Breastfeeding-advice please

[rachelha]

Hello all,

sorry for the lack of posts, looking after Nathan has been pretty much all consuming. I will try and have a read and respond to some soon.
My c-section would looks as though it is finally healing up. I had to go back to the hospital 3 times for them to look at it, as after the MW took the stiches out, 3 open holes appeared, so I have been on lots of anti-biotics.

I am still breast feeding at the moment. It looks as though the wee man is finally getting the hang of it (touch wood). We do top him up with the odd bit of formula everynow and then. My problem is my blood sugar levels. They are completely dependent on how much and when he feeds.

One day I had 6 hypos as he was being a complete greedy guts. The next day, as I was quite sore, we gave him some formula so I missed a feed and I was up to 14. Has anyone got any tips/advice on how to deal with this? I was also wondering if/how long other people had breast fed for?

Ta v much

Rx

 

[PhoebeC]

Hello all,

sorry for the lack of posts, looking after Nathan has been pretty much all consuming. I will try and have a read and respond to some soon.
My c-section would looks as though it is finally healing up. I had to go back to the hospital 3 times for them to look at it, as after the MW took the stiches out, 3 open holes appeared, so I have been on lots of anti-biotics.

I am still breast feeding at the moment. It looks as though the wee man is finally getting the hang of it (touch wood). We do top him up with the odd bit of formula everynow and then. My problem is my blood sugar levels. They are completely dependent on how much and when he feeds.

One day I had 6 hypos as he was being a complete greedy guts. The next day, as I was quite sore, we gave him some formula so I missed a feed and I was up to 14. Has anyone got any tips/advice on how to deal with this? I was also wondering if/how long other people had breast fed for?

Ta v much

Rx

I dont have anything to help. My o/h was going on about how difficult it will be for me breastfeeding with blood sugars. I hope you find a solution so i can steal it 😉

Maybe just test test test i dont know

xxx

 

[Emmal31]

Hi Rachel

Sorry to hear about the probelms with the c section wound. It took months for mine to stop hurting (sorry probably not what you want to hear). I breast feed Jess for 3 weeks until I got an internal infection which made my milk dry up but I had lots of problems breastfeeding Jessica anyway. It hurt and I got very sore and tender, she also wouldn't sit still (never has done) so kept coming off and it played absoulte havoc with my bg's which meant having lots of hypo's. I was glad that the decision was made for me in the end because I didn't want to give up even though that's what I really wanted to do because of all the advice being breast is best etc.

I think bottle feeding Nathan as well is a good idea stop you having so many hypo's which I know is exhausting on top of everything else. I dropped my lantus right down it was more than halved which helped me and I tested lots too which aslo helped.

I hope you can get things sorted soon. If you do make the decision to stop breastfeeding then don't feel quilty because it is so hard trying to keep bg's calm whilst bf. Good luck xx

 

[am64]

i relief i had by stopping trying to breast feed and letting my hubby join in was wonderful and so lovely to watch their bonding... also he used to stay up for the late feed then when baby woke at 4am we'd swop over meaning id get at least 6 hrs sleep a night x good luck and lovely to hear from you x🙂

 

[Cate]

Hi Rachel,

I was wondering how you and Nathan were doing! 🙂 Glad things are getting better.

I BF'd my daughter for a year, and am currently still BFing my son who is 7.5 months old now, but he is mix fed partly with formula. I think you're on MDI, is that right?

With Hannah, I just used to test before *every* BF, and if below 7 have a snack along with my glass of water. If below 5 I'd treat as if for a hypo, so short acting plus starchy carb too. I have also dropped my basal levels by about 25%.

Because I lost hypo awareness during PG my consultant wanted me to run slightly high for a couple of months to help get it back, I did (or tried to do) this immediately post-delivery, which did help with the feeding related hypos. I did this after both PGs.

Good luck, and don't beat yourself up whatever you decide to do.

 

[PhoebeC]

Hi Rachel,

I was wondering how you and Nathan were doing! 🙂 Glad things are getting better.

I BF'd my daughter for a year, and am currently still BFing my son who is 7.5 months old now, but he is mix fed partly with formula. I think you're on MDI, is that right?

With Hannah, I just used to test before *every* BF, and if below 7 have a snack along with my glass of water. If below 5 I'd treat as if for a hypo, so short acting plus starchy carb too. I have also dropped my basal levels by about 25%.

Because I lost hypo awareness during PG my consultant wanted me to run slightly high for a couple of months to help get it back, I did (or tried to do) this immediately post-delivery, which did help with the feeding related hypos. I did this after both PGs.

