Low Supply and a Myriad of Other Issues
Feb 12, 2015 10:00:16 GMT -5
Post by FiliaRitae on Feb 12, 2015 10:00:16 GMT -5
AmyG suggested I make my own thread, so here we are now that LO is napping on me and I actually have two free hands to type. I probably don't even know exactly what advice I need, so please chime in with anything you think might help me.
A novel of background info:
LO was born January 29th after 28.5 hours labour (about 24 active). He was perfectly healthy. We did skin to skin immediately, and I attempted to breastfeed, but the guidance I got was basically "tickle his lips with your nipple" and that was the end of that. I don't think he really latched on, although he did try to nibble.
The first several days in hospital, we got lots of advice, much of it bad. We had a terrible latch at first, and my nipples ended up pretty blistered. I didn't know how to recognise nutritive vs. non-nutritive feeding, let alone what to do about it. One night, he was at breast essentially five hours straight, comfort sucking/non-nutritively sucking as I now know. Having laboured on an hour and a half of sleep, and still getting next to nothing, mama was going insane. Nurses had me pump some colostrum for DH to feed to LO. Things were still getting worse, with me averaging 1.5 to 3 hours of sleep. I broke down completely and agreed to let them supplement with formula because I was reaching the point of sleep deprivation where I literally felt I was on the border of starting to hallucinate--I was experiencing things that weren't real, but I was still able to recognise them as such. LO was dropping weight, and had recurring issues with jaundice, although he managed to avoid needing light therapy.
I continued to try to BF when we got home, and we rented a pump so I could maybe get a little relief from the multi-hour sessions. My milk was slow to come in, which left LO even more frustrated. He also stopped latching onto the left breast entirely (or I stopped being able to get him latched on). I pumped the left everytime I fed on the right to try to keep up my supply. LO dropped past the 10% birth weight loss point, and his jaundice got worse, so it was back to the hospital. We were released, but barely. While we were there, my doctor (she works some days at the hospital and some at the clinic, so she happened to see us in hospital that day) spent about half an hour trying to help us with feeding, and thankfully knew what she was doing. She got him latched onto the left side, and also stressed the importance of getting his lips properly flared out; I hadn't bothered paying attention to that because I wasn't in pain, so I didn't think it mattered. She also pointed me to a website, which let me do further reading and gain a better understanding of what to look for. I was still failing at getting him latched onto the left, so I kept pumping.
Sometime around then (I was so sleep-deprived I don't have the exact order of events) we were asked to supplement with formula, given the >10% drop in weight and the fact that he was not producing any poop diapers (and I mean literally none). He gained four ounces overnight, which gave us a bit more wiggle room. I managed to get him latched onto the left side, finally, although it was still a struggle. Keeping him awake at the breast was a huge challenge.
We were encouraged to continue supplementing, but I judged that the breastfeeding was going better, and he spat up violently every time he had formula, so I tried him for about two days (in between appointments) without. He was eating often, and he started pooping--albeit only brown poops--so I had high hopes. He dropped weight again by his next appointment.
We were asked again to supplement (we're to Monday the 9th at this point), and encouraged to contact a public health nurse (also a lactation consultant) about setting up a lactation aid. We supplemented with bottle overnight, and got the lactation aid set up on Tuesday. She weighed him and he was up 3 ounces from the day before. She also observed his latch--it was good--and helped with positioning at the breast (I wasn't tucking him in tight enough for her liking) and showing me what to look for in terms of productive suckling. I struggled (and continue to struggle) with the lactation aid--I have a very difficult time getting everything in his mouth properly--but at his appointment Wednesday (yesterday) he was up another ounce and a half. My doctor prescribed me Domperidone, and we're hoping that will help.
I continue to use the lactation aid, as much of a pain in the butt as it is; it sure beats the bottle. I pump when I'm able, but I haven't been pumping nearly as much as I should, due to sheer exhaustion. I know it's important, but I haven't figured out a way to not go entirely insane and still pump every time he gets a supplement. He still takes a long time to feed, so by the time he's off my breast, my back is aching (I have chronic pain issues, which complicate everything even more), and I still need to soothe him, and it's practically time for the next feed.
So my current issues, as I see them:
-getting my supply up -> part of the issue here is that I just haven't been able to figure out a way to pump more than about twice a day without risking my mental and physical health
-getting the lactation aid to work for me - I often find I can get him latched on properly, or I can get the aid in his mouth, but not both at once. I've tried taping it, and not taping it, and inserting it after he's latched on (he generally either unlatches, or I don't get it in his mouth properly), and inserting it while he latches. My best success so far has been when I've taped it quite close to the nipple, but I hate that sometimes the tape ends up inside the corner of his mouth. And it's still a toss-up whether he'll latch properly AND have it in his mouth.
-sneaky guy seems to have figured out that he can unlatch and just suck on the aid. He doesn't do it all the time, but he does it more than I would like.
-feedings seem unreasonably long - it often takes him forty minutes or more to get a single ounce of the supplement (took him much less first thing this morning when he was HUNGRY, but I think I missed a few times when he was unlatching and just sucking on the aid; I tried to pay attention, but when he's properly latched, I don't always feel much when he's drinking well). I do my best to keep him awake, by poking him and blowing on him and tickling him and shifting position slightly (that one is as much because we tend to slide into a less-than-ideal nursing position, again largely due to my pain issues) and breast compressions, but even when he's awake he often seems pretty inefficient.
Any advice is most welcome at this point, including advice about things I missed being concerned about. Thanks, guys. I really want to make this work, but I'm struggling not to lose hope at this point. I'm not sure how much more my body can take, let alone my sanity.
