Intro and issue

[Sha259]

Hi ladies!! I recently graduated from PIAF on Friday with the birth of my son via c section. We were discharged from the hospital yesterday. Baby is a trooper. His latch is good. Though he is a lazy eater and falls asleep at the boob no matter what I do.

Now to the issue. Baby has lost 11 oz since birth and my mils is still not in. LC and peds did not seem concerned,but DS is inconsolable when I breast feed him. Peds suggested supplementing only one feeding with formula.
I know by now his body is expecting a lot more breast milk from me and I cannot give it. So Sunday and Monday were really rough. I caved on Monday night and supplemented both night feedings with a few oz of formula just so that he can be full enough to sleep at night at all. Without it, he was screaming and could not settle, even when given the breast. With it, he has been so content and was able to sleep two 2.5 hr sets last night!

We have our first peds appt tomorrow and I plan to call the LC again today. Is this a common issue? Did people really expect my son to not eat until my milk came in, even if it took days? I can handle the fussiness and all during the day, but nights are rough, DH still does not feel comfortable taking control of any feedings so I do them all. Even at night with formula. DH will rock him, but also does not change his diapers , though he would when we were in the hospital.

Anyway, is this common? I still really want to breastfeed and don't feel it is too late, but my milk has to come in soon or I think we have no chance. Is there something I can do to speed it up? I pumped one session yesterday and got nothing. I also am doing shots of dark brew ale at the suggestion of my OB. I also still breastfeed him skin to skin only, at command when he gets fuzzy all day long. I'm getting desperate!

Thanks in advance for reading.

[frecklesnbrains]

Congrats on your LO!!! The issue you describe is a common one, and it is absolutely not too late to establish a great BF relationship. My milk took 4-5 days to come in too, and I remember being really anxious about it at the time. I'm sure others will have more words of wisdom, but definitely meet with the LC and keep up the great work!

[Sha259]

Oct 25, 2016 8:06:34 GMT -5 frecklesnbrains said:

Congrats on your LO!!! The issue you describe is a common one, and it is absolutely not too late to establish a great BF relationship. My milk took 4-5 days to come in too, and I remember being really anxious about it at the time. I'm sure others will have more words of wisdom, but definitely meet with the LC and keep up the great work!

Thanks freckles! I figure I can't be the only one. But it just breaks my heart to think I'm not feeding my baby. I'll reach out to the LC. And I look forward to hearing your experiences.

[bluefairy5]

Hi, Sha!

Definitely do reach out to the LC, and if you don't feel the one you first work with is helpful, reach out to another, and another. You probably already read/heard that it's common for milk to come in later after a c-section, so I would imagine the LC will set your mind at ease about that. In the meantime, yay for formula. We supplemented for the first two weeks as my supply took some time to ramp up, due to her latch (and maybe PCOS) and we're about to enter into extended BF territory as of tomorrow! The LC may suggest you pump to stimulate your milk to come in more, but maybe not since his latch is good. (In other words, don't go off my say-so.) Also too, don't worry if you can't get him to be more wakeful for a few weeks. All the "keep baby awake!" tricks in the book don't seem to work for some of them, but they finally do just wake up more.

tl;dr Needing to supplement with formula early on totally doesn't mean you won't have a successful BF relationship. Yay for LCs.

[billyhorrible]

I just wanted to add this: when I was pregnant with my first I vividly recall the nurse sitting me down at 37 weeks and asking if I was going to try to breastfeed.

Then she warned me that at first, cluster feeding is a nightmare. The first comes at 24 hours and lasts 3 days. That's 3 days of basically nonstop feeding. Fussing any time there isn't a nipple in the mouth. But this also helps your milk come in and builds your supply.

So my number 1 tip for new moms is to feed the baby. Even if you think there's no way he could possibly be hungry, he just ate! Make yourself comfy on the couch, bring him to bed, whatever you need to do. But this shall pass. You will get through it.

