1/16 Newborn Check In

[lilyelayne]

Hello! Welcome to a new week! Please come in and chat.


How old is LO?

How's everything going?

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share?

How's your postpartum recovery going?

GTKY: when you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Did you do it?

[lilyelayne]

Checking on you peaseblossom55

[judyblume14]

Hi, We're new here.

A is 3 days new, born in Friday the 13th!

Things are OK. Everything was great at the hospital, but she's been super sleepy since we got home yesterday. My milk is fully in, and my boobies are super engorged. I'm trying to be patient in rousing her. But with a toddler at home getting used to having a new baby around, my patience is wearing thin!

No questions or concerns right now. I'm annoyed that with DD1, I just handed the Target pharmacist my prescription and they handed me a pump. But they "don't do that anymore." So now I have to figure out how to get my stupid pump. Can't find all the parts to my old one. So. I'll probably need to run to Walmart later to get a hand pump to use to relieve some of the engorgement pain in the meantime.

Recovery - I'm doing okay. I don't the remember nursing contractions with DD1. They're pretty awful. Delivery was pretty smooth, with just a small tear. But by the end of the day, it's pretty sore.

I wanted to be a teacher growing up. I am not a teacher.

[lilyelayne]

Welcome & congrats judyblume14! You can hand express to take the edge off. This is a great video; instruction starts at 1:30
med.stanford.edu/newborns/professional-education/breastfeeding/hand-expressing-milk.html

Nursing contractions are usually worse with each successive pregnancy.

[judyblume14]

lilyelayne - thanks. I've never been great at hand expressing. I will check out the video and give it another go. I need to. Ouch!

[emmyg65]

judyblume14, if you have time (hahahahha), you can also go stand in a warm shower and see if that makes you let down. I used to do that for relief.

carrots, use a nipple cream like lanolin or Earth Mama Angel Baby (my personal fave) after every feeding (I see you're doing that). Also try to air your nips out as much as possible. You can express some milk on the affected area and let it dry too.

[ellabee]

How old is LO? 1 week

How's everything going? Pretty good. DS lost about 10% of his birthweight, so I'm sensitive about getting him going in the right direction. He's also a little jaundiced so I want him to be getting enough milk to up his diaper output. His latch is alright, but I suspect he has a mild tongue tie. He's infinitely better at latching than his sister was, so I just have to get a good "breast sandwich" going for him and he should be fine. He's pretty efficient at the breast too, which is nice.

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share? No questions or concerns right now beyond the general anxiety of "is LO getting enough". I also forgot how adorable a milkdrunk baby is.

How's your postpartum recovery going?
Pretty good. I had a speed labor so I'm not as swollen or painful down there as last time. I forgot about the nursing contractions, which we quite strong, but other than that it's been a decently easy recovery.


GTKY: when you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Did you do it? A marine biologist. I ended up pursuing biomedical engineering instead and now I'm in project management. I think my dream job would have been being something like an underwater photographer for National Geographic.

[judyblume14]

carrots - definitely lanolin cream, then air dry.

ellabee - ugh - breast sandwich. Those words just made my sore boobs cry.

[lilyelayne]

Jan 16, 2017 13:19:47 GMT -5 judyblume14 said:

lilyelayne - thanks. I've never been great at hand expressing. I will check out the video and give it another go. I need to. Ouch!

Hand expression is a great skill to have. Hope you get the hang of it! It's also recommended over pumping for engorgement because it can be too easy to pump more than necessary (especially with an electric pump) and therefore encourage the oversupply and prolong the engorgement. You want to express just enough to be comfortable again and no more. Otherwise your body thinks it needs to keep making all that milk!

[lilyelayne]

carrots for actual cracks, there should be a direction that pulls it open and one that pushes it closed. Nurse in positions that push it closed if at all possible. Keep up the milk & nipple cream. Some women find gel pads help.

ellabee you can do a weighted feed if it'll help ease your mind about baby getting enough milk. IBCLC office, a bf support group, or your pedi's office should have a baby scale and allow you to do it. Baby in nothing but a fresh diaper, weigh, nurse, weigh again. If it's with an IBCLC they can also check for tongue/lip tie.
6+ wet diapers in 24 hours means he's getting enough. :-)

[peaseblossom55]

carrots, my LC recommended organic coconut oil. I haven't used it yet.

How old is LO? E will be 12 weeks tomorrow

How's everything going? Ok I guess

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share? I had a call with my LC late last week, she recommended a month of the medela symphony pump. So I am using that since Saturday afternoon so far no difference in supply still about an ounce. I have been nursing E before every bottle and the past day or two she has been doing well. She latches way and stays interested for several minutes. I have to assume she is getting something, Otherwise she might be pulling away and crying. She still does drink her whole bottle feeding too.

