1/23 Newborn Check In

[lilyelayne]

Welcome to a new week! Please come in!


How old is LO?

How's everything going?

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share?

Who is your biggest BF cheerleader?

GTKY: what is your favorite concert you've attended?

[tex]

How old is LO? 5 days

How's everything going? My milk has come in and W's latch is slowly getting better.

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share? I'm leaking which is something that never happened with DS1. I woke up this morning with a puddle of BM next to me.

His bilirubin levels were a little on the high side at his 2 day appointment so the pediatrician had us come in for a check yesterday and then another one tomorrow just as a precaution. But his number went down overnight between Friday and Saturday and he gained 1.5 oz as well, so he's not worried per say. Just wants to make sure we are on the right track.

Who is your biggest BF cheerleader? My DH so far. He's been really patient and understanding since this is new to him too.

GTKY: what is your favorite concert you've attended?

Garth Brooks by a mile. It was a childhood dream of mine and we got to see him this past November.

[mrsp121308]

How old is LO? 12 weeks tomorrow

How's everything going? Going good. She does have a little lip tie, but because it's not causing major issues (it's just annoying because it causes her to pop off the boob a lot) the pedi left it up to us if we wanted to have it fixed. We opted not to.

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share? At our nieces' birthday party this weekend, my youngest niece (2) was saying Hazel was hungry so she lifted up her own shirt to show me how to feed her.

Who is your biggest BF cheerleader? DH is really awesome. I BF both older DDs well over a year so he knows the drill by now and is really helpful.

GTKY: what is your favorite concert you've attended? Garth Brooks.

[mrsp121308]

tex, Garth Brooks puts on such an amazing show. We saw him last year in Chicago and it was absolutely amazing.

[peaseblossom55]

How old is LO? 3 months tomorrow

How's everything going? eh

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share? So I'm still only getting an ounce from a hospital grade pump. She is barely taking the breast anymore.

Who is your biggest BF cheerleader? H is keeps telling me not to get discouraged anything I pump or get her to feed is great and so helpful. It's amazing.

GTKY: what is your favorite concert you've attended? Bernadette Peters she was amazing.

[Deleted]

How old is LO? 5 days

How's everything going? Pretty well overall considering she's so new. My nipples are sore and keep cracking mildly/scabbing. We are trying to work on starting off and maintaining a deep latch. She often falls out of the deep latch and I don't catch it right away.

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share? I'm using motherlove nipple cream and just started using bacitracin, is there anything else I should try to help the cracks and scabbing? I let them air dry with milk directly after a feed. We alternate cradle and football. Anything more I can do to prevent it?

Who is your biggest BF cheerleader? MH and my MIL

GTKY: what is your favorite concert you've attended? Probably Roger Waters of Pink Floyd

[bazinga]

How old is LO? 3w 5d

How's everything going?
The good: Since last week's tongue tie fix I think there's been a definite improvement in how efficiently LO is feeding. Based on weighed feedings with the LC, weight gain, and time it takes.
The bad: Still getting nipple compression and pain but the position of the compression line has moved which means I'm forming blisters in new places. And on each nipple I have an oddly shaped painful bump emerging. Starting to think most of the problem is my inability to get/keep a good latch but running out if ideas.

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share? In just a week LO has developed the most adorable chubby cheeks

Who is your biggest BF cheerleader? Probably me. DH offers encouragement but he struggles to see me struggling.

GTKY: what is your favorite concert you've attended? Not sute if it's my favorite but I remember my first concert like it was yesterday - WHAM! I was so sad when George Michael died.

[lilyelayne]

carrots you can try easing off on the pump and seeing how that goes. Supply tends to be lowest in the evening (though at 11 days your supply may still be pretty high all the time) if you want to start there. You can try nursing until letdown and then unlatching, letting the fast flow go into a burp rag / towel / cup, then latching baby again. Are you nursing "uphill" so gravity is working against the flow of breastmilk, like football or laid back positions?

[lilyelayne]

@orangcrush for keeping a good latch, make sure LO's body is totally against yours and well supported. So baby's tummy & thighs should be against you as much as possible. This keeps his body weight pulling away from you when he relaxes, thereby pulling to a shallow latch. Baby should relax into you, not away.
Bring the baby to the breast, not the breast to the baby. So don't lean down; instead, put more pillows under baby or your arm to bring baby up. You don't want to get a good latch and then have to sit up or straighten up for your comfort and mess up the latch!
If you need to try again, slip a finger in the corner of LO's mouth between gums to break suction, remove nipple, try again.