Good luck, and don't beat yourself up whatever you decide to do.

Great too hear your story Cate. I think we would all rather BF as it is better. But we shouldnt be pushed into it as much as we are, and shouldnt be made to feel bad if we cant, some people cant choose.

xx

 

[rachelha]

Hello
Woke up last night to breastfeed and found I was at 2.8. We managed to make up some formula and theo gave him that. I think we will have to keep a bottle of formula ready in case of hypos.

 

[Cate]

I forgot to say that we *always* kept a carton of ready-made formula in the cupboard for times exactly like that. It can be served at room temp, just open the carton, bung it in a bottle and off you go - a lot quicker than boiling/cooling water, measuring the powder etc. Also you can store the rest of the carton in the fridge for up to 24 hours.

Having said that, although it's distressing, it won't hurt your LO to cry for 10 mins or so while you sort your levels out. Hope you have a better time today.

 

[Copepod]

Would it work to have a carton of fruit juice for you (equivalent of biscuit with glass of water), alongside a carton of baby milk in case little one won't / can't wait?
I must admit whenever I see a friend breast feeding I offer to get them a drink if they want - last time was sister of woman who married my cousin the day before; we were camping in a field next to the farmhouse, but were encouraged to come in for tea, cake etc; baby was making the most of unlimited breastfeeding after a day with less than usual due to mum being bridesmaid. She wanted water and fruit juice, then directed me to find the dishwashing tablets so I could set the machine going.

 

[sugarfreerach]

hi! i follow sixuntilme.com and shes a diabetic blogger whos just had a baby and breastfeeding. She says that she has to make sure her sugars are above a certain level and then eats carbs straight after without dosing, (obv we're not doctors or anything this is just what shes found herself) as its the refilling of the milk stores after feeding that bring the sugars down a lot. if you look at her past bogs with the baby etc she's really good in explaining it. She also keeps a spare formula at the ready in case shes too low.

 

[rachelha]

Thanks for reminding me of kerri's blog, I have had a look and it seems helpful. I have now halved my evening levemir and insulin ratio at dinner as my main problem is over night (I have always had a problem with night hypos, but it is worse now). I went to bed at 12.9. 3 hours later I woke up at 2.8, I panicked, over corrected and was 24.5 later in the night. I think I will have to cut back in the evenings even more, but this will probably mean the dreaded dawn phenomenon problem. I had an alarm at 6 every morning during my pregnancy for a humalog top up, but the thought of waking up in addition to waking up for feeds is really not appealing.

If only they would let me get my pump.

 

[novorapidboi26]

Thanks for reminding me of kerri's blog, I have had a look and it seems helpful. I have now halved my evening levemir and insulin ratio at dinner as my main problem is over night (I have always had a problem with night hypos, but it is worse now). I went to bed at 12.9. 3 hours later I woke up at 2.8, I panicked, over corrected and was 24.5 later in the night. I think I will have to cut back in the evenings even more, but this will probably mean the dreaded dawn phenomenon problem. I had an alarm at 6 every morning during my pregnancy for a humalog top up, but the thought of waking up in addition to waking up for feeds is really not appealing.

If only they would let me get my pump.

Are you saying you usually get up at the crack of dawn to top up for dawn phenomonon?? If so how did that go? and what were your readings at 6:00, mine are high teens by 6:30.........

 

[rachelha]

Hello,
I have bad problems with both night time hypos and the dawn phenomenon. Normally I just put up with this ( I am on the v long waiting list for a pump in my area). During my pregnancy though to counteract the rising blood sugars early morning I had an alarm set for 6am and I had a small shot of homolog then. This stopped my blood sugars being high at breakfast at about 8am. At the start of my pregnancy I only took 0.5 or 1 unit, depending on what my bg was at 6am, but in late pregnancy i was taking about 3units.

Although v tiring I felt the extra injection was worth it, as otherwise I was having readings
in the teens every morning which really worried me. I managed to keep my hba1c around 6.5 for the duration of my pregnancy, but still ended up with a 9lb 11oz baby. I dread to think what he might have been like if my control had not been as good. His blood sugar levels were also fine when he was born, which I was really relieved about.

Are you having problems with dp? If so it might be worth talking to your dsn about this?

