My first 8 weeks of bfing (Long) ~ Encouragement for those struggling

I just wanted to share a little bit of my bfing story for those that are in those first few weeks and need some encouragement.

Everything was fine in the hospital, I did use the nippleshield b/c I had a slightly flat nipple, plus it helped with the pain associated with the cracking and such.  When we went for our post discharge weight check my LO went from 7lb8oz at discharge to 7lb11oz, so all seemed ok.  I continued to EBF until we went back for our 2 week appt.  At that appt my LO had lost an ounce and was now 9 oz below her birth weight which she should have been back to.  For the next week the pedi had me pump after each feeding and feed her whatever I pumped to both up my supply and make sure she was getting the hindmilk.  We went back one week later for another weight check and she had lost 3 oz.

At this point I was just wanting my LO to gain weight and not be a failure to thrive so I was open to doing just about anything to get this baby to gain weight.  My pedi was supportive and asked what my boundries were regarding bfing (i.e. supplementing, only nursing, etc) I was fairly open b/c I have to go back to work so I knew at least bottle feeding was going to be necessary.  We decided I would EP for the next week and give as much BM as I could get then supplement with formula to make sure she was getting 3 oz at each feeding or whatever she was demanding.  We kept very close track of everything she ate that week and I did nurse once a day when I knew she had gotten enough food just so she didn't forget how.  We went in for that next weight check, at this point she is 1 month old, and she had gained 13 oz that week and was on ounce over her birth weight at 8lbs4oz.

Since she was back to birth weight we decided to do a mix going forward of rotating back and forth between a pump and feed and nursing, we supplemented a little with formula but I was starting to be able to keep up with her and now she was taking 4oz at each bottle feeding.  At 5 weeks I went to a bfing support group at my hospital and she now weighed 9lbs 2 oz and I could do a weighed feeding and she was getting 5 oz from me, woohoo.  I continued on the same route.  I forgot to mention that when I went back to nursing after the week of EPing I ditched the nipple shield and my LO latched on like a champ and my nipples where much more able to handle the nursing.

We just went this last week at 7weeks to the bfing support group again and she is now 10lb2oz and again did a weighed feeding and she is got exactly 5 oz again. 

So since this last Thursday I have been EBFing and only pumping to start a freezer stash (one 4 oz bag of milk a day) and I'm able to get the freezer stash bag in one or two pumps.  I will see where her weight is when I go back to the support group this week, but today at church I got a comment from a friend that said "Wow she is really starting to fill out"  I have never heard better words about my baby

All of that to say, it wasn't the easiest road and I wondered why it had to be so difficult (I also got mastitis and a kidney stone during this time) and thought FFing would just be so much easier, and I don't have an issue with formula at all, but when people say give it 6 to 8 weeks it really does suddenly get so much better.  Good luck to all the mamas struggling and I hope maybe my story is a little bit of encouragement to you.