Baby #4 was the 1st baby I had naturally. No pethedine (#1 & #2) & no gas (#1, #2 & #3).
And yet she was the one who though latched on correctly, had a very weak suckle. I don’t know the reason. I just kept praying about it & then 1 day the strength of her suckle improved & we were home free.
But this child was determined to nurse 7 – 8 times a day! When she turned 1, I got pregnant with #5! She was happily eating very little solids (as with the rest) & nursing like there was no tomorrow. But I don’t do nursing well when pregnant.
I feel extremely nauseous every time I nursed them and was extremely senstive. So much so that I would be clenching my fists everytime they nursed. It would get progressively worse as the pregnany went on. I think it was because as the milk supply dropped, the nursling would suckle harder to get the milk out. And that harder suckling hurts!!!
When I hit 2nd trimester with #5, #4 showed no signs of letting up! I was so stressed that I broke down many times at the end of the day crying out to God. I felt bad turning her down & yet, it was so uncomfortable that I really disliked nursing her.
I remember 1 nite when I was alone (dh had ministry work) I broke down & cried out to the Lord that I really couldn’t do this anymore.
The next day, my 7 – 8 time nursing toddler didn’t ask to nurse the whole day till bedtime! Halleluah! So from that day on, she would just nurse once in the morning & once at nite. I managed to get her to drop the morning session but continued with the before bed nursing.
But again, as the pregnancy progressed, even that 1 time session was getting awfully uncomfortable. I tried to ask her to not nurse but she wouldn’t agree So I prayed to the Lord.
The next night, she went to bed without asking to nurse! The next nite, she cried a bit when I told her “no” when she asked but after that nite, she was totally weaned! She was 16mths.
What about #5? Well, she’s 18mths & still nursing 7 – 8 times a day & night! How am I going to wean her? I have no idea! We’ll cross that bridge when we get there!