How's your postpartum recovery going? Fine

GTKY: when you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Did you do it? Ballerina for NYC Ballet, nope, did not.

[judyblume14]

You know how people will post a question, get advice, and then ignore it?

Hi. I did that.

I tried hand expression for a few minutes and got frustrated.

Hooked up to the pump and pumped just to BARELY comfortable. About a minute both sides. Total got an ounce. Still super swollen, still rock hard. But no longer wanting-to-die-excruciating.

I didn't want to nurse to encourage production, so... Spoon fed LO a couple sips, then H fed her the rest as a bottle. She sucked it right down (even as held upright and using paced method). She then flipped her shit and wanted to nurse. So now I'm nursing her. She's been sleepy all day, but knowing that baby's tummy right now is really small, I'm just... Have no idea what I'm doing.

It's like my boobs are ready to feed my 2 year old kid, not my 3 day old newborn...

[judyblume14]

Jan 16, 2017 22:08:22 GMT -5 carrots said:

All the commiseration judyblume14. These boobs are out of control and so sore.

Ugh, it's the literal worst. She ended up nursing on one side right after for about 20 minutes. Still really full on that side, but feel a lot of relief. Other side is on freaking fire. She should be waking soon to nurse though...

[bazinga]

How old is LO?
2w5d

How's everything going?
Making progress. I've been working on positing and latch to manage very sore nips and think we're now as good as we're going to get. Still a little sore and bruised but much improved. The main problem is compressed nipples with every feed and after consulting with LCs at the local support group and the pedi this is almost certainly due to LO having a tongue tie. He's gained weight but not as rapidly as expected given how long he spends on the boob and we think he's just very inefficient at transferring BM. We've an appointment to have his TT clipped today and I'm hoping I haven't left it too late that he can't relearn and/or my supply is damaged. DS1 was 4w old when we had his TT diagnosed and fixed and he improved so hopefully not...

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share? Feeling nervous and bad about putting LO through the TT clipping and hoping that he recovers quickly and isn't too miserable.

How's your postpartum recovery going? Good - I feel fully recovered post CS.

GTKY: when you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Did you do it?
A vet or a nurse. No, I went into research though so I make medicines vs. giving them to patients!

[lilyelayne]

judyblume14 your body doesn't know how many babies you had, so it's making lots of milk in case you have multiples. It's also done this before so production can be easier/quicker/more as some of the development of milk making structures already happened in your previous BF relationship. Keep baby at breast whenever she wants. Offer whenever you need the edge taken off. If she won't latch, then express just enough again. But this time don't feed baby that milk, just let her nurse. Try warm or cold compresses. A hot shower. If you're not already taking ibuprofen for other pp issues, then take it for your boobs. This too will pass.

[lilyelayne]

bazinga T&Ps the TT clip goes smoothly and makes nursing easier for both of you.

[bazinga]

Jan 17, 2017 9:27:09 GMT -5 lilyelayne said:

bazinga T&Ps the TT clip goes smoothly and makes nursing easier for both of you.

The procedure itself went great and DS2 barely cried and wasn't overly fussy yesterday.

Unfortunately, unlike when DS1s posterior TT was clipped there's been no immediate noticeable improvement and I'm still getting the same amount of nipple compression and pain. The Dr explained that clipping PTTs has a mixed success rate but I was optimistic and now I'm discouraged. Hopefully we can make some progress improving latch over the next few days.  Off to the BF support group this morning in case the LCs can offer any help.

[lilyelayne]

waitwhat some babies prefer just one breast at a feeding. After the first month or two, the only time my son took both sides was during growth spurts. Just do your best to alternate feedings so one breast doesn't accidentally go several hours without being emptied.

I think multiple letdowns is the norm. But each woman / baby / session can be different. Personally I've never been able to feel a letdown so who know how many my kid does or doesn't stimulate!

[tex]

How old is LO? 2 days

How's everything going? So far so good. He's had a good amount of pee and meconium diapers these first almost 48 hours. And only lost 4% of his birth weight.

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share? We saw the LC before we left about his latch because it was painful and I was having some nipple compression. She said to work on getting it deeper but everything else looked good. I am already so far ahead of where I was with DS1 so I'm happy with where I am so far.

How's your postpartum recovery going? I didn't tear but I have hemorrhoids from hell so dealing with that.

GTKY: when you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Did you do it?

A teacher. Nope lol. I bounced around jobs and now I'm in the military.

[tex]

@opheliawanders we played catch-up with DS1 for the first two weeks as well so I totally understand. And I remember the first day he stayed latched for 15 minutes. I cried tears of joy.

[judyblume14]

carrots, yes, you can still nurse a baby when you nip is bleeding. But ouch! I'm sorry.

The blood in you milk won't hurt her.