BFing MoMs- is this normal?

shivNY · August 2012

Hi my boys are a week old and doing good. They were born at 37 weeks and did not nurse the first 2 days (Very sleepy not sucking) I started pumping and got them to nurse on day 3. I've been nursing only so I'm not sure how much their drinking- but they drank 2 oz bottles today at the dr office.

Can you tell me if the following is normal:

Gavin popped out his meconium in the first 5 days but didn't poop for 3 days. He's now popped but it's brown not yellow yet

Declan has been popping but it's still brown not yellow yet

They've both lost weight since the hospital- they are not back to their birth weights but they are nursing well 8-9 x a day. G is down 9oz from birth and D I down 12oz. What's weird is they were both gaining last week.

Im getting a ton of milk- I have to pump 3 x a day to relieve the engorgement and now have over 60 oz pumped

Dr wants me to top off feeding w bottles of pumped BM.

I have been letting them sleep at night and they go 4 hrs between 2 feedings. I will now give bottles after these feeding to make sure they are getting enough at night.

Can you tell me if any of you experienced this with your multiples?

JenLC99 · August 2012

The poop does sound normal. As far as weight loss, without knowing their birth weights you can't know for sure if they've lost too much; they shouldn't lose any more than 7%-10% at the very most. They should be back to birth weight by two weeks, although given that they were early it might take them a few extra days. They might need to nurse a little more often during the day (10 to 12 times per day is more common for newborns) and perhaps wake them to eat after three hours at night instead of letting them go for four.

shivNY · August 2012

So if I do the math- G lost 8% since birth and D has lost 13%. They were slightly jaundice also so very very sleepy the first week.

I'm doing some marathon nursing today to get these weights up. I'll give some pumped bottles tonight as well- I think that will be easier than trying to get them to nurse when they're passed out.

Declan had a yellow poop!!

Im not really too worried its just different from my son who gained after a few days and had like 6 yellow poops a day by day 4! But I think I can get them close to birth weight by week 2.

trish3905 · August 2012

Just wanted to pop in and say that my pediatrician had me stick to a pretty strict schedule with the feedings - every 3 hours around the clock - for that first month. I had to set an alarm to wake me up for the night feedings the first month, because they wanted to sleep, not eat. I had to supplement one of my girls with pumped BM for the first few weeks, since she had some trouble nursing.

Good luck!!!

angelfire02 · August 2012

trish3905:

Just wanted to pop in and say that my pediatrician had me stick to a pretty strict schedule with the feedings - every 3 hours around the clock - for that first month. I had to set an alarm to wake me up for the night feedings the first month, because they wanted to sleep, not eat. I had to supplement one of my girls with pumped BM for the first few weeks, since she had some trouble nursing.

Good luck!!!

This. We were on a eat every three hours 24/7 for the first month. After that she said I could let them go 5-6 hours at night but stick to every 3 hours during the day. Today (12 weeks) was the first day I stretched them out to 3 1/2 - 4 hours during the day. Although I think they are hitting a growth spurt because all they did today was eat and sleep! I should mention too that they slept through the night (9pm-6am) at 8 1/2 weeks....I attribute that to them getting enough to eat during the day.

ColleenS629 · August 2012

We were on a strict 3 hour round the clock schedule, too (at minimum, if they wanted to eat earlier, I'd feed them earlier, obviously). Have you thought about doing a weighed feeding either with an LC or at your pedi so that you can see how much they are getting when they nurse?

shivNY · August 2012

I feed them every 2 hours during the day and have been letting them sleep at night. Last night they slept 4 hr stretches but I managed to get my bigger boy to drink a few oz from a bottle in addition to nursing. My little guy just wanted to sleep- so only made it through the nursing. But he's usually up more during the day so we're just going to feed him a lot today.

If this doesn't work then I may try the every 3 hr thing- since they hopefully will be more responsive at night now that they're older.

shivNY · August 2012

Woho weights are up! They are back to their weights from last week. So they should be back to birth weight by 2 weeks.

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