This post is mostly for the new moms and soon-to-be moms.
Breastfeeding is hard! It seems like a miracle that the species survived relying on such a delicate process. Several people had told me to expect challenges, and I did know that it would not be easy. What I did not expect was the crazy, crazy hormones and the primal drive to feed my child that comes aong with them.
Wednesday was a rough day for me. I expect that it was a combination of the tdap vaccine I got before leaving the hospital, the hormone and adreneline crash of post pregnancy and being home, the hormone transition from colostrom to milk, and being tired. Makes for a day.
Will had fed great forthe first 24 hours or so, but at some point we lost him. We didn't get to meet with the lactation specialist until right before we were discharged. Jodi, the LC, was amazing and encouraging, but we ended up with a new feeding system and plan on our way home. He was latching ok, but I couldn't seem to elicit his sucking reflex no matter what we did. We ended up pumping and feeding him from an oral syringe. We still tried him on the breast every feeding, but those experiences got progressively shorter and more frustrating.
This also meant that 1.5 hours out of every 3 hours was spent pumping and feeding, which was a 4 hands task. This got us both tired and stressed quickly.
At our first pediatrician visit on Wednesday afternoon, his weight had continued to drop and had reached a 12% drop from birthweight. He was down to 5lb 9oz. We spent almost two hours at the visit, most of which were with our amazing pediatrician, for a full exam, new parent education, and she observed a feeding. (For my speechie friends - he has a high palate but not abnormally so, frenulum and labial frenulum look ok, good tongue mobility.) He was, however, very lethargic, hard to rouse and generally either asleep or screaming. Not much in between, where good feeding happens.
It seems that his biggest issue was that he was too tired and frustrated to do the work to eat. After much discussion and a real resistance on my part, we ended up giving him a half ounce of formula in the office. As a result we were able to see his energy pick up and that the lethargy was not just his personality. I am so glad that Christian doesn't have the crazy hormones and could see the difference between a half ounce of formula at the doctors' office and giving up on breastfeeding completely. I had a very hard time with that. But that's why we come as a team.
So we met with a local lactation consultant first thing Thursday morning from the pediatrician's recommendation. (For locals, I would generally suggest using the lactation support that works with your pediatrician, but if you need a recommendation, ours is fantastic.) She has an instinct driven approach rather than the more mom-driven approach taught at the hospital, and I like that much better. She got us set up with a plan and some minor interventions (nipple shields w didn't really know what that even was before all this) to help Will learn his job.
Since then it has been amazing. Nursing is SO much better than pumping (although we were happy to do whatever it took to get him through). Will is much more alert and interactive. You can just see him taking it all in and learning. He even seems to recognize the dog. We go in Friday morning to check his weight again, and we hope he hasn't lost any more. We are only 5 days in, and nursing often takes a few weeks to get well established, but we are in a much better place than yesterday.
I wanted to shared the update. The challenges will always come, but we are learning quickly and getting help when we need it. Despite the feeding drama, I feel like Will is a really easy baby so far. I think we sleep moe than most new parent I know, and he is always super easy going.
Now we just have to watch out because with all this new found energy, Will is supporting his own head for brief periods and threatening to roll over!
Breastfeeding is hard! It seems like a miracle that the species survived relying on such a delicate process. Several people had told me to expect challenges, and I did know that it would not be easy. What I did not expect was the crazy, crazy hormones and the primal drive to feed my child that comes aong with them.
Wednesday was a rough day for me. I expect that it was a combination of the tdap vaccine I got before leaving the hospital, the hormone and adreneline crash of post pregnancy and being home, the hormone transition from colostrom to milk, and being tired. Makes for a day.
Will had fed great forthe first 24 hours or so, but at some point we lost him. We didn't get to meet with the lactation specialist until right before we were discharged. Jodi, the LC, was amazing and encouraging, but we ended up with a new feeding system and plan on our way home. He was latching ok, but I couldn't seem to elicit his sucking reflex no matter what we did. We ended up pumping and feeding him from an oral syringe. We still tried him on the breast every feeding, but those experiences got progressively shorter and more frustrating.
This also meant that 1.5 hours out of every 3 hours was spent pumping and feeding, which was a 4 hands task. This got us both tired and stressed quickly.
At our first pediatrician visit on Wednesday afternoon, his weight had continued to drop and had reached a 12% drop from birthweight. He was down to 5lb 9oz. We spent almost two hours at the visit, most of which were with our amazing pediatrician, for a full exam, new parent education, and she observed a feeding. (For my speechie friends - he has a high palate but not abnormally so, frenulum and labial frenulum look ok, good tongue mobility.) He was, however, very lethargic, hard to rouse and generally either asleep or screaming. Not much in between, where good feeding happens.
It seems that his biggest issue was that he was too tired and frustrated to do the work to eat. After much discussion and a real resistance on my part, we ended up giving him a half ounce of formula in the office. As a result we were able to see his energy pick up and that the lethargy was not just his personality. I am so glad that Christian doesn't have the crazy hormones and could see the difference between a half ounce of formula at the doctors' office and giving up on breastfeeding completely. I had a very hard time with that. But that's why we come as a team.
So we met with a local lactation consultant first thing Thursday morning from the pediatrician's recommendation. (For locals, I would generally suggest using the lactation support that works with your pediatrician, but if you need a recommendation, ours is fantastic.) She has an instinct driven approach rather than the more mom-driven approach taught at the hospital, and I like that much better. She got us set up with a plan and some minor interventions (nipple shields w didn't really know what that even was before all this) to help Will learn his job.
Since then it has been amazing. Nursing is SO much better than pumping (although we were happy to do whatever it took to get him through). Will is much more alert and interactive. You can just see him taking it all in and learning. He even seems to recognize the dog. We go in Friday morning to check his weight again, and we hope he hasn't lost any more. We are only 5 days in, and nursing often takes a few weeks to get well established, but we are in a much better place than yesterday.
I wanted to shared the update. The challenges will always come, but we are learning quickly and getting help when we need it. Despite the feeding drama, I feel like Will is a really easy baby so far. I think we sleep moe than most new parent I know, and he is always super easy going.
Now we just have to watch out because with all this new found energy, Will is supporting his own head for brief periods and threatening to roll over!
Oh handsome Will...I'm so happy you're learning to eat better! Shelly, you sound like you're staying sane despite a rough start with feeding. I'm so glad you're getting some sleep! Way to go Christian on being a balancing force against all those hormones! We're thinking of you guys!
ReplyDeleteHang in there!!!! I always found that the football hold was the best way to get baby latched for the first couple weeks until they start to get with the program... Also, skin to skin time with baby can help so maybe wearing nursing bra instead of nursing tank so he can feel your skin as he eats. Also, at first you are super anxious to get baby latched but if their mouth is not open far enough then the latch is not great... You can tickle his chin open wide and bring him to the breast and not visa versa. Finally rubbing his toes while he eats might help him stay more alert to eat more!
ReplyDeleteJust a few things that worked for me.
Pumping is a bummer totally only because it takes forever it seems like!!!
If you happen to be in the RMT area on 8/4 and want to hang out with some other nursing moms and there is a Big Latch event in Wilson and Rebekah would love to take Will as her date : )
Take care!!!!