Delayed intro and questions
Nov 17, 2016 17:29:22 GMT -5
Post by murrt on Nov 17, 2016 17:29:22 GMT -5
Hi all,
My little girl was born on 10/3 at 37 and three days. I was induced due to low amniotic fluid and that failed after 5 days of attempting and I ended up with a C-section.We got KU via IVF and this was our fourth embryo transfer after a second trimester loss and an early miscarriage.
My goal right now is to not supplement anymore OR combo feed - whichever my body will allow.
We tried breastfeeding right from the start and we've had issues right from the start. Here's the story. Sorry this is SO LONG:
- Milk failed to come in until 6 days after birth; tried to nurse and pumped to get supply going. Was advised to supplement on day two because she was loosing too much weight and my milk wasn't in.
- Baby had hard time latching. I noticed her tongue tie two days after birth (I have one so I knew to look) and had it clipped at the hospital. She latched right after once with the help of an LC, then had a hard time latching again.
- Went home with a hospital grade pump as the Medela PISA was painful and giving me zero output.
- Was advised by LC to use a nipple shield because she had a tough time latching. Was given a 16mm (later told this was too small)
- Couple weeks later I was confused as to why she would nurse for 45 minutes and still cry for a bottle.
- Went to a weighted feed at breastfeeding support group where I learned that she was taking NOTHING from the breast. Different LC's had different opinions. So, needless to say, I was spinning. I saw 4 LCs. One thing they all agreed to was my milk supply was not where it should be because the baby was not draining the breast for two weeks while I thought she was eating the whole time. I've seen 4 LCs at this point.
Conflicting advice includes:
- Using a nipple shield is the problem. Using a nipple shield that is too small was the problem. A tongue and/or lip tie is the problem (note: tongue tie was clipped at the hospital and pediatrician says she has no lip tie).
- to increase supply you should:
--- stay at home with the baby doing skin to skin to increase supply and feed on-demand. Supplement after feeding while you dwindle down how much you supplement her. No need to wake the baby to eat, she'll know when she wants to eat, just monitor diapers to ensure she's getting enough.
--- wake the baby to feed every two hours, then supplement her but not much because you want her to be hungry enough to eat at the breast. Pump as much as possible but focus on latching and her eating at the breast.
--- Pumping is the most important thing right now. Feed the baby at the breast every 2-3 hours, then supplement, then pump every time. Wake the baby to feed every three hours (insert her horrified face when I inform her the baby sleeps through the night).
The one thing all LC's agree to is I need to increase supply. Her using me as a pacifier for two weeks and me not knowing it really messed up my supply. So:
- I've been taking fenugreek, eating oatmeal, drinking gatorade. Mother's milk tea is disgusting and I just can't do it.
- I tried the skin to skin and on-demand feedings. She's a little too old to be doing skin to skin all the time as she wanted to push off the chest and look around. I did it as much as I could though and then pumped when I couldn't. I did latch her every time she wanted to eat. Unfortunately, she was sleeping lots and did not get 8 feedings in. Because of this, and the fact that I reduced supplementing her she did not gain any weight in a week.
- I then tried to feed her, supplement (increasing supplement because she was not gaining weight the prior week), and pump each session. My milk has increased but not enough to keep up with her demand so far.
Here's what we're currently doing:
- She eats 3-4 ounces when we bottle feed her. When nursing, I nurse from both breasts for about 20 minutes each and then supplement her with about 2 ounces of either formula or pumped milk, then pump. We now are back to waking her to feed every three hours during the day and one 5 hour stretch at night (this was longer before we got advice to wake her because she is not gaining weight with on-demand feedings). When waking her, she is often too sleepy to nurse. This is even with blowing in hot zones, using a cold washcloth, getting her down to her diaper, etc. We then give her the bottle instead and I pump.
- When I pump only (no nursing), I am pumping between 3-4 ounces for the first pump of the day, then around 1.5-2.5 ounces, down to around 1 ounce or a little less at night. This is new and is about a one ounce increase from last week's supply...but still not enough.
I'm at my wits end and am nearly ready to throw in the towel. So my questions are:
Is there something you see that I'm not doing/trying?
I'm ready to get to combo feeding if that's a possibility. I just don't know that my milk will come in enough to feed her from the breast all the time, so does anyone have any advice on how to get to feeding her from the breast for some but not all feedings without having to pump every couple hours? I was told my supply would plummet and I'd end up needing to wean. Honestly, I'm close to there already. Just trying to see if there is a salvageable plan B.
