Bug = 1 year 5 months 5 days
Bub = due in 173 days

For an activity that has consumed a lot of my time, involved a lot of bonding between Bug and me, and has been a very important part of my life since Bug was born (I’m in the process of becoming a La Leche League leader), I seem to have written very little about breastfeeding on this blog. I suspect it’s because it has aspects to it that are quite private, and I don’t necessarily want to share them with (or inflict them on) the world at large.

Tandem Nursing

“Tandem Nursing” is the term used to refer to breastfeeding more than one child concurrently (although not necessarily at exactly the same time, if you know what I mean?!). From my understanding:

• The term is generally used to refer to nursing children of different ages rather than feeding twins or other multiples.
• The term is sometimes also used to describe nursing while pregnant, because the woman’s body is nourishing two children even though they are not both breastfeeding.

So by one definition I am currently “tandem nursing”.

Last blog, I was so caught up in talking about Bub, I forgot to mention an important change that might have happened with Bug and me. That is, I think my milk may have “dried up” due to my pregnancy.

How Do I Know?

Well, that’s just it – I’m not sure that I do know. It’s surprisingly hard to tell exactly what my own body is doing.

Different women’s bodies breastfeed differently. Some women feel a “let-down“, that is, they feel a physical sensation (in their breast, chest, or shoulder) when their milk starts flowing in response to a baby’s sucking (or sometimes just in response to thinking about their baby or hearing a baby cry!). I have never felt this, so I don’t have a let-down – or lack of it – to help me work out if there’s still milk flowing.

Some women also have a very forceful milk flow, so much so that if the baby comes off the breast suddenly, the milk will spurt out. Again, this is something I’ve never had.

Virtually the only indication I have of whether Bug is getting milk is the sound of him swallowing. In the past, particularly when he was very young, his swallowing every 1-3 sucks meant he was feeding well and milk was flowing. Swallowing less frequently meant the milk wasn’t flowing or he was comfort nursing. The lack of any swallowing sounds now is the strongest reason I have for believing that my milk has “gone”.

The other indication is that Bug will often start nursing on one breast, and very quickly (within seconds) switch over to the other breast, something he’s never done before. He only does this at 1 in 5 feeds, but it is another sign to me that he’s not really getting what he wants.

The current state of affairs is that Bug is still nursing quite often. In fact I think he’s nursing more often than he did before. So everything is very much “wait and see”. I’m certainly not going to stop him from nursing if that’s what he still wants to do. Maybe:

• Bug will keep feeding until “Bub’s” colostrum arrives in the third trimester, and then continue happily
• OR Bug might dislike the colostrum and give up nursing
• OR Bug might stop nursing and start again when “Bub’s” milk comes in a few day’s after his birth
• OR Bug may give up altogether very soon.

So I’m just going to cherish every feed I get with him, just in case!

Tandem Nursing Links

• La Leche League (FAQ)
• Kellymom (FAQ)
• Storknet (Article)
• Mothering Magazine (Article)

Bug = 1 year 4 months 25 days
Bub = due in 183 days

My first hint that I was pregnant was a nauseous weekend, and since that weekend a couple of months ago nausea has been a daily feature of my life.  Two weekends ago it was particularly bad, and on the Friday morning before I work I actually vomited (the first time in either pregnancy that’s happened!).

It seems, however, that that miserable weekend was a definite marker of the end of both my first trimester and my morning sickness – YAY! Ever since then, I’ve felt far better.

That weekend also seemed to be when I suddenly “popped out”. Although I’ve been gaining a bit of weight since I became pregnant (as demonstrated by the number of pairs of pants I’ve had to put away on the top shelf of the wardrobe), that weekend I suddenly seemed to get a noticeably pregnant tummy.

Bug = 1 year 4 months 21 days
Bub = due in 187 days

Because of our recent news, I’ve had to overhaul my blog slightly. You should know that:

• our new baby will be known by the nickname “Bub” until he/she is born;
• Bub will be referred to as “she” on even days and “he” on odd days (it’s just too ugly to continually type “he/she”!)
• instead of “Age = …” each blog will now be headed with an age for Bug and Bub;
• the blog has been renamed from “The Linus-Mummy Blog” to “Loopy Mummy” since it’s no longer just about Bug;
• I’ve overhauled the categories (see the right of the page) to better sort the subject matter of past and future posts.

Age = 1 year 4 months 19 days

Today Linus had an almost first… he had a wander in the snow in our backyard.

It’s not quite a first, because a few weeks ago he had his proper first wander in the snow. The snow then was better quality – lovely and deep and powdery! – but Linus himself was pretty grumpy and a bit sick, so he didn’t really make the most of the opportunity.

Today, however, he seemed to enjoy walking on the icy snow in the backyard, and explored for five minutes while I got some frozen washing off the line.

The one moment he wasn’t very impressed by was when he fell over in the snow. He just lay there on his stomach grizzling at me until I came to rescue him. I guess falling in it is a rude introduction to the feel (and in particular the temperature) of snow!

Age = 1 year 4 months 18 days

Out of nowhere (unless Gaga trained him?), Linus appears to have acquired a new skill today – he now knows how to knock.

I’ve certainly never noticed him do it before, but he was definitely doing it quite deliberately on his bedroom door tonight.

It may be one of those “new skills” that disappears just as quickly as it appeared, not to resurface for months. Or it may be his new hobby, and warrant hours and hours of practice each week so he can fine-tune his technique (and drive his parents crazy).