[lilyelayne]

It's normal for breastfed babies to lose up to 7-10% of birthweight and to take up to 2 weeks to get back to birthweight. Even before your milk comes in, your breasts are producing colostrum. Colostrum can be very difficult to get out with a breast pump as it is very thick; sometimes hand expression is easier.

Do as much skin to skin as possible and put baby to breast as much as he wants. If you do supplement, pump/manually express at that time so your body knows baby is eating.

Totally agree with everything billyhorrible said!



Hand expression video, the instruction starts around 1:30 med.stanford.edu/newborns/professional-education/breastfeeding/hand-expressing-milk.html

[Sha259]

You ladies are truly wonderful! I got an appointment with the LC for right after DSs first peds appointment tomorrow. And I have also really been following his ques. If he is rooting and fussy, I put him to the boob, we have been skin to skin in bed off and on all day today and his diaper changes have been right on track! I may still supplement tonight so that DH and I can get some good sleep, but I'm feeling much more optimistic now! Thanks!

[emmyg65]

Andplusalso, your husband needs to change some diapers!! The first few weeks of BFing are pretty rough, I'm not going to lie. He needs to do pretty much everything else, which means cleaning, cooking, rocking, changing, whatever.


Anecdata: A friend of mine had an emergency c section and her milk didn't come in for 7 days. She's always had to supplement some formula, but she nursed well past a year. Keep doing lots of skin to skin, nursing on demand, eating well and drinking lots of water. Try to rest and take it easy. Work with your LC. And remember that this will hopefully be a long journey. These first few days don't define it.

[tikoberry99]

Congrats sha! I had a c section too and my milk didn't come in until day 7. My lc told me to pump every 3 hours even if barely anything came out during these 7 days. We did start supplementing on day 2 and continued to supplement 4 bottles a day and 6 pumped bottles until week 5. We had lots of challenges (tongue tie, severe nipple pain, clogged dycts) but I'm happy to say starting at 12 weeks we started to finally ebf! If you told me I would be ebf at day 3 or even week 4 I wouldn't have believed it...it's def not too late!

I would recommend trying a few different lc until you find one you like and drink lots of water and pump when you supplement. I also swear by gatorade ( some say the blue kind).

Good luck!

[westiemom]

Sha259 how are things going?

[Sha259]

Oct 27, 2016 9:29:07 GMT -5 westiemom said:

Sha259 how are things going?

I want to say good, but I feel that would be a bit of a lie. We had DSs first peds appointment on Wednesday and he did gain 2 oz. he was 6 lbs 1 when we left the hospital and 6 lbs 3 yesterday. My LC appointment didn't go so well. We did a weighted feed and he was only getting 0.2 oz from me. I basically have no supply. She recommended to breastfeed, supplement with formula , and then pump for 20 mins at each feeding. I have been doing that since yesterday afternoon and am exhausted.

My supply has increased so far from 0.2 to 0.5 oz but no improvement beyond that and that's not enough to feed him. So I go through the process of nursing, formula feeding, pumping, washing pump parts and nipples and bottles, every 2 hours. I am trying to drink more water, eating oatmeal, trying brewers yeast. But this is not really sustainable.

DH does change more diapers now, but I can feel he is frustrated that I am going to all this trouble to breast feed. Add on to that DS is now totally rejecting my nipple and only wants the bottle nipple now.

The main plus to all this is that DS has gotten so much calmer, and slept a total of 6 hours last night!!!! I feel really bad that he had to spend 3 days with me barely feeding him and not realizing it. I'm trying to get used to the fact that, if I don't get a sudden gush of great supply by this time next week, my BFing journey will be over.

[westiemom]

Oct 27, 2016 11:46:24 GMT -5 Sha259 said:

Oct 27, 2016 9:29:07 GMT -5 westiemom said:

Sha259 how are things going?

I want to say good, but I feel that would be a bit of a lie. We had DSs first peds appointment on Wednesday and he did gain 2 oz. he was 6 lbs 1 when we left the hospital and 6 lbs 3 yesterday. My LC appointment didn't go so well. We did a weighted feed and he was only getting 0.2 oz from me. I basically have no supply. She recommended to breastfeed, supplement with formula , and then pump for 20 mins at each feeding. I have been doing that since yesterday afternoon and am exhausted.

