katie4253

Mefunkho

How is breastfeeding going??? Any luck today with latching and have Gabe nurse? Just curious. I don't think I saw anything about it today. Hoping he is doing great! Jealous you are getting to do that! Addyson is just on bolus feedings. Can't wait to get there with her.

ETA: Apparently I'm blind and didn't see your post below! Sorry! I think if you really want to breastfeed then give it a try! There is no harm in that. If you get really frustrated with it and so does he there is no harm in switching to bottles. I think you would really regret it if you didn't give it a good try. The "what ifs" are something I don't think you want to deal with (you seem like me in that way... the what ifs really got me after I had Addyson. What if she would have made it to term? What if I wouldn't have been able to keep her in as long as I did? Stuff like that. ) I hope you give it a try for both your and Gabe's sake!

katie4253

It was okay, but being in the NICU isn't the most warm and fuzzy place to bf.  Plus, the annoying nurse (I feel a little bad calling her that, but she needs some social skills!) was working the past 2 nights.  It was really hard to do anything because she was making her weird/annoying comments and adding into H and my conversation.  

Anyway, he is acting very interested, but I think he'd do better on a bottle.  He is so tiny that even my normal sized nipples are hard to latch on to.  So, I am going to talk to the neo tomorrow about if they think he could try a bottle.  He sucks his paci so well (especially if there is a little breast milk on it).  I think he would really take to a bottle. They did say I could try a nipple shield, but that seems to be forcing the issue too much.  Tonight he really looked like he was wanting to get milk to eat, but then couldn't get anything to come out.  When I passed him of to H he sucked on the paci for 30 mins (stinker).

I am going to talk to the LC about doing bottles now and then trying to BF.  I am not giving up on the idea of nursing though.  Several preemie and micropreemie moms posted on the BF board and said they were able to be successful with bfing after they got home from the hospital.  So that gave me hope! 

damabo80

::lurking::

Try giving the nipple shield a shot. My LC brought one in for me last week, and it was awesome because it turned my huge flat nipple into preemie pacifier size. When we do start trying to BF, you bet I am breaking that puppy out.

::delurking::

bhilyer

damabo80:

::lurking::

Try giving the nipple shield a shot. My LC brought one in for me last week, and it was awesome because it turned my huge flat nipple into preemie pacifier size. When we do start trying to BF, you bet I am breaking that puppy out.

::delurking::

Agreed. My LC said she has preemie moms use them more times than not. We are having reflux issues right now so I'm not nursing, but I had gotten to the point of being able to take the shield off once he got going. Don't give up

BillysGrl27

bhilyer:

damabo80:

::lurking::

Try giving the nipple shield a shot. My LC brought one in for me last week, and it was awesome because it turned my huge flat nipple into preemie pacifier size. When we do start trying to BF, you bet I am breaking that puppy out.

::delurking::

Agreed. My LC said she has preemie moms use them more times than not. We are having reflux issues right now so I'm not nursing, but I had gotten to the point of being able to take the shield off once he got going. Don't give up

This. It was a HUGE help for me and for LO. He latches almost instantly. Only time he has issues is when he is so excited to eat he just can't slow down to find my boob! 

Mefunkho

Hopefully the bottling goes well! Can't wait to see an update. Let me know how the nipple shield works for you if you go that route!