12/12 Newborn Check In

[lilyelayne]

Welcome! Please come in & chat!




How old is LO?

How's everything going?

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share?

How's your postpartum recovery going?

GTKY: if you could give yourself a superpower for the next 4 weeks, what would it be?

[peaseblossom55]

How old is LO? 7 weeks tomorrow

How's everything going? Not bad, she is now feeding mostly through the bottle. When I saw E this weekend, I breastfed, it was about 10 minutes or so on each breast. She got 4ml out of it. She seems to be doing better with a bottle.

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share? I guess my question is since my supply is so slow is it even worth to try pushing the breast. At least with pumping I know how much she is getting. I really want to be able to breast feed but with my supply so low and then not know how much she is getting I don't know if that is possible. It makes me feel sad.

How's your postpartum recovery going? I still feel a bit uncomfortable and have soreness near my c section area.

GTKY: if you could give yourself a superpower for the next 4 weeks, what would it be? To magically be in a place I wanted to do without travelling or waste of time.

[peaseblossom55]

Dec 15, 2016 22:05:51 GMT -5 @kc295905 said:

peaseblossom55 I'm just jumping in, but how do you know your supply is low?

I'm mostly pumping right now and I'm getting about 3oz a day 

[lilyelayne]

peaseblossom55 it can be difficult not knowing how much LO is getting at the breast, infinitely more so for preemies. Aside from a weighted feed, the way to know LO is getting enough is by watching her diaper output.

Babies in general are more efficient than breast pumps & get more milk out, which in turn increases supply. As does the skin to skin time involved in nursing.
That said, if she's struggling with suck/swallow/breathe your pump may be doing a better job at emptying your breasts right now.

As long as baby continues to latch, you can of course continue to breastfeed. How much of her nutrition she gets at the breast may change as time goes on, the hope being that as she gets bigger & stronger you can cut down on bottle feeds. But the triple feed cycle of nurse/pump/bottle is very draining.

Have you considered an at breast supplementing system for the times you are together? Then you know she's getting calories, and at the same time she's suckling & stimulating your supply.

Between work & traveling to the hospital & being separated from your baby & everything else in life, you've got a lot on your plate. Plenty of calories, plenty of water, plenty of rest all help supply. 2 out of 3 isn't bad.

---

Omgosh I am SO sorry I typed this post out days ago and apparently tapatalk didn't post it. So sorry peaseblossom!!

[lilyelayne]

Congrats @kc295905! Be sure you're using nipple cream after every feed and between as needed to protect your nips.

[peaseblossom55]

Dec 15, 2016 23:05:58 GMT -5 lilyelayne said:

peaseblossom55 it can be difficult not knowing how much LO is getting at the breast, infinitely more so for preemies. Aside from a weighted feed, the way to know LO is getting enough is by watching her diaper output.

Babies in general are more efficient than breast pumps & get more milk out, which in turn increases supply. As does the skin to skin time involved in nursing.
That said, if she's struggling with suck/swallow/breathe your pump may be doing a better job at emptying your breasts right now.

As long as baby continues to latch, you can of course continue to breastfeed. How much of her nutrition she gets at the breast may change as time goes on, the hope being that as she gets bigger & stronger you can cut down on bottle feeds. But the triple feed cycle of nurse/pump/bottle is very draining.

Have you considered an at breast supplementing system for the times you are together? Then you know she's getting calories, and at the same time she's suckling & stimulating your supply.

Between work & traveling to the hospital & being separated from your baby & everything else in life, you've got a lot on your plate. Plenty of calories, plenty of water, plenty of rest all help supply. 2 out of 3 isn't bad.

---

Omgosh I am SO sorry I typed this post out days ago and apparently tapatalk didn't post it. So sorry peaseblossom!!

No worries.  Thank you for the advice.   She is getting much better at the feeding at least with bottles.  I hope that that means she will have a better latch on the breast.  My supply has increased each times she has latched.  I think/hope the situation will get better as her sucking skills get stronger and as she comes home.  

I was talkin with a good friends who breast feeds and I realized I wasn't drinking enough water.  My supply increased this week as I have more than tripled my water intake too.  

[lola]

Hi! First time checking in here, and I'm very thankful to have this resource.

How old is LO? 4 days old

How's everything going?

Good so far! We're doing some cluster feeding which is exhausting and rough on my nipples. But I can tell my milk is changing and she's responding to it by talking longer breaks between feeds.

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share?

My main question is about pacifiers. She's definitely using me as a pacifier to soothe, even after eating. I think a pacifier would help her soothe between feedings, but I also know it can mess with hunger cues. I've gotten different answers from lactation consultants and nurses, but consensus seems to be that waiting at least 10 days is preferred. Does anyone else have thoughts on this?

How's your postpartum recovery going?

Doing okay. Going to start sits baths today, but bleeding has slowed down. I just need to be mindful of how I'm sitting, since I'm doing a lot of that with nursing. I may use the Boppy as a donut. My girl was big and I had a 3rd degree tear. She said it was a slight 3rd degree, but there's nothing slight about it in my opinion.

GTKY: if you could give yourself a superpower for the next 4 weeks, what would it be?

Going without sleep.

[emmyg65]

lola, I can only tell you my personal experience. My son had a very strong need to suck and I had a lot of nipple damage early on, so I just couldn't tolerate it. We used a pacifier from Day 1. In our case, he'd let me know if he was actually hungry--he wouldn't accept a pacifier in that case.

[lola]

Dec 18, 2016 9:48:41 GMT -5 emmyg65 said:

lola, I can only tell you my personal experience. My son had a very strong need to suck and I had a lot of nipple damage early on, so I just couldn't tolerate it. We used a pacifier from Day 1. In our case, he'd let me know if he was actually hungry--he wouldn't accept a pacifier in that case.

Thank you! That's good to hear. I'm going to talk to the pediatrician on Monday. Also, my milk came in yesterday, so we'll see how that changes her eating patterns in general.

[lilyelayne]

Dec 18, 2016 9:56:59 GMT -5 @kc295905 said:

Any tips for managing the engorgement? My milk starting coming in Friday and today, Sunday I still feel engorged, boobs sore to the touch. I don't remember doing anything special with DS1, will it just regulate on its own soon?!

Yes engorgement is a self limiting problem. It should settle down soon.

If you're not already taking ibuprofen for other postpartum concerns, then consider ibuprofen to help with the inflammation. Hot showers helped me be comfortable. You can always offer to nurse to take the edge off, or hand express just until comfortable. I love the lansinoh 3 in 1 therapearl breastpads; you can freeze them for cold packs or warm them up for hot packs.

[lola]

Dec 18, 2016 16:04:33 GMT -5 lilyelayne said:

Dec 18, 2016 9:56:59 GMT -5 @kc295905 said:

Any tips for managing the engorgement? My milk starting coming in Friday and today, Sunday I still feel engorged, boobs sore to the touch. I don't remember doing anything special with DS1, will it just regulate on its own soon?!

Yes engorgement is a self limiting problem. It should settle down soon.

If you're not already taking ibuprofen for other postpartum concerns, then consider ibuprofen to help with the inflammation. Hot showers helped me be comfortable. You can always offer to nurse to take the edge off, or hand express just until comfortable. I love the lansinoh 3 in 1 therapearl breastpads; you can freeze them for cold packs or warm them up for hot packs.

I second the therapearl breast pads. They've been helping me out between feeds (frozen). I've also done a little hand expressing because my boobs were too hard for baby to latch well.