My supply has increased so far from 0.2 to 0.5 oz but no improvement beyond that and that's not enough to feed him. So I go through the process of nursing, formula feeding, pumping, washing pump parts and nipples and bottles, every 2 hours. I am trying to drink more water, eating oatmeal, trying brewers yeast. But this is not really sustainable.

DH does change more diapers now, but I can feel he is frustrated that I am going to all this trouble to breast feed. Add on to that DS is now totally rejecting my nipple and only wants the bottle nipple now.

The main plus to all this is that DS has gotten so much calmer, and slept a total of 6 hours last night!!!! I feel really bad that he had to spend 3 days with me barely feeding him and not realizing it. I'm trying to get used to the fact that, if I don't get a sudden gush of great supply by this time next week, my BFing journey will be over.

Big hugs. You are doing everything you can and are an amazing mama. Your sanity and a fed baby is the most important thing. 💗

[lilyelayne]

Oct 27, 2016 12:05:38 GMT -5 westiemom said:

Oct 27, 2016 11:46:24 GMT -5 Sha259 said:

I want to say good, but I feel that would be a bit of a lie. We had DSs first peds appointment on Wednesday and he did gain 2 oz. he was 6 lbs 1 when we left the hospital and 6 lbs 3 yesterday. My LC appointment didn't go so well. We did a weighted feed and he was only getting 0.2 oz from me. I basically have no supply. She recommended to breastfeed, supplement with formula , and then pump for 20 mins at each feeding. I have been doing that since yesterday afternoon and am exhausted.

My supply has increased so far from 0.2 to 0.5 oz but no improvement beyond that and that's not enough to feed him. So I go through the process of nursing, formula feeding, pumping, washing pump parts and nipples and bottles, every 2 hours. I am trying to drink more water, eating oatmeal, trying brewers yeast. But this is not really sustainable.

DH does change more diapers now, but I can feel he is frustrated that I am going to all this trouble to breast feed. Add on to that DS is now totally rejecting my nipple and only wants the bottle nipple now.

The main plus to all this is that DS has gotten so much calmer, and slept a total of 6 hours last night!!!! I feel really bad that he had to spend 3 days with me barely feeding him and not realizing it. I'm trying to get used to the fact that, if I don't get a sudden gush of great supply by this time next week, my BFing journey will be over.

Big hugs. You are doing everything you can and are an amazing mama. Your sanity and a fed baby is the most important thing. 💗

This

[Ray]

Oct 25, 2016 7:57:19 GMT -5 Sha259 said:

Hi ladies!! I recently graduated from PIAF on Friday with the birth of my son via c section. We were discharged from the hospital yesterday. Baby is a trooper. His latch is good. Though he is a lazy eater and falls asleep at the boob no matter what I do.

Now to the issue. Baby has lost 11 oz since birth and my mils is still not in. LC and peds did not seem concerned,but DS is inconsolable when I breast feed him. Peds suggested supplementing only one feeding with formula.
I know by now his body is expecting a lot more breast milk from me and I cannot give it. So Sunday and Monday were really rough. I caved on Monday night and supplemented both night feedings with a few oz of formula just so that he can be full enough to sleep at night at all. Without it, he was screaming and could not settle, even when given the breast. With it, he has been so content and was able to sleep two 2.5 hr sets last night!

We have our first peds appt tomorrow and I plan to call the LC again today. Is this a common issue? Did people really expect my son to not eat until my milk came in, even if it took days? I can handle the fussiness and all during the day, but nights are rough, DH still does not feel comfortable taking control of any feedings so I do them all. Even at night with formula. DH will rock him, but also does not change his diapers , though he would when we were in the hospital.

Anyway, is this common? I still really want to breastfeed and don't feel it is too late, but my milk has to come in soon or I think we have no chance. Is there something I can do to speed it up? I pumped one session yesterday and got nothing. I also am doing shots of dark brew ale at the suggestion of my OB. I also still breastfeed him skin to skin only, at command when he gets fuzzy all day long. I'm getting desperate!