 

[novorapidboi26]

Hello,
I have bad problems with both night time hypos and the dawn phenomenon. Normally I just put up with this ( I am on the v long waiting list for a pump in my area). During my pregnancy though to counteract the rising blood sugars early morning I had an alarm set for 6am and I had a small shot of homolog then. This stopped my blood sugars being high at breakfast at about 8am. At the start of my pregnancy I only took 0.5 or 1 unit, depending on what my bg was at 6am, but in late pregnancy i was taking about 3units.

Although v tiring I felt the extra injection was worth it, as otherwise I was having readings
in the teens every morning which really worried me. I managed to keep my hba1c around 6.5 for the duration of my pregnancy, but still ended up with a 9lb 11oz baby. I dread to think what he might have been like if my control had not been as good. His blood sugar levels were also fine when he was born, which I was really relieved about.

Are you having problems with dp? If so it might be worth talking to your dsn about this?

Always waking, high.......my plan is to see if I can further reduce my Hb to see if I can live with it, if not then I will need to discuss with them the options, but I am confident I have exaughsted them all.........(apart from pump)

Thats good about your babies blood sugar, beauty of babies with diabetic mums is there pancreas works unlike mummys.....

My boy was 9lb and 6oz, and mums not diabetic, he was overcooked for 2 weeks though.....

 

[Chrissie]

Hi Rachel

Thank you for starting this post!!! I've been having a few problems with my blood sugars & breast feeding too!! I've had a few bad hypo's & over corrected & had a whole day with my sugars in the 20's & couldn't get them down 😱

I've found the only way i can keep some kind of control is test test test! if i'm below 7 before a feed i eat 3-4 rich tea biscuits if i'm below 5 i treat as a hypo. Before i feed i make sure i've got a carton of juice & biscuits next to me & i have a stock next to my bed as it tends to be worse during the night. I've reduced my insulin basal rate by 50% and changed my bolus ratios (from 1u-7g to 1u-12g) it's just a start & i need to change the settings some more but there doesn't seem to be any pattern to what my sugars are doing now so i've just got to test, correct & use my temp basal rates. It's hard enough trying to keep on top of things with a pump so it must be even harder on mdi where you can't use temp basal rates.

Alice has been struggling to regain her birth weight (6lb 9oz) & has only just got back up to 6lb 8oz yesterday, so we are having to feed every 2-3hrs. I have been expressing after each feed & offer her a top up feed of breast milk if she hasn't fed for long & i always give her a top up bottle of 50-60mls at bedtime so she sleeps till her next feed. i

We have also got some ready made cartons of formula milk ready to use if needed (we had to give Alice top up formula feeds for the first 2 days as my milk took a while to come in & she initially lost alot of weight) but i tend to have enough expressed breast milk to give her a bottle of that & my husband will give her a bottle if i'm hypo or just to give me a rest from feeding.

I had really sore nipples for the first week of breast feeding but it was due to me not getting Alice to latch on properly 🙄 its much better now!!

Try not to beat yourself up about formula feeding its not going to hurt & its a bloody nightmare trying to keep on top of blood sugars levels.

Take care xxx

 

[rachelha]

Chrissie, we have a few ready made cartons of formula too. I think we are going to try giving him a formula top up in the evening. He is now heavier than his birth weight,but is constantly hungry. We had great difficulties getting him to latch on correctly to start with. I ended up with blood blisters on my nipples. I think this was made worse by me being I
On so many painkillers, I let him keep going when the latch wad not right, and ended up with problems. Fortunately this had all healed up now,and we seem to be getting better at it. My milk also took a while to come in so Nathan was cup fed formula for a couple of days in hospital.

I actually breast fed in public yesterday, the cafe was actually empty apart from Theo and I, but this felt like a major achievement. A week ago I would not have imagined I could be doing that at all.
Did you get the advice about treating 5 as a hypo etc. from your clinic, or have you worked that out yourself?

 

[am64]

nice to hear your getting on better ...and well done for feeding in public x lovely to hear from you xx🙂

 

[Chrissie]

Ouch!! Blister on your nipple ouch!!!

Well done feeding in public!!!! I've not managed to pluck up the courage yet!!

My dsn told me i should treat as a hypo at 4.5 but i seem to drop really quickly from 5 so i treat as a hypo from 5 which seems to work at the moment.

How are you healing now after your section? i read you had trouble with your stiches. That probally hasn't helped your sugars. Thankfully my stiches healed well i was really worried about infection!! I use tea tree oil & lavender oil in my bath & everything seems ok

I think we are starting to settle into a routein now i can't remember what life was like without Alice now i hope your enjoying being a mum xx