ETA: he hasn't pooped since Saturday, and we've switched formulas to one he tolerates better. He still spits up when he has it, but not to the same degree, and he's much less gassy than with the previous formula.
A novel of background info:
LO was born January 29th after 28.5 hours labour (about 24 active). He was perfectly healthy. We did skin to skin immediately, and I attempted to breastfeed, but the guidance I got was basically "tickle his lips with your nipple" and that was the end of that. I don't think he really latched on, although he did try to nibble.
The first several days in hospital, we got lots of advice, much of it bad. We had a terrible latch at first, and my nipples ended up pretty blistered. I didn't know how to recognise nutritive vs. non-nutritive feeding, let alone what to do about it. One night, he was at breast essentially five hours straight, comfort sucking/non-nutritively sucking as I now know. Having laboured on an hour and a half of sleep, and still getting next to nothing, mama was going insane. Nurses had me pump some colostrum for DH to feed to LO. Things were still getting worse, with me averaging 1.5 to 3 hours of sleep. I broke down completely and agreed to let them supplement with formula because I was reaching the point of sleep deprivation where I literally felt I was on the border of starting to hallucinate--I was experiencing things that weren't real, but I was still able to recognise them as such. LO was dropping weight, and had recurring issues with jaundice, although he managed to avoid needing light therapy.
I continued to try to BF when we got home, and we rented a pump so I could maybe get a little relief from the multi-hour sessions. My milk was slow to come in, which left LO even more frustrated. He also stopped latching onto the left breast entirely (or I stopped being able to get him latched on). I pumped the left everytime I fed on the right to try to keep up my supply. LO dropped past the 10% birth weight loss point, and his jaundice got worse, so it was back to the hospital. We were released, but barely. While we were there, my doctor (she works some days at the hospital and some at the clinic, so she happened to see us in hospital that day) spent about half an hour trying to help us with feeding, and thankfully knew what she was doing. She got him latched onto the left side, and also stressed the importance of getting his lips properly flared out; I hadn't bothered paying attention to that because I wasn't in pain, so I didn't think it mattered. She also pointed me to a website, which let me do further reading and gain a better understanding of what to look for. I was still failing at getting him latched onto the left, so I kept pumping.
Sometime around then (I was so sleep-deprived I don't have the exact order of events) we were asked to supplement with formula, given the >10% drop in weight and the fact that he was not producing any poop diapers (and I mean literally none). He gained four ounces overnight, which gave us a bit more wiggle room. I managed to get him latched onto the left side, finally, although it was still a struggle. Keeping him awake at the breast was a huge challenge.
We were encouraged to continue supplementing, but I judged that the breastfeeding was going better, and he spat up violently every time he had formula, so I tried him for about two days (in between appointments) without. He was eating often, and he started pooping--albeit only brown poops--so I had high hopes. He dropped weight again by his next appointment.
We were asked again to supplement (we're to Monday the 9th at this point), and encouraged to contact a public health nurse (also a lactation consultant) about setting up a lactation aid. We supplemented with bottle overnight, and got the lactation aid set up on Tuesday. She weighed him and he was up 3 ounces from the day before. She also observed his latch--it was good--and helped with positioning at the breast (I wasn't tucking him in tight enough for her liking) and showing me what to look for in terms of productive suckling. I struggled (and continue to struggle) with the lactation aid--I have a very difficult time getting everything in his mouth properly--but at his appointment Wednesday (yesterday) he was up another ounce and a half. My doctor prescribed me Domperidone, and we're hoping that will help.
I continue to use the lactation aid, as much of a pain in the butt as it is; it sure beats the bottle. I pump when I'm able, but I haven't been pumping nearly as much as I should, due to sheer exhaustion. I know it's important, but I haven't figured out a way to not go entirely insane and still pump every time he gets a supplement. He still takes a long time to feed, so by the time he's off my breast, my back is aching (I have chronic pain issues, which complicate everything even more), and I still need to soothe him, and it's practically time for the next feed.
So my current issues, as I see them:
-getting my supply up -> part of the issue here is that I just haven't been able to figure out a way to pump more than about twice a day without risking my mental and physical health
-getting the lactation aid to work for me - I often find I can get him latched on properly, or I can get the aid in his mouth, but not both at once. I've tried taping it, and not taping it, and inserting it after he's latched on (he generally either unlatches, or I don't get it in his mouth properly), and inserting it while he latches. My best success so far has been when I've taped it quite close to the nipple, but I hate that sometimes the tape ends up inside the corner of his mouth. And it's still a toss-up whether he'll latch properly AND have it in his mouth.
-sneaky guy seems to have figured out that he can unlatch and just suck on the aid. He doesn't do it all the time, but he does it more than I would like.
-feedings seem unreasonably long - it often takes him forty minutes or more to get a single ounce of the supplement (took him much less first thing this morning when he was HUNGRY, but I think I missed a few times when he was unlatching and just sucking on the aid; I tried to pay attention, but when he's properly latched, I don't always feel much when he's drinking well). I do my best to keep him awake, by poking him and blowing on him and tickling him and shifting position slightly (that one is as much because we tend to slide into a less-than-ideal nursing position, again largely due to my pain issues) and breast compressions, but even when he's awake he often seems pretty inefficient.
Any advice is most welcome at this point, including advice about things I missed being concerned about. Thanks, guys. I really want to make this work, but I'm struggling not to lose hope at this point. I'm not sure how much more my body can take, let alone my sanity.
ETA: he hasn't pooped since Saturday, and we've switched formulas to one he tolerates better. He still spits up when he has it, but not to the same degree, and he's much less gassy than with the previous formula.
