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back from 2wk pedi and can use support
just got back from 2wk pedi appt and LO is not close to back up to birth weight. i've been breast feeding and all the clues to look for show that we should be on the right track (he latches, nurses, swallows, seems satiated, wet diapers, poopy diapers etc) but we're 7oz off of BW and he was a light baby so that's still 7% of his original weight.
I'm just disappointed that he's gaining so little as I feel I am letting him down with my milk supply or else something else is wrong and I should be worried about that too. Pedi said we'll re-check weight friday and re-evaluate but for now I'm pretty down and could just use some support.
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Re: back from 2wk pedi and can use support
Have you done a weighed feeding yet? Any of the lactation centers can help you with it (or your pedi's office). You weigh right before a scheduled feeding and then right after to see how much milk they are getting. It will help you know if your supply is AOK. With my first, I found supply a really stressful thing. It's hard to know, especially since they go through so many growth spurts the first three months where they want to nurse all the time. If you have all of the right signs there, chances are things are OK. I do suggest going to one of the lactation centers or breast feeding support groups, they are really helpful
My DD was off at her two week appointment. She had been mildly jaundiced and was just a little too sleepy to nurse fully. As the jaundice cleared up and she woke up more towards the end of week 2, she caught right back up afterwards.
More Green For Less Green
Ditto what Jellisy said - check in with a lactation consultant and make sure that your LO is getting what you think he's getting. It is HARD seeing your LO not gaining the weight you think they should but it can turn around in a matter of days.
How often are you breastfeeding? Do you have enough help around that you can just retire to your bedroom with LO and stay in bed and do nothing but breastfeed? It sounds like you and LO are both doing everything right and that you might just need some time - your supply is still building.
Just remember that if you have to supplement or put him on formula completely, it's not the end of the world. It's just a different path that you and LO have to take and, no matter what, you'll have a happy, healthy baby.
Be patient, take a deep breath, be kind to yourself and relax (i know, easier said than done ;-) because all of those things will impact your supply. Love your LO, leave all the chores behind and know that, no matter what, this weight thing will turn around - whether your supply kicks in, LO starts feeding more or you have to supplement. At the end of the day, it will all be ok. (((((((Hug))))))
Hang in there! You're doing great. If all they want to do is re-check Friday then they're not that concerned. DD had major latching issues at first and just wasn't getting enough milk. She lost A LOT in the first few days - 15% of her birth weight in the first 5 days. The doctor had us feed around the clock every 2 hours on the dot with expressed milk and I found out how hungry DD was - she was sucking down 2 oz a sitting! I eventually ended up EP, which isn't something I'm advocating (it's a pain), but it worked for us especially early on. DD was checked on a Friday and we were told to come back Monday. Turns out if she hadn't gained significantly then they were going to admit her to the hospital. But she did and everything was fine. This is the long way of saying, if the doctor was really concerned you would know.
We also did a lot of weighed feedings at the beginning. Ditto the PP on that. In the end, feeding from a bottle gave me the most comfort until DD was back up to birth weight (we tried to do a combination of both ending with the bottle) so I knew how much she was getting.
Ditto what everybody has already said, but I have to add my hugs and support too! This is such a stressful thing, it is all so new, your emotions are undoubtedly all over the place. You are doing a GREAT job and your lo is going to get that weight up soon, I'm sure!
I had a similar situation - we had to go back in for extra weight checks too, I had a full term peanut! Definitely see if you can get hooked up with a lactation consultant. I was lucky enough that my pedi had some on staff, but if not I know some ladies on here will have some recommendations. Our big issue was that, like HJ mentioned, DS was jaundiced and sleepy. For the first 3 weeks I had to strip him down to a diaper to nurse him, tickle his feet, and sometimes even put a cool washcloth on his back for a second - all things the lc and pedi suggested to get him to wake up and nurse more fully. I also nursed every 3 hours without fail - that meant 3 hours from the START of one session to the start of another. So, if he nursed from 8:00 - 8:45 (he was slow!) then I nursed again starting at 11:00. I went by his clues eventually, but he was just too tiny at that point. It was hard to wake a sleeping baby, but it had to be done.
