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Missed MC 11/17/10 Our little miracle born 1/27/12 Natural MC 7/19/12 Missed MC 1/22/13 Our family is complete DD 12/27/13
Abnormal ANA, PAI-1 4G/4G homozygous
Re: Late Preterm BF help
What we wound up doing was nurse for 8 mins (longer, and she would be too tired), then I'd pump while DH gave her a bottle of what I'd expressed the previous time. Once her weight gain was on track, we extended the length of her nursing sessions to 10, 15, and finally as long as she wanted.
We also did collarbone and TMJ massage to help loosen up/strengthen those muscles to improve her latch.
Overall, we saw great improvement when she reached 38/39 weeks - our LC said that, in addition to the strength issue, they get much better at coordinating the suck-swallow-breathe rhythm at that point.
I also had a 36 weeker (4lb 9 oz) who spent 3 days in NICU then 8 days in SCN. For the first few weeks, I gave pumped bottles with fortifying powdered formula added. If need be, I gave a part formula/part BM bottle. I also attempted to nurse at each feeding 9typically after he had some milk from the bottle so he wasn't freaking out). AT first, he would just pass out trying to nurse, then we discovered he had a tongue tie. We were also using a nipple shield in the beginning. I think what really helped us to get over the hump was the regular attendance at BF support group (3x per week) and the once a week private LC appointments. At around 4 weeks, after the tongue tie was addressed, things started to click. First it happened at the LC appointments with their help, then at BF group- agai9n with some help from the LCs then finally at home on our own- and then we were able to ditch the shield. At the time it felt like FOREVER but now 10 months out- and still nursing it was a lot to go through but worth it.
Hang in there!
BFP#1 11/12/11 ~ No heartbeat 12/12/11 ~ D&C 12/19/11
BFP#2 3/25/12 ~ Heartbeat 141 4/16/12 ~ No heartbeat 4/25/12 ~ D&C 04/30/12
BFP#3 7/16/12 ~ EDD 3/26/13 ~ It's a BOY ~ DOB 2/26/13