12 wks postpartum and still having sweats and feeling ill. Give up breastfeeding?

[Fertilityjourney]

Hi,

My gorgeous baby girl is 12.5 weeks old and arrived after IVF, losses and immune treatment. I had a C Section.

For the first 6 weeks I felt great (obv. vy tired!) But for the last 6 weeks I have felt really tired and had a sinus infection I couldn't shake and just after that I have now got a nasty cold. I was also going dizzy every day which thankfully has passed. But I still feel very hot and sweat at least once a day which I thought would have gone by 8 wks?

I feel.like there's no let up... It seems like one thing after another. Our baby is demanding but I think most are?! She ony naps for 30 mins about 3 times but her night sleep is improving...she wants feeding little and often which is hard.

I combination feed so only breastfeed / express about 6 times a day but thinking this may be zapping my energy?

I am just looking to see if any mum's (esp IVF / over 40) felt like this and had any tips? Am almost certain I will give up breastfeeding this week to see if that helps with my exhaustion.

My bloods have been checked and all good apart from low range of normal for Ferritin (iron) which I was during pregnancy, so have ramped up.iron and also multi vits I am worried I will end up with PND as feeling ill is making me feel low. And it's a vicious circle as really want to exercise now I'm 12 wks past c section.

Thanks for your help xx

[LizzieBW]

Hello! Congratulations on your baby's arrival.

The postpartum sweats are no joke, right!? And definitely, add breastfeeding in to that and yep, flu-like symptoms were rough going. I took paracetamol to keep my temp down , drank LOADS of water and I had to really up my calorie intake too to sustain breastfeeding every 2 hours, 24/7. My little boy was underweight from week 2 of life so it felt like he drained the life from me getting my milk supply up. I would say, I also had an infection from my emergency cesarean and a few times I ended up over engorged when my supply was still regulating so this added to the flu feeling. All I can say is there were SO many times I almost threw the towel in but here I am, +7 months in and still feeding!

All I can say is the flu symptoms sorts itself out and things do get way better. However, only you will know yourself if you're ready to stop. Breastfeeding is such a complex, emotional journey, isn't it? I truly believe every woman just knows when they're ready to move on and stop. I decided 1 year was good but have recently started wondering whether 10 months when back to work might be right for us. Anyway! Good luck whatever you decide.

P.s I'm late 30s and my baby is an ICSI baby so IVFer here too.

[Fertilityjourney in reply to LizzieBW]



Hello! Thanks so much for replying. Have just taken some paracetamo! Did you have the sweats for a long time? Not sure if all the IVF drugs and extra progesterone etc makes it all.worse but a friend has said that some people don't get on with breastfeeding due to the hormones and cling onto the extra weight too (hands up here!)) So I'm pretty sure I will start to slow down to once a day to start with and see if that helps....

My baby was also underweight at 3 days due to tongue tie so I only exclusively bf for 3 days and that was so painful! But I always was going to combi feed anyway.

Did you speak to a doc about your sweats and flu symptoms?

Sorry about your infection but congrats on your little boy. Xx

[HollyT7]

Hey mama! Fellow ivf'er here 🙋🏻‍♀️ so with our first I expressed and breastfed... it zapped so much energy. I was low on iron too. We had an issue with latching which is why we started bottle feeding, then he got the hang of it so we did both. This time around im just breastfeeding and its so much better. I was so close to giving up so many times, in the end I made it to a year... and I was knackered

I think that things are better this time because its our second and the anxiety isn't there as much too. Still low on iron and had a hemorrhage like last time so that's all pretty much the same.

You could try just breastfeeding or breast and formula to try and give yourself a break 💙 all the best xxx

[Fertilityjourney in reply to HollyT7]

Hey there. Thanks for sharing. I am combi feeding so I only breastfeed / express about 3 times a day (both sides) but I'm still wondering if my body is still knackered just making that amount of milk? I had a small hemmorage too (80mls) and one doctor said that would be enough to make my iron low and make me feel rubbish... So hoping extra iron will make me feel better although I have already been sporadically taking it... I do wonder if all the anxiety of being pregnant /giving birth / IVF is catching up with me a little.... Xx

[Purpledoggy]

Agree with Lizzie that everyone has a different stop point for BF and it has to be right for mum as well as baby! Being low in iron will definitely make you feel crap. Given the time of year, vitamin D is another biggie. I have had vit D deficiency previously and it caused low mood and insomnia. BF you need a high intake-the 400iu the NHS says to take is BS IMHO-that’s the amount a non-preg, non—Bf person needs who lives in a sunny climate. I’m on 5,000iu a day just to keep me from having symptoms of low vit D. I’m also an IVFer and was almost 41 when I had my boy. Being an older mum is tiring and you need to take extra care of yourself mentally and physically! I’m a chronic supplement addict since IVF. For BF, I made sure I had at least 1200mg calcium, 500mg magnesium, 5000iu vit D, and 700mg vegan omega 3 a day, plus pregnacare. I think it helped. Keep an eye on your iron if you’re knackered xx

[Fertilityjourney in reply to Purpledoggy]

-Thanks so much - I will def up my multivits more - esp calcium and magnesium. Vit D was checked and is ok but I'll still keep an eye on it

[Aussie83]

My baby girl is also 13 weeks and I am still getting horrible night sweats every night. Some times numerous times in the night. I also had to express twice a night and this was killing my sleep with already getting up with her at least twice to feed. Due to this I’ve decided to wean off express feeding (slowly). I am down to two pumps a day every 12 hours. I really worried about stopping breastfeeding and felt so guilt about it.. but I know she will be okay regardless of what milk she gets and I also need to think of my well-being. Only you can make that decision but think of yourself as well as your baby will do well regardless ❤️

[Fertilityjourney in reply to Aussie83]

Hi there. I'm so sorry you are still having night sweats - they are just horrible! I'm only bf / expressing 3 times a day but think I'll drop this to once a day or just expressing for 5 mins instead of 20mins. Did you get any advice from the HV on how to do it slowly?