My little girl was born on 10/3 at 37 and three days. I was induced due to low amniotic fluid and that failed after 5 days of attempting and I ended up with a C-section.We got KU via IVF and this was our fourth embryo transfer after a second trimester loss and an early miscarriage.
My goal right now is to not supplement anymore OR combo feed - whichever my body will allow.
We tried breastfeeding right from the start and we've had issues right from the start. Here's the story. Sorry this is SO LONG:
- Milk failed to come in until 6 days after birth; tried to nurse and pumped to get supply going. Was advised to supplement on day two because she was loosing too much weight and my milk wasn't in.
- Baby had hard time latching. I noticed her tongue tie two days after birth (I have one so I knew to look) and had it clipped at the hospital. She latched right after once with the help of an LC, then had a hard time latching again.
- Went home with a hospital grade pump as the Medela PISA was painful and giving me zero output.
- Was advised by LC to use a nipple shield because she had a tough time latching. Was given a 16mm (later told this was too small)
- Couple weeks later I was confused as to why she would nurse for 45 minutes and still cry for a bottle.
- Went to a weighted feed at breastfeeding support group where I learned that she was taking NOTHING from the breast. Different LC's had different opinions. So, needless to say, I was spinning. I saw 4 LCs. One thing they all agreed to was my milk supply was not where it should be because the baby was not draining the breast for two weeks while I thought she was eating the whole time. I've seen 4 LCs at this point.
Conflicting advice includes:
- Using a nipple shield is the problem. Using a nipple shield that is too small was the problem. A tongue and/or lip tie is the problem (note: tongue tie was clipped at the hospital and pediatrician says she has no lip tie).
- to increase supply you should:
--- stay at home with the baby doing skin to skin to increase supply and feed on-demand. Supplement after feeding while you dwindle down how much you supplement her. No need to wake the baby to eat, she'll know when she wants to eat, just monitor diapers to ensure she's getting enough.
--- wake the baby to feed every two hours, then supplement her but not much because you want her to be hungry enough to eat at the breast. Pump as much as possible but focus on latching and her eating at the breast.
--- Pumping is the most important thing right now. Feed the baby at the breast every 2-3 hours, then supplement, then pump every time. Wake the baby to feed every three hours (insert her horrified face when I inform her the baby sleeps through the night).
The one thing all LC's agree to is I need to increase supply. Her using me as a pacifier for two weeks and me not knowing it really messed up my supply. So:
- I've been taking fenugreek, eating oatmeal, drinking gatorade. Mother's milk tea is disgusting and I just can't do it.
- I tried the skin to skin and on-demand feedings. She's a little too old to be doing skin to skin all the time as she wanted to push off the chest and look around. I did it as much as I could though and then pumped when I couldn't. I did latch her every time she wanted to eat. Unfortunately, she was sleeping lots and did not get 8 feedings in. Because of this, and the fact that I reduced supplementing her she did not gain any weight in a week.
- I then tried to feed her, supplement (increasing supplement because she was not gaining weight the prior week), and pump each session. My milk has increased but not enough to keep up with her demand so far.
Here's what we're currently doing:
- She eats 3-4 ounces when we bottle feed her. When nursing, I nurse from both breasts for about 20 minutes each and then supplement her with about 2 ounces of either formula or pumped milk, then pump. We now are back to waking her to feed every three hours during the day and one 5 hour stretch at night (this was longer before we got advice to wake her because she is not gaining weight with on-demand feedings). When waking her, she is often too sleepy to nurse. This is even with blowing in hot zones, using a cold washcloth, getting her down to her diaper, etc. We then give her the bottle instead and I pump.
- When I pump only (no nursing), I am pumping between 3-4 ounces for the first pump of the day, then around 1.5-2.5 ounces, down to around 1 ounce or a little less at night. This is new and is about a one ounce increase from last week's supply...but still not enough.
I'm at my wits end and am nearly ready to throw in the towel. So my questions are:
Is there something you see that I'm not doing/trying?
I'm ready to get to combo feeding if that's a possibility. I just don't know that my milk will come in enough to feed her from the breast all the time, so does anyone have any advice on how to get to feeding her from the breast for some but not all feedings without having to pump every couple hours? I was told my supply would plummet and I'd end up needing to wean. Honestly, I'm close to there already. Just trying to see if there is a salvageable plan B.
