An email I sent to "pregnant_nursing" -- included here because of the insight I saw in the 3rd and 4th sentences of the 2nd paragraph.

Hello C,

Except for my son being 10 months old, you and I are in very similar positions. We used fertility treatment to get PG the first time, and were very shocked to discover the miracle of PG #2 "the old fashioned way". I am still nursing my son, but because my supply is very low, we supplement at night with a friend's milk and at daycare with formula.

My La Leche League group includes a couple of gals who tandem nurse a baby and a toddler, but their toddlers are closer to your son's age than my son's age. I am now 3 months along and nursing while PG isn't quite as exhausting as it was at first. I am saddened by the loss of supply and needing to supplement, but I trust that my body is putting it's energy and resources where they are needed most right now. I am determined to not lose the nursing relationship before my son is ready, even if there isn't much milk there for him to drink. Whether we tandem nurse or not will probably depend on whether he decides to wean before September with my low supply.

I am sore and tired

My muscles are very sore and tired today. I don't really know why. I am even having some carpel-tunnel-like wrist pain. That's puzzling because I thought it was usually triggered by swelling. But last night while I was pulling up the covers in bed, my wedding ring when flying off my hand. (So I don't think I'm retaining fluid right now.) I've taken Tylenol and am drinking good amounts of water, but I know I'm not getting enough sleep.

Last week someone asked me how this pregnancy compares to the last one. The nausea is about the same, I'm past the worst of it but still need to keep food in my stomach. The fatigue seems worse because last time I could nap almost anytime I needed to. Now I have DS to care for, and even with DH's help I am not getting the rest I need.

Mothering Magazine -- Birthing Again: A VBAC Experience

Mothering Magazine -- A New Mom at 50

We need help.

DH and I are both so exhausted that we can barely function. We overslept this morning. I was aware of the time, but DH wasn't and was very upset when I pointed out to him how late it was. I told him not to worry about me and DS, but he still got the diapers ready and packed my pump bag since those are things that he can do quickly to help me in the morning. He was probably about 15 minutes late to work. I was about an hour and a half late because I'm supposed to be there at 8 (not 8:30 like him), and I left after him and stopped to drop DS off at day care and stopped at McDonald's for breakfast.

I didn't sleep well again last night because DS semi-wakes up wanting to nurse, but there is not much there so he is very fitfull. When I try to get out of bed to get a bottle he starts to cry, so the past couple of nights, instead of waking DH to comfort DS while I get the bottle, I have been taking DS into the kitchen with me. That's very tiring for me, plus it wakes him up more, but it's one of the few things I can do to help DH get a decent night's sleep.

My head really hurts today, too. Part of it is not eating well, because nothing sounds good; and part of it is not sleeping well. I really do like having DS in bed with us when he needs to nurse, but I relax much better when he is not in bed with us. Something needs to change, but my fuzzy pregnant brain can't come up with a good solution. That's another reason we need help: my brain just isn't working very well.

Still exhausted, but stomach is better

I'm still really tired all of the time, but at least my stomach is feeling better most of the time. DS fell asleep while nursing on the first side at daycare during lunch today. So instead of putting him in his crib and leaving, I just held him and napped almost an hour also. He slept about another 1/2 hour, then I changed his diaper and fed him on the other side. The nap sure did a lot of good for me!

A first

I threw up this morning. Now, there really wasn't anything in my stomach, so it wasn't much more than spit and a little stomach acid, but I was definitely heaving from the stomach, not just coughing. I had DH make me a glass of chocolate milk. After slowing down my breathing I took a couple of sips. My stomach started to feel better, so I sipped a few more times. I got settle down fairly well after that. I would have liked to gone back to bed, but DH needed to leave (to go deliver "Singing Valentines" with his quartet), so I got DS up and dressed. I took him to day care then came on to work. I'm taking it very easy this morning because I still feel very uncomfortable.

Pictures and a Due Week

I had a sonogram this morning. The technician asked if we knew any dates, so I told her that the "first week of December" was LMP. She plugged 12/05/02 into the computer. That would make me 9w5d today. The measurements came up 9w4d +- 3d, so we have the right month. :-) Everything looks just right for a 9w pregnancy, no visible detail to the lay person at this level of ultrasound.

We will be telling people either "mid-September" or "2nd week of September" for the "due date". The computer actually calculated September 11. The technician suggested 9/12 instead of 9/11, but I would not mind having something positive become associated with that date. It is our pastor's birthday, too.

I feel awful

My stomach hurts, my nose is congested, my throat is sore (from drainage and breathing through my mouth all night long), and I just want to go home and go to bed. I probably should, but I also think that I just keep nibbling on food to keep my stomach okay, I could actually get some work done today.

DH is coming down with something (hopefully just a cold), too. We have a rule that both of us aren't supposed to be sick at the same time. I have a feeling that we're starting to break that rule. :-(

Breastfeeding During Pregnancy

Night nursing

Saturday night I had to stop nursing DS and have DH fix a bottle because it made me so nauseated. I thought I was going to throw up right in bed! The first night nursing, about 1am, was okay, but the next one after that gave me uterine pressure (which has happened several times) and severe nausea. DS drank the bottle down and conked out. He woke again, so I had DH fix another one, but DS went back to sleep before it was ready. An hour or so later DS woke up and I accidently gave him the empty bottle. He was quite made when I took it away, so I wondered if he really just needed something to suck on. I think he might have realized it was empty and protested after a few minutes. Then I gave him the right one, and he drank it down and went back to sleep.

Last night I prepared 2 small bottles for during the night, in case the same thing happened. I didn't get nauseated when DS nursed, thankfully, so we had a fairly pleasant night.