[Aussie83]

I was advised to either drop one pump session a week so the body can adjust, or reduce the pumping time of all the current pumps, so from 20 mins to 15 or whatever. I chose the first option and had been on 4 pumps a day and gradually now Im at 2. Although my boobs still feel quite full a few hours before its time to pump so not sure how well the supply has adjusted.. This weekend I'm supposed to drop to one session so hopefully it goes okay!

[Fertilityjourney]

Thanks so much, that's really helpful ... I will try for a gradual reduction. I hope this weekend goes well, I'm sure it will!!

[Positivechangeplease]

hey! Very similar and I’m now 19 weeks post partum. Also c section - emergency and over 40 (41) - I think by 3 weeks post partum I was exhausted. I felt a slave to breastfeeding and I couldn’t hack it, baby was constantly hungry and not sleeping well. We went to see a consultant and she suggested including formula and pumping to try and get supply up. I get home and suddenly start shivering - rigours and vomiting and temperature only kept down with paracetamol. Visited the GP the next day in a terrible state and she sent me home (she should have called me an ambulance). On antibiotics I was still very poorly and got admitted in A&E. tried to pump whilst there - and whilst there no baby so daddy had to give her formula. I was very dehydrated and this sickness kept appearing after a few days of antibiotics (I was also allergic to a lot of them). So I wasn’t breast feeding much due to being on the antibiotics. Next thing happens my breasts become engorged and then I had just had enough. Decided to ramp down and rely on formula. Daddy was just as exhausted. As soon as we decided that she started sleeping better at night, we implemented a bedtime routine and also tried implementing a whole routine (although she still isn’t following it properly at 4 months)

Definitely don’t feel you have to breastfeed if it’s just too hard… our baby likes a breastfeed in the night before we change her nappy and pop her on the bottle. As well as that you can have a glass of wine… for your sanity 😁 try and eat some broccoli, steak, kale, eggs. All will help with iron. Orange juice will help you absorb it. You got this!

[Fertilityjourney]

Thanks for replying and sorry to hear you have been so poorly. Were you dehydrated due to the sickness? After my sinus infection and dizzyness that took 6 weeks abd antibiotics to go, I then caught my daughter's cold which left me with chills whilst on holiday in Greece and now a bad cough remains and I feel shattered!

Im pretty sure baby prefers forumula to my milk (apart from when ill) so will start to decrease now. Doesn't seem fair that we have to deal with bith, new parent sleep deprivation plus illness too!

Glad to hear things sound like they're getting better. My baby actually slept better whilst on holiday so making sure she gets out for fresh air and going to be stricter with her (and daddy!) on naps and see if we can extend her feed times and sleep as she's still feeding every two hours! Xx

[Seb9]

I was lucky enough to not suffer with night sweats, but the exhaustion with my first was horrendous.

The only thing I found really helped was getting us into a better system between my husband and I. I would breastfeed during the day, and would chill out as much as I could letting baby contact nap while I watched boxsets on Netflix. Husband took over in the evening after baby had cluster fed to sleep and I would go straight to bed. He'd stay up with baby and give a bottle of formula if they woke up and I'd not got much sleep. He would then come up to bed and I'd do the night shift, which was so much easier after a few hours sleep. He'd then get up with baby before work and let me lie in or get a shower before he went to work.

With my second I also had a berroca a day, I'm not sure if placebo or not but it seemed to make me feel better and a bit more energetic 

Getting out of the house was also huge for me for feeling better, just a walk to the park or to the shops was a huge help.

I didn't find breastfeeding really made much of a difference to my energy levels, but I was eating a pack of chocolate hobnobs every day, so was having plenty of extra calories. I have now got experience feeding both babies till over a year and have found a nice balance between bottle and breastfeeding that works for us. I do all the night feeds by boob and now I'm back at work, day milk is bottle/beaker. I would definitely consider giving up the expressing, I hated doing it, it didn't help my breastfeeding as much as putting baby straight on boob. I found expressing uncomfortable, and time consuming. It didn't do my oxytocin levels any good which is what's so important for creating milk supply. It does get better is all I can say, it feels like forever when you're in the thick of it, I look back and can't believe how long ago it feels now with a 3yr old and 1yr old.

[Fertilityjourney in reply to Seb9]

Thanks so much and sorry for my delayed response. Am now down to breastfeeding once a day and expressing once a day but agree expressing is now a faff so.will.prob just do bf or gradually stop. Doc has given me more antibiotics as sinus infection isn't going - think I have allergies that aren't helping! Getting out for a walk def. helps me and wil also up my time with other mums- even if cream crackered!

My lovely daughter is now sleeping much better at night so that's helping mummy. And daddy is great as we share night feeds.