embarrassing, but whatever). I think that really helped my milk come in full force both times.

Also, if you feel your LO has a painful latch, use a shield right from the beginning so your nipples aren't mangled. My LC doesn't recommend them, but it has save my BFing relationship, because it's just too painful without it.

I had different issues, and then a whole new set of health issues and circumstances this time around that caused me to choose to bottle feed. But honestly based on the bf'ing we did in the hospital/first week I'm pretty sure if I really wanted to I could have. But due to things that happened during pregnancy and my system going a little crazy after birth, plus the job I'll be going into (and classes) and dealing with lo1, and splitting nights with dh attempting to avoid the severe ppd and ppa I had last time, I just chose not to. Ds had a much better, less painful latch though! So my nipples were much less sore even in the first few days. If my body/situation was different right now I honestly don't even think it would have been a big deal. That's not to say it would be easy but just even based on that first week I realize it could be a way different experience than I had with lo1. It can be done.