It's been a few days since I've posted an update on how Vince is doing, and I think I have a few spare minutes to churn one out now.
As of the last update on Vince, I said that he was getting the hang of breastfeeding. Well, we found out that there is a big difference between "getting the hang of" and "having the hang of." As of this weekend, Vince was able to latch on reasonably well, and Lisa's milk had come in. However, we have since learned that even though Vince had latched on, he was not getting quite enough milk yet, so he dropped a couple more ounces in weight. We saw the pediatrician on Monday, and she was concerned about this and asked us to continue to supplement with formula. We went to a couple of new parent support groups, had a meeting with one of our doulas who is a lactation consultant, and we now have more conflicting advice than we can process.
Basically, we have two problems: Lisa needs to make more milk, and Vince needs to get better as getting it out. Unfortunately, those two problems are related: if Vince is not good at getting the milk out, then he does not stimulate the production of more milk. Vince needs to suck better, but we need to feed him more to get his strength up to make that happen. If we supplement him with formula, it will get his strength up, but will not stimulate Lisa's milk production. We're also using a nipple shield, which helps Vince to suck better, but it will not stimulate Lisa as much. We also have a breast pump that we can use for stimulation, with the side benefit of using the pumped milk as the supplement. In summary, we have all of the right tools, and many opinions on which ones / how to use them, but the advice is contradictory at times.
Fortunately, every day seems to be a little better. We went into the pediatrician's office to weight Vince today, and he's gained over an ounce since Monday, which is the trend the pediatrician wanted to see. (Actually, the first time we weighed him he was up two ounces, but then he peed on the scale.) More and more of the supplement we are giving him is pumped breast milk, which is also good. He latches on much faster now than he did a few days ago. He is also nursing a lot longer every time he feeds, sometimes up to an hour, including dozing off time. We're never sure exactly how much milk he gets when he nurses, but we can hear him swallowing, which is a positive sign.
Despite all of these positive trends, we still feel a little worried at times. Honestly, he's fine, there is no problem. But as new parents, the little things worry us more than they should. I think every new parent must go through that same transition. At times the stress, fueled by lack of sleep, does not allow us to enjoy our time with Vince as much as we would like. We frequently have to take a step back from the immediate situation, and realize that we have a wonderful healthy baby. We couldn't ask for anything more than that.
1 comment:
pumping is a great way to stimulate supply. Crazy as it sounds I was advised that the body triggers milk requirements between 2-4 am, so I actually pumped in the middle of the night. At the height of my pumping I could get 16 ounces at a sitting which was more than enough for two babies. I charted who I fed, how much by bottle, if they breast fed, how long. Maybe you don't have to be so crazy with one baby, but I thought it helped to see how much they were eating and how often I pumped and bottle fed vs. breastfeeding (I can send you the excel file if you are interested in charting). Now that I breastfeed exclusively and only pump a bottle every few days to have for emergency back up, I don't pump nearly as much milk, so I really feel that your body does what it needs to in order to feed that little baby. You are doing great, and you look so peppy strolling around the 'hood. I took a very slow walk around the block with Iman in the sling one of the first days home and I know I didn't have a spring in my step.
Post a Comment