Just delivered an IUGR baby at 34 weeks 5 days--breastfeeding help
st.augbride
member
Hi ladies, looks like I'm joining this board after delivering my IUGR baby early. On Tuesday we were told that his already noticed growth lag had worsened since my last ultrasound and we were delivered that night at 34 weeks 5 days. Our little boy was 3lb 3oz. He's in the NICU but is doing great. He just needs to gain weight and then should be able to come home. He lost some weight the first few days but we're hoping he'll start to gain now.
I really want to breastfeed for a million reasons. I'm currently pumping milk and it's being bottle fed to him by us and the NICU staff when we're not there along with fortification to increase the calories and promote growth. My concern is that he won't willingly breast feed after since bottle feeding is much easier/faster for him. We've put him to my breast a few times for practice. The first time he latched really well because we teased him with some formula through a dropper while he was latched (this was before my milk came in). Now that I have milk though and very full breasts it's difficult and frustrating for him. I met with a lactation consultant once and will try to see her again on Monday, but I'm feeling concerned and frustrated.
What was your experience with this if you breast fed or tried to? I want him to grow well more than anything, but feel that this is important too. Any tips or advice or stories to share?
Re: Just delivered an IUGR baby at 34 weeks 5 days--breastfeeding help
I had my baby boy close to 31 weeks, and then he came home close to gestional age 36 weeks. I pumped for the first month. It drove me crazy. And I was going back to work after a 6 week maternity leave, so we put him on Neosure formula when he came home. And after he came home, he eventually latched. We mostly used the Neosure formula. For me, the breastfeeding was just more of a comforting thing or to just make sure he was really hungry.
Honestly, you just have to know your limits and do what is the best for you. I have a friend who delivered her baby close to her due date in October, and she would go to lactation consulations to help her with breastfeeding. I have another friend who has a baby boy, and she has had issues with breastfeeding --so her baby boy now is on formula.
There is also a Breastfeeding Board on the www.thebump.com that I went to and asked questions. And I have a happy baby boy that is now over 18 lbs, even though I made the decision to put him on formula.
If you look at my siggy pic, Kate is on the right. She was my IUGR baby. (32 weeks). She was tiny (3#4oz at birth). She really wanted to breastfeed...great rooting reflex, but was just too tiny (her jaw/mouth muscles). I still put her to breast maybe 1 time a week. (we were in the NICU 5 long weeks...)
I pumped breastmilk for 6 weeks for my twins. As my supply decreased we went to 50/50 solution of formula and breastmilk. I am so glad I pumped. NICU was stressful and my goal in breastfeeding was for them to get the benefits of my breastmilk. It's really good for their preemie tummies/and digestive system. I shifted my focus from the latching on stuff....to pumping. I bonded with the girls thru daily kangaroo sessions. I loved kangaroo time. They are 6 months old now, and happy as can be. And super snuggly girls. GL to you. I wish you a short NICU stay and for you and your LO to be home very soon.
DS was born at the same age, but wasn't IUGR. He didn't really figure out bfing while we were in the NICU - I only tried about 3-4 times b/c the docs I had were very intense about watching his input since he was pretty jaundiced. Do see an LC to watch for latch, but a lot of this will probably require patience and persistence on your part. Once we were home (spent 15 days in NICU), I began transitioning him from bottle to breast. It took about 2 weeks, but then he was able to EBF and we bf'd full time through one year and continued doing days and nights until 15.5 mo. It is tricky, scary, and frustrating in the first few weeks, but totally worth it if you can succeed in the end.
You can use warm wash cloths on your breasts for a few minutes before you put him to latch to help them soften up some and make it easier for him to get on. You only have to do this for a little while, not forever, just while you're still engorged from your milk coming in. They don't have the stamina to take full feeds from the breast at this age, usually. Remember, babies their age are supposed to be hanging out in fluid and being fed through the cord still
Once we hit DS's EDD, he had SO much more stamina to suck and get to a letdown and to stay on the boob for a full 10 min. Before then, it's very off and on and they just don't have the energy to suck and suck until letdown to get the milk, so they can give up too early. For now, you can try pumping a little before putting him to breast to get yourself closer to letdown so he doesn't have to work as hard.
Hang in there! GL!
Congrats on your son! I remember you from the MD/DC/VA get together we had last fall - when we both were still TTGP.
I don't have much advice about breastfeeding, since my son was born so early I had to pump (and by the time he was bottle feeding, he was on a thickener for reflux, so I never even tried to breastfeed). I did it for 6 months, and just stopped over the holidays. It's a pain in the butt, so I'd keep at the breast feeding if you can! I'd echo what everyone else says - keep using the LC at the hospital, and then I'd try to continue to use one once you get home. Like you mentioned, the doctors are most concerned about weight gain at the hospital, so even if they are "supportive" of BF, they are going to want to make sure you LO is getting enough - so that would be through pumped milk and/or formula. Just keep at it, and make sure the nurses know how important it is for you and hopefully they will let you do it more often as you LO grows and gets stronger.
Good luck!
Thank you. Every time I think I've gotten over feeling like a giant failure, this myth enters my life again somehow.
The thing that really helped the most for me when I was engorged was to pump a bit first. That way they didn't have to work so hard before the milk would come and my breast would be softer. That being said it still wasn't easy. With ds#1 he was just a lazy eater and never took to bf so we ended up ff. Ds#2 did seem to have a bit of nipple confusion at first but he did get the hang of it. Even after he came home i would bf him for as long as he wanted then end up pumping while dh fed him the rest by bottle. Eventually he started taking less from the bottle and bfing more. Just be patient w/ yourself and you lo.
To the person that says they shouldn't be bottle fed but fed by syringe I understand where you're coming from. However, I'm not sure how feasible that is. In our NICU one criteria for going home is that they be able to nipple every feeding (aka take a bottle) or bf every feeding. So if they were always syringe fed they would never get to go home. I don't know how that would work maybe I'm missing something but just thought I'd through that out there.