Thanks in advance for reading.

I also had a C-section and it took 4 days for my milk to come in. I was so anxious! And felt like I was starving him. Just keep doing what you're doing. One night it was just like "Bam!" Now I have milk" lol

[Ray]

To save you some washing - you can put your pump in the fridge and then just wash once a day

[Sha259]

Oct 27, 2016 17:19:00 GMT -5 Ray said:

To save you some washing - you can put your pump in the fridge and then just wash once a day

This is a good tip! Better than having to wash and dry 10x per day! I will do that. Do you use a freezer bag or bin to keep them separated from the food?

Also, any recommendation for bottle to use for formula supplementing? The nipples that came with the ready made formula are ruining DS's latch. I need a bottle with a soft long nipple and extremely slow flow! DS is drowning, gassy, and vomiting with the slow flow bottles I have.

[Sha259]

Also, I'm beginning to think that my milk is in, but supply is almost nonexistent. This I think is worse. 😢

[emmyg65]

I still think it's too early to say your supply is nonexistent. Give it the weekend and then reevaluate. We used Tommee Tippee bottles. A gallon size ziploc is perfect for pump parts. You're doing awesome!!

[bluefairy5]

If you have any Dr. Brown's bottles, they have a preemie nipple level (purchased in addition; the bottles come with level 1, I think). Google/YouTube "paced feeding," which is a breastfeeding-friendly way to feed bottles. I can't remember if this is part of paced feeding, my LC had me bottle feeding her almost sitting upright so the bottle was nearly parallel to the floor, so she had to work as she would've at the breast.

ALSO, I too had a husband who was not hands on enough in early days (there, I said it) and who was really really really really uncool about my determination to BF. (I too was doing the nurse/bottle/pump triple feed schedule.) I try to be empathetic usually. I know new dads are just as harried and freaked out as new moms... but honestly given how unsupportive MH was, when I get a whiff of someone else's being that way, it sends me into "hold my rings!! I'm going in!" mode.

Anyway. Yes to pump parts in the fridge in a gallon ziploc. Yes to giving it some time. You're in the trenches right now and you're doing amazingly. (Also, if needed/desired, people combo feed all the time! Over on SAIF tag lilyharper if you have ?'s. She did the triple feed schedule and combo fed from the beginning due to low supply, probably from PCOS. meggo (tag megko) did too. Their sons are 12+ mo and 9 mo and they're still nursing! So it doesn't have to be either or if you don't want it to be.)

Sending hugs!

[Sha259]

Thank you for the vote of confidence bluefairy5! I appreciate the info and will look up paced feeding. DH has gotten better with the diapers, but he is really doing everything else around the house. I think he feels feeding the baby is the least I should do. He keeps bringing up what I will do when he goes back to work in another week. Honestly I do panic a bit thinking about that. I don't think I can keep up with the Triple feeding alone with 10-12 feedings a day!

I did hear that PCOS could cause low milk supply, but I basically have no milk supply. I seem to consistently pump 0.5 oz TOTAL at each feeding, wether he actually takes to my breast or not.

I did just intro on SAIF and was thinking to asks their advice as well from the IF prospective.

[Ray]

Oct 27, 2016 18:08:42 GMT -5 Sha259 said:

Oct 27, 2016 17:19:00 GMT -5 Ray said:

To save you some washing - you can put your pump in the fridge and then just wash once a day

This is a good tip! Better than having to wash and dry 10x per day! I will do that. Do you use a freezer bag or bin to keep them separated from the food?

Also, any recommendation for bottle to use for formula supplementing? The nipples that came with the ready made formula are ruining DS's latch. I need a bottle with a soft long nipple and extremely slow flow! DS is drowning, gassy, and vomiting with the slow flow bottles I have.

Yep! I just put the flange and nozzle part thing in a little sandwich Baggie!

