Monthly Dips

Even though it happens all the time I am still not immune to it. I freak out when it happens. Sunday I nurse Sam just fine. He has plenty to eat. Monday at work I pump only a total of about 5-6 ounces or less, instead of my usual 9 ounces. My breasts feel soooo soft and empty. Sam needs to keep nursing at night, and the letdowns don't last very long. I don't hear as much swallowing when he is nursing. This is a sudden, drastic dip in supply, and I only recently noticed that these happen every single month!

When there's such a sudden drop, they say it's either because of stress, pregnancy, or the onset of a period. Well, these were never preceded by any particular stress, I took dozens of pregnancy tests which all showed negative, and I never got my period! So where on earth are these drops coming from?

I finally realized one day that they happen every month, sort of like a menstrual cycle. I went back to old emails of mine and chat logs and saw how I vented to friends about this around every 4 weeks or so. Interesting! Lately I began to get these drops together with other PMS symptoms.

In my period days (haven't had one since January 2013 so my memory of them isn't stellar, but I definitely remember some stuff), my labia would itch severely for two or three days before a period, and then mysteriously stop once the period started. So I had that again. Also extreme thirst. And a lower backache. Oh, and menstrual cramps. The real deal.

Only no blood. Yay!

After a few days (about 5-7) I'd see a sudden whoosh of milk. Like waking up in the night engorged type of sudden. Always on weekends. People tell me it's because I eat and sleep better over the weekend. I say it's because I don't need to pump!

Edited to add: I finally learned the reason behind my monthly drops in supply.