Jax attack....he's here!

Painterlady · September 2013

Baby Jax has arrived via c section this past Thursday. He's the cutest little turd. He was born with a cleft palete. Didn't affect his lip line at all...thank god...but the roof of his mouth did not form so there will be surgeries waiting for him in the future. Also, he's tongue tied so they had to clip the bottom if his tongue to try to get him to latch on and eat better. It has not worked. After over a day of attempts and failures and Jax losing more than double the weight than he has supposed to have, I gave him formula with a specially designed nipple for cleft palate. I've been pumping my colostrum and giving him that, too, but I feel defeated. I've never not been able to breast feed my children. It's such a horrible feeling. I'm still going to keep trying and pumping. Maybe once my milk has come in it will be easier for him to get the results he's desiring but, for now, I guess it's a little bit of colostrum and formula. Other than that, we're fine and I am totally and completely in love with this guy!

June2007 · September 2013

Congrats! I hope your BF struggles work out for the best and his surgery goes smoothly!

Renee18801 · September 2013

Congrats! I hope the feedings get easier for you both. But think positive and don't feel defeated! I know that's easier said than done. Is there maybe some sort of nipple shield made for cleft palates that would help?

Welshgirl12 · September 2013

congratulations, and wishing Jax all the best for smooth surgery :-)

Painterlady · September 2013

Renee18801 said:
Congrats! I hope the feedings get easier for you both. But think positive and don't feel defeated! I know that's easier said than done. Is there maybe some sort of nipple shield made for cleft palates that would help?

Thanks! Yeah we've tried the nipple shields. We've tried everything and I've had lactation consultants helping me around the clock. It's just not working right now. I feel helpless but at least he's not hungry any more and he's still getting the colostrum. I'm gonna keep at it...I always do lol. It's never easy in the beginning for me thars for sure. We'll see what happens.

Ajoyd · September 2013

Congratulations! Hope bfing works out!

sarahcatie · September 2013

Congratulations! Wishing you smooth sailings through the surgery!

megs1409 · September 2013

Congratulations!

calibr8te · September 2013

Congrats and hope the little one figures out the breast soon.

bkeane619 · September 2013

Congrats!

EmJ&B · September 2013

Congrats!

redlight13 · September 2013

Congratulations! Love the name Jax!

ballygirl · September 2013

Congratulations! And good luck with the bf- hopefully he'll get the hang of it soon!

tmccord21 · September 2013

Congrats! I'm sorry BFing has been frustrating. Sending good vibes your way that he gets the hang of it once your milk comes in.

tmccord21 · September 2013

What was your original EDD?

Courtniii · September 2013

Congrats and best wishes!

Painterlady · September 2013

tmccord21 said:
What was your original EDD?

October 3rd...I've had two previous c sections so this was planned. Although, when I went in on Thursday I was contracting pretty bad since the evening before. They were 3 min apart and about 64 sec long. I was 3 cent dialated. The doc said he probably would have come that day or anyway lol. I guess he was ready!

yesthisiskim0401 · September 2013

Congratulations!! I hope BFing becomes easier for you both.

SweetCFly · September 2013

Congratulations mamma on Jax's arrival! sending you good vibes on the BFing, I have a girlfriend who is dealing with similar feeding issues with her 6 week old little guy. Sounds like you've got some great resources available to you and a level head on your shoulders, you will get through it! Hang in there.

Alexandrap · September 2013

Congrats and good luck with BF! Btw we call DS the same thing lol.

Painterlady · September 2013

dknight413 said:
Congratulations and try and stay positive. Evelyn needed a bit of formula too when she was in the hospital due to glucose issues, but she didn't mind it at all. And if she was happy, then I was happy. But things worked themselves out when my milk came in and now she only drinks that. So things can change

Thanks...that's exactly what I'm hoping for. But I do have to come to the terms with the fact that, because of his palate, he just might not be able to ever latch on right. We'll see once my milk comes in. I'm hoping once it's easier for him to get the milk, he'll take to it better. Right now it's just too much of a struggle for him. Poor little meatball.

shelliescove3 · September 2013

Congrats!! Hope the surgery goes smoothly and bf becomes easier:)

acethebase · September 2013

Congrats mama

ClaireOtoms · September 2013

Congratulations. Sending good vibes your way for some progress in bf'ing, but don't stress out too much; do the best you can and be proud of that. It is amazing what they can do with surgery for cleft palates these days!

HFrizzle · September 2013

Congrats mom & dad! Hope Ajax surgery goes smoothly and that breast feeding starts to become easier on you both.

LSP87 · September 2013

Congrats on your new baby!! Praying that BFing works for you guys soon and his surgeries go well.

Herefishy87 · September 2013

Congrats! I hope BFing becomes easier for you both ASAP!!

trackgirlparis · September 2013

Congrats!!

PongoLePond · September 2013

Congrats! I hope everything works out in the end!

cassey910 · September 2013

Congrats!!

LitalovesKay · September 2013

Congrats. Praying that everything works out just fine.

Ninabean1030 · September 2013

Congrats!

lereade · September 2013

Congratulations on Jax arriving! Don't get down on BF, stressing won't make it any easier. And if it turns out you can't BF this time around, you have support from me as I'm in the same boat!

kirbabe · September 2013

I am sorry you're having a hard time bf'ing. I struggled with nursing Elijah when he was born, he had torticollis. He actually didn't start until he was 2 1/2 months old.
But congrats on your baby boy!!!!

Schuh1985 · September 2013

Congrats!

ajjf1026 · September 2013

Congratulations!! T&P for smooth surgeries for your little guy.

babygiantquest · September 2013

First off, congratulations, of course!

Second, I did a ton of research early on in my pregnancy regarding breastfeeding an infant with a cleft palate--it is a potential birth defect caused by my epilepsy medication, so I wanted to be prepared. I'm just going to dump the links I saved here for you. It is difficult, but not impossible, so don't give up, mama! Just keep pumping and supplementing for now--you're feeding your baby the best you can, and that's what's important.

--KellyMom Cleft Lip/Palate Resources

--ABM Clinical Protocol #17: Guidelines for Breastfeeding Infants with Cleft Lip, Cleft Palate, or Cleft Lip and Palate

--What About Breastfeeding? (Cleft Palate Foundation)

--Feeding Advice (Cleft Lip & Palate Association)

--Lactation (Cleft Advocate)