Hang in there, and keep asking for support on here, you will definitely get it!
I'm so sorry. I can definitely understand how you are feeling. DS was jaundiced, very sleepy and lost a lot of weight the first few days.
I agree with PP about doing a weighed feeding. You might also try pumping and feeding LO with a syringe after each feeding with your pumped milk or a little formula.
Keep at it. It will be ok. Visit with a LC to make sure everything is good. Good luck!
You're doing a great job!
Off to the beach
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Hang in there! We had to do weight checks, too. LO weighed in right at birthweight at 2 weeks but that was because I literally fed him right before he got weighed. He has always been slow to gain and is always in the 10th-15th percentiles for weight but that's just him. He was also 4 weeks early and jaundiced, so it took a little longer.
I know it's scary but it is really great that he's peeing/pooping well and eating frequently. He'll catch up!
How often is the baby eating, and how long are nursing sessions? He should be nursing 9-11 times/day at that age, at least every 2 hours during the day and at least every 4-5 hours at night if he's sleeping that long. Nursing sessions should be at least 30 minutes long. If he wants to nurse more than that, go ahead and let him. The more he nurses, the more your supply will increase. If he's sleeping a lot, make sure he wakes up to nurse. Sometimes babies fall asleep while nursing and they're not really eating, they're just comfort sucking. If he falls asleep, try to tickle his feet, rub his back, or even unlatch/relatch to get him to start eating again.
The fact that they want to re-check on Friday is good. If it was a dire situation, your pedi would've advised you to start supplementing with formula today. Try to nurse as much as possible over the next few days and see what happens.
you are doing a great job! As others said, if he's peeing and pooping regularly, he's fine! Nurse on demand, at this age it might be as often as every 90min-2hrs. The 1st few weeks are very hard but you are doing a good job, I would not do formula unless the pedi recommends it; but perhaps you can pump and give him a bottle so you can tell how much he's actually taking in (if you are worried you are not producing enough).
good luck and keep us posted!
We had a similar problem with DD, though I think I just wasn't feeding her enough (it didn't help that I was back in the hospital when she was a week old, and I had no idea how big her bottles should be to make sure my family was feeding her enough). Checking in with a lactation consultant and weighed feedings sound like they could help give you some good ideas of things to try.
But also ditto pp that if your ped is willing to wait a few more days before re-evaluating, that's a good sign! Hang in there - it can be hard to get in a good groove with BFing, but it will get better.
DS has this, long story short, we didn't clip, I had to nurse using a breast shield, which I did for 13.5 months
I had a super sleepy baby as well as a small one(6lbs, 1oz at birth). I felt like breastfeeding for the first few weeks was a combo of an Olympic sport and a comdey show. I felt like I was crazy person with all the things I tried to get DD to wake up and eat.The pp's have given you some great advice, but there is one thing I would add.
Since DD was so sleepy for her first few weeks, she wasn't nursing a lot and therefore my supply tanked. I had no idea, until I had a screaming, inconsolable baby on my hands, took her to the pedi and found out she had lost weight. We did a weighted feeding (like pp's mentioned, weigh baby before nursing and then after) and she clearly wasn't getting enough. She was screaming b/c she was hungry (that sure made me feel like a horrible mom). Point of my story, is that you may want to consider pumping a couple of times a day to keep your supply up, until your LO wakes up and really starts eating well.
Regardless of what happens, it will all work out. Just keep reminding yourself of that. Good luck!
It took my LO 5 weeks to get back to birth weight and he is still slow in gaining.
I would see a LC just to be sure and do a weighed feeding. You're doing everything you can, so don't be down on yourself.
Have you tried pumping to get a sense of what volume of milk you are producing?