Honestly we've had the best luck with these ones from Walmart: www.walmart.ca/en/ip/gerber-first-essentials-clear-view-bottles-with-silicone-nipples/6000188062740

The nipple was a bit fast for Flint at first but he figured it out by the third or fourth time, first bit was just messy lol

[Sha259]

Oct 27, 2016 22:45:56 GMT -5 Ray said:

Oct 27, 2016 18:08:42 GMT -5 Sha259 said:

This is a good tip! Better than having to wash and dry 10x per day! I will do that. Do you use a freezer bag or bin to keep them separated from the food?

Also, any recommendation for bottle to use for formula supplementing? The nipples that came with the ready made formula are ruining DS's latch. I need a bottle with a soft long nipple and extremely slow flow! DS is drowning, gassy, and vomiting with the slow flow bottles I have.

Yep! I just put the flange and nozzle part thing in a little sandwich Baggie!

Honestly we've had the best luck with these ones from Walmart: www.walmart.ca/en/ip/gerber-first-essentials-clear-view-bottles-with-silicone-nipples/6000188062740

The nipple was a bit fast for Flint at first but he figured it out by the third or fourth time, first bit was just messy lol

I used sandwich bags too! They fit the flange and nozzle perfectly one in each bag.

I think I finally got him to slow down and latch properly on the nipples I have using some of the paced feeding technique. It takes him longer to finish the bottle now! And less vomiting!

[megrae12]

Sha259 First things first, you are doing a great job. My DS was born 5 weeks early via semi emergency c section. It took four days for my milk to come in and I had to pump to get it in as DS was to small and expending to many caloroes to bf. Basically, I triple fed from the beginning (it was awful) and I cried a lot. It took four weeks for DS to get back to birthweight and six weeks before he stayed awake enough to feed. I dealt with low supply in the beginning because my boobs hate the pump. I spent the first two weeks of DS' life topless doing skin to skin. I had to use a nipple shield b/c he was so used to a bottle it would be the only way he would latch. I will say this, never quit on a bad day and it does get better. We are 8 months in and going strong.

As far as your H goes, mine was the same way. He didnt understand why I was trying so hard, etc. You can do it. Get a nursing station set up. Mine was on the couch. I had a huge thing of water, one handed snacks (gronala bars ftw!), and netflix. The early weeks are awful, I wont lie, but babies eventually get it, some just take their sweet time. You got this, mama, I promise!

[lilyelayne]

Love the posts above! Adding this paced feeding video :-)

youtu.be/UH4T70OSzGs

[Sha259]

Well while I'm so thankful to all of you for your support and suggestions it looks like I'll be leaving the breastfeeding boards. My supply has stagnated at 0.5 oz per breast per session of pumping as long as I am not breastfeeding. I will likely just nurse to soothe him, but he will be formula fed. I am so grateful for the information that you have provided and wish you all the best in you own breastfeeding journeys!

[lilyelayne]

Hugs Sha259. You're doing a great job feeding your baby.

[penguin129]

Oct 27, 2016 17:19:00 GMT -5 Ray said:

To save you some washing - you can put your pump in the fridge and then just wash once a day

I totally forgot about this. Thanks for the reminder

[penguin129]

Oct 27, 2016 22:45:56 GMT -5 Ray said:

Oct 27, 2016 18:08:42 GMT -5 Sha259 said:

This is a good tip! Better than having to wash and dry 10x per day! I will do that. Do you use a freezer bag or bin to keep them separated from the food?

Also, any recommendation for bottle to use for formula supplementing? The nipples that came with the ready made formula are ruining DS's latch. I need a bottle with a soft long nipple and extremely slow flow! DS is drowning, gassy, and vomiting with the slow flow bottles I have.

Yep! I just put the flange and nozzle part thing in a little sandwich Baggie!

Honestly we've had the best luck with these ones from Walmart: www.walmart.ca/en/ip/gerber-first-essentials-clear-view-bottles-with-silicone-nipples/6000188062740

The nipple was a bit fast for Flint at first but he figured it out by the third or fourth time, first bit was just messy lol

I second these. I bought a completely new set this time around. I had them for AG too.