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Preemies
WannaBAmama
member
Question about being a feeder and grower
WannaBAmama
member
in Preemies
My son was born least Thursday and exactly 34 weeks. He weighed 4lbs 5oz and his weight is now 4lbs 2oz. He made huge strides during the one week he has been in nicu. He was intubated, moved to cpap, moved to nasal cannula, and has now been breathing on his own. His IV has been removed and he is up to 40cc's per feeding mostly done through a feeding tube. He has moved form the big nicu room in the hospital to the developmental room for feeders and growers.
Since they have started feeding him with the bottle he has only been able to take 10 out of his 40cc's per feeding. He gets too sleepy and he's out cold after that. They explained to me that he needs to be consistently able to eat his entire bottle for 3 solid days as well as keep gaining weight and maintaining his temp before he can go home.
They haven't started turning down the temp in his icolette yet, I think they are waiting to see him eating better first. My question is how long did it take for your feeder and grower to accomplish all of this? When I watch him eat and see how sleepy he gets just nippeling the 10cc's I get discouraged that it is going to take him forever to get the hang of it. He gets soooo sleepy so fast- which is understandable he should only be 35 weeks today. I guess I just saw him grow And accomplish so much in 7 days with his breathing and everything else that I thought eating would be a piece of cake and now I'm thinking it's going to take a lot longer than I expected.
His nurses said a lot of babies have a hard time with nippeling the bottle around 34/35 weeks then all the sudden it just clicks. I'm hoping this is true. Anyone else find this To be true with their preemie? I know it's unrealistic and the nicu is the best place for him right now but I'm just feeling discouraged and really want him home with me right now .
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Re: Question about being a feeder and grower
My 29-weeker (now 35 weeks) just started bottle feeds about a week ago. The first few days she could only take about half of her 30cc feeds, but she picked it up rather fast... So for the past couple days (at least when I've been present for her bottle feeds) she takes nearly the full 30cc. She has finished the whole thing before, but sometimes she will leave around 5cc in the bottle by the time the nurses want her to stop trying. So it's very possible that he can start getting the hang of it within a week. However, she only bottle feeds every other feeding or so. I don't know that she could do that if she was on the bottle at every feed. I think to some extent it's okay when they don't finish the bottle completely. The baby next to Skye just went home yesterday and he had a few "half-bottle" feeds in the couple days before his discharge.
Edit: I don't know if this matters or not, but does your hospital have alternative choices for nipples you can use on the bottle? My NICU carries both Enfamil and Similac nipples and DD seems to do much better with the Enfamil ones. She started with a Similac one today and only took 10cc after 20+ minutes so the nurse suggested switching to the Enfamil nipple (which I usually use when DD bottle feeds) and she took another 15cc within 5 minutes that way.
Chase Matthew born at 35 weeks on July 31st
My DS was a 35 weeker and this was the issue that kept him in the NICU for 17 days. He struggled with getting his bottle in under the 30 minutes and had a tube for awhile. He had an apnea spell and was NPO for about 36 hours. When he started eating again on a Saturday he was taking about half of a 1.5oz feeding by bottle and the other half by tube. He was about a 10 days at this time. On tuesday he was taking 3/4ths and then it suddenly clicked and he started taking all his feedings by bottle on wednesday. That thursday he went to on demand feeding, met his goals and was home by saturday. When it clicked it really clicked and he never looked back.
The nurses kept telling me when he gets it he will get it, I was just so discouraged and stressed all the time. I could feel myself tense up when he was eating for fear he wouldn't take enough. I never even tried breast feeding him when he was in because I just wanted him to eat and come home so I pumped and bottle fed.
Hang in there, they say 34-35 week boys have the hardest times with feeding and growing.
Exactly how I feel!! I have talked to about 10 lactation consultants and they all said i will not be able to fully bf him. I only pump 10cc's per session. 6 pumping sessions equals one feeding for him. I am continuing to pump as long as I can but I don't want to waste the time trying to breastfeed him while I'm there because I won't be able to breastfeed him fully anyways so if he has to get used to one, I'd rather spend the time having him practice bottle feeding.
As others have said, it is true that it really just clicks one day. I would also recommend, as a PP said, to ask about trying a different nipple. Adalyn did great at first, then kind of slid back some (although I blame the nurses who had her) until we decided to be present for every feed and she got the NG tube taken out. Maybe she just liked us better? (But it was really because we were patient and didn't have other babies to take care of. These couple of nurses we had back to back would just quit trying after 10 minutes because she "looked" tired! Grr.)
Anyway, GL! I know how frustrating it can be.
Me: PCOS DH: Low everything (MFI)
Clomid with TI x 3 2010 BFN
Clomid+IUI+Ovidrel 2010 BFN
IVF w/ICSI #1 2011
9/8/11 Beta #1: 2082!! 9/19/11 Beta#2 34,689!! U/S 9/22/11 HR 127! 11/8/11 HR 150! 12/6/11 HR 136! 12/14/11 HR 139! Born at 26w2d on 2/4/2012! After 83 days in the NICU, Adalyn came home on 4/26/12!
