Victor
July 19th 03, 09:17 PM
I was looking around for the thread to latch on to (no pun intended), and I
figured this was probably the best one.
In 1988 my wife had a baby girl (her third, my second). Like our previous
daughter, we decided she'd be breastfed. Unlike with the previous daughter,
however, this time I lactated. I figured this was a sort of sympathetic
lactation as I watched my wife breastfeed my daughter.
One thing that interested me at the time (and still does) is that I lactated
only on the left side. I had no explanation for this at the time except that as
we slept together, she was on my left. This strikes me as a very poor
explanation.
Anyway, neither my wife nor I encouraged my lactation, so it tapered off after I
produced only a teaspoon or so of milk.
Recently, I spoke with a friend of mine about this, and he did not believe it.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, I saw a show on TV where a woman described how her
husband was able to produce milk at will after about a week or two of putting
his mind to it.
I've successfully "wished" warts on my fingers away, so I figured I'd be able to
stimulate myself to producing milk again, particularly since I know from
experience that my body has the potential.
So, partly out of curiosity, and partly in order to demonstrate to my friend
that I was not a liar, I started to try to get myself to lactate again.
It's been about two weeks, and I am producing miniscule amounts of milk on the
left side again. Interestingly, the right side feels much like the left side did
back in 1988 when I started lactating the first time. However, nothing
apparently is being produced on that side. On the other hand, feeling around for
the actual mammary tissue behind/around the nipple on that side, it seems to be
more developed than on the left side.
So far my efforts have involved only manual and mental stimulation. I'm
considering getting a breast pump, or making one myself (suction cups and hose,
the end of which I would suck on, in order to apply the right amount of
suction). I don't think I'm far enough along for that, though. Massage (mostly
behind the nipple) and manual stimulation of the nipple seem to be the most
productive at this point.
I told a female friend of mine about this, and I was very surprised by her
answer. First, she was surprised. Then, she asked that if I was successful,
would I collect it for her because she had never been breastfed and felt she was
missing out on something. She'd heard it was good to breastfeed.
Perhaps she was simply trying to surprise me as much as I surprised her, but
then I got to wondering if there was anything to what she was saying. I know
breastmilk is very good for infants, and colostrum, especially, is a way of
boosting an infant's immune system. However, it seems to me that such benefits
would not be imparted on an adult, who would have built up their own complement
of immunities the long way.
Now I find myself wondering things like:
* Can I get the right side to produce?
* How much can I produce on either side?
* How can I stimulate more production?
* Why am I doing this?
* How can I discretely stimulate myself at work? I'm assuming here that for good
results, frequent stimulation is necessary.
* Should I consider hormone treatments? (Actually, I'm not seriously
entertaining this idea, but it does come to mind occasionally)
* Surprisingly, I'm more cognizant of my "breasts" now since I can feel them
when, for example, I go down stairs. The manual stimulation I guess has made
them sensitive to that kind of movement.
(misty) wrote:
>These sites tend to lend a _bit_ of weight to men being able to
>breastfeed..not just lactate... nothing hard and totally scientific
>though.
>
>http://www.urbanlegends.com/medical/non-standard_lactation.html
>
>http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_093.html
>
>http://www.plasticsurgery4u.com/procedure_folder/male_breast/index.html
>(it's about a very common occurrance..men and boys growing breasts)
etc. (remainder of post deleted)
figured this was probably the best one.
In 1988 my wife had a baby girl (her third, my second). Like our previous
daughter, we decided she'd be breastfed. Unlike with the previous daughter,
however, this time I lactated. I figured this was a sort of sympathetic
lactation as I watched my wife breastfeed my daughter.
One thing that interested me at the time (and still does) is that I lactated
only on the left side. I had no explanation for this at the time except that as
we slept together, she was on my left. This strikes me as a very poor
explanation.
Anyway, neither my wife nor I encouraged my lactation, so it tapered off after I
produced only a teaspoon or so of milk.
Recently, I spoke with a friend of mine about this, and he did not believe it.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, I saw a show on TV where a woman described how her
husband was able to produce milk at will after about a week or two of putting
his mind to it.
I've successfully "wished" warts on my fingers away, so I figured I'd be able to
stimulate myself to producing milk again, particularly since I know from
experience that my body has the potential.
So, partly out of curiosity, and partly in order to demonstrate to my friend
that I was not a liar, I started to try to get myself to lactate again.
It's been about two weeks, and I am producing miniscule amounts of milk on the
left side again. Interestingly, the right side feels much like the left side did
back in 1988 when I started lactating the first time. However, nothing
apparently is being produced on that side. On the other hand, feeling around for
the actual mammary tissue behind/around the nipple on that side, it seems to be
more developed than on the left side.
So far my efforts have involved only manual and mental stimulation. I'm
considering getting a breast pump, or making one myself (suction cups and hose,
the end of which I would suck on, in order to apply the right amount of
suction). I don't think I'm far enough along for that, though. Massage (mostly
behind the nipple) and manual stimulation of the nipple seem to be the most
productive at this point.
I told a female friend of mine about this, and I was very surprised by her
answer. First, she was surprised. Then, she asked that if I was successful,
would I collect it for her because she had never been breastfed and felt she was
missing out on something. She'd heard it was good to breastfeed.
Perhaps she was simply trying to surprise me as much as I surprised her, but
then I got to wondering if there was anything to what she was saying. I know
breastmilk is very good for infants, and colostrum, especially, is a way of
boosting an infant's immune system. However, it seems to me that such benefits
would not be imparted on an adult, who would have built up their own complement
of immunities the long way.
Now I find myself wondering things like:
* Can I get the right side to produce?
* How much can I produce on either side?
* How can I stimulate more production?
* Why am I doing this?
* How can I discretely stimulate myself at work? I'm assuming here that for good
results, frequent stimulation is necessary.
* Should I consider hormone treatments? (Actually, I'm not seriously
entertaining this idea, but it does come to mind occasionally)
* Surprisingly, I'm more cognizant of my "breasts" now since I can feel them
when, for example, I go down stairs. The manual stimulation I guess has made
them sensitive to that kind of movement.
(misty) wrote:
>These sites tend to lend a _bit_ of weight to men being able to
>breastfeed..not just lactate... nothing hard and totally scientific
>though.
>
>http://www.urbanlegends.com/medical/non-standard_lactation.html
>
>http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_093.html
>
>http://www.plasticsurgery4u.com/procedure_folder/male_breast/index.html
>(it's about a very common occurrance..men and boys growing breasts)
etc. (remainder of post deleted)