FET 1 3/2013 BFN
FET 2 5/2013 BFN
DD was born at 34w1d and was in the NICU for 16 days. Her blood sugar and bili issues were over pretty quickly, but it was the feeding that took a while for us, too. At around 8 days, they put in an NG tube and basically let her sleep for almost 48 hours straight, just feeding her over the tube. After that she started to do a little better, and the nurses said it's not unusual for them to just get really worn out at the beginning and need some extra rest before getting into the swing of things. Even when we were released, though, she wasn't drinking as much as they said she was supposed to per feeding, but she was gaining. She is now 16 months old and still a really poor eater, though. We never moved up from the Medela 5oz bottles even though most babies are drinking 6-8 oz / feeding by the time they're a few months old.
Every baby is different, and if you try to have patience and mentally prepare yourself for it to take a couple of weeks, then you might be in for a pleasant surprise when he gets the hang of it faster!
BFP1: DD1 born April 2011 at 34w1d via unplanned c/s due to HELLP, DVT 1 week PP
BFP3: DD2 born Feb 2013 at 38w4d via unplanned RCS due to uterine dehiscence
My LO took a week in the continuing care nursery working on feeds and growth. She didn't take very much at first, and tired easily. She still does, even know. Each baby is so different, so please for your own good, don't set yourself a timeline on how long your LO will be in the CCN based on our responses. Don't even listen to the doctor's expectations for how long you'll be there because they don't know, only your LO knows since they're in charge. I had a doctor tell me we'd be home by the weekend, and when the weekend approached I knew she just wasn't ready and I took it so much harder because it was an easily avoided disappointment.
I wouldn't expect them to wean the isolate until baby is tolerating feeds. Even the smallest decrease in temperature can stress your LO and make him have a harder time feeding. If its any consolation, my baby was never weaned until 2 days before discharge. They had just started to wean her and the doctor was like 'take her out of the box and see how she does'. She did well and we went home he next day.
It's hard, and you're doing a great job. From experience, it's very hard to see so much progress and then be in a lull. Try to not be discouraged and be patient, it's all worth it in the end! He'll be home before you know it, mama.
DS: June 2012
MC: July 2015 8w5d
Thanks ladies, well I called to check on him this morning and he ate 35cc's with the bottle!! I'm so excited! I know it could still be a while for him to be consistent about it but I'm so happy he's on the right track! That's amazing that he was doing 10-15 each time then all the sudden he did 35! I guess it does just click, I hope he continues on this path. He also gained 2oz since yesterday so he's up to 4lbs 4oz!!
That's great news!
Your DS story could be ours! Hang in there, you just need to be a little patient. We were in the exact same boat a few weeks ago. And when I say exact, I really mean it. DS was also born at 34 weeks, he didn't need a lot of breathing help though. (Only 1 day.) Eating on his own is really the most difficult part and he'll get there. DS was released from the hospital at 19 days. He pretty much was a feeder and grower most of that time. It's really true that once it clicks, they just take off. I also noticed that his eating got better as his cheeks got bigger. It made perfect sense to me, because it means he has enough strength to suck. For us it helped to give him a pacifier when he was interested. It helped him to get better at nippeling. So just give him time! I know it stinks when your baby is in the NICU, but right now that is the best place for him. I spent all my days with DS.
Good luck to you!!!!
IVF 1 April 2011 - Cancelled
IVF 1.5 July 2011 - MC
IVF 2 October 2011 - BFP!
*Identical Twin Boys born June 2012*
Here we go again...IVF 3 is underway!
Thats great news, thats how it starts! One feeding here, then two the next day and then he will be off and running!
As far as BF goes, my little guy is 5 weeks old now in the last 48 hours he just started latching on and taking a feeding or two a day by breast. I talked to a LC yesterday and she said since he is just now supposed to be here it didn't surprise her he had no interest before. While I don't think he will ever be a completely BF baby and will most likely always be bottlefed BM its nice to have an occasional BF time.
My twins started to bottle feed around 37 weeks in the NICU and they were feeders/growers (born at 33weeks). It DOES just click in one day. My girls started eating from the bottle and left the NICU within 3 days.
It took my girls until their due date to eat their bottles in a normal amount of time. Even after they came home, it took them up to an hour to eat 70cc.
Hang in there!
Our LO was born at 35 weeks 4lbs 14oz, we were in the NICU for 2 weeks, growing and feeding. Those were the hardest two weeks because it was so frustrating watching him try to drink from the bottle and then tire out. But I will say that it did just click, one night I called in the middle of the night when I was home pumping and she said well he just took the last two feedings, we'll see what happens. And sure enough the next day he was doing all his feedings with the bottle, we went home when he was 37 weeks. Also we were told so many times about WWB, wimpy white boys in the NICU and how it just takes white males longer to learn to feed and grow for some reason. Hold onto the fact that in a short time you'll all be home together and it's just wonderful. Our LO will be 1 on Friday and I still can't believe that this time last year I was in labor and LO was making his entrance into this world. Enjoy every minute!