You can try keeping a hand between LO's shoulder blades to encourage the latch to remain.

Try laid back nursing as gravity is helping LO get a deep latch.

Re: nipple trauma- if there are actual cracks, there should be a direction that pulls it open and another that pushes it closed. See if you can nurse in directions that push it closed.

Saline soaks in warm water can help speed nipple healing.

Some women find gel soothie pads or breast shells help too.

[lilyelayne]

bazinga so glad the TT revision helped!

Have you tried the "flipple" latching technique?
youtu.be/OGttPTx7iSs

For general latch tips:
Make sure LO has room to tilt head back when accepting breast. Tickle his nose with your nipple until he opens wide. Push your breast into his mouth and roll your nipple in last. He should have a big mouthful of breast, and your nipple should be aimed at the roof of his mouth. It's an offset latch, not directly centered on your nipple/areola. Make sure baby's nose is clear to breathe, which it should be if he tilted his head back to accept breast. Look at lips. They should be flanged outward over your breast, not tucked in. LO will have his tongue out over his gums; you may be able to feel it on the underside of your nipple, especially as he gets things situated in his mouth before settling in to nurse.

I found it helpful to think of pushing on LO's chin with the underside of my breast when he opened wide, to keep his mouth open as I rolled breast & nipple into mouth. Your partner might can help hold chin in open position. It's okay to need 4 hands to latch at first, if 4 hands are available.

Some women find holding boob like a sandwich can help LO get an appropriate mouthful when they are still small. If you have inverted nipples, this may cause your nipple to retreat further into your breast, which isn't ideal. If cradle or cross cradle is giving you issues, try football or laid back.

See post above about positioning baby so baby's chest and thighs are against you.

[lilyelayne]

Laid back nursing
youtu.be/KYRg8DTbZCc

[lola]

How old is LO? 6 weeks old today!

How's everything going? Really well. We still have some gas issues but the gas drops have helped with her crying and reduced the amount of spit up. Now I'm just trying to figure out if we should stick to a schedule or feed on cue moving forward.

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share? She spit up on the dog's head today, which was pretty funny.

Who is your biggest BF cheerleader? My husband. He's very supportive, and he has been from the beginning. My mom on the other hand doesn't understand breastfeeding, and her advice drives me nuts!

GTKY: what is your favorite concert you've attended? My mom and I went to see Dolly Parton, who I've loved since I was a child. She doesn't disappoint!

[Deleted]

lilyelayne thank you!! I have been leaning down. I'll try some of the other tips too, the rolling nipple in makes sense.

[judyblume14]

1.5 weeks

Smoothly (except for when she's super sleepy and my boobs explode)

DD1 (2.5) is really concerned about Baby Sister making mommy's boobies sore

So far, everyone's supportive.

*NSYNC's No Strings Attached tour in '99, when I was in 10th grade. I went in a limo with my BF-at-the-time's mom, his little sister and 6 of her friends, and my BFF. Boyfriend's mom bought the tix for me and my BFF for keeping her company !

[bazinga]

Thank you lilyelayne! I've also started leaning over/in while trying to latch. And from what you're describing I've probably had too little boob below the nipple in LO's mouth too. The videos are really helpful so we'll be practicing.

[lilyelayne]

Jan 26, 2017 14:52:00 GMT -5 opheliainwaders said:

Excited update - we had a weight check today, and she's up to 6'3! So we can feed on demand during the day, which I think will help nursing immeasurably, and we don't have to be quite so crazy about waking up at night. SO EXCITED. We just have to get up to ~7lbs by 2/6 to get her on to the growth chart again...I think we can do it!

[judyblume14]

opheliainwaders,

[emmyg65]

WOOHOO opheliainwaders!!!

[tex]

Is there a growth spurt that happens around this time (DS2 is 9 days old)? He wants to constantly be attached.

[lilyelayne]

Jan 27, 2017 11:55:09 GMT -5 tex said:

Is there a growth spurt that happens around this time (DS2 is 9 days old)? He wants to constantly be attached.

Yes. Typical first growth spurt is 7-10 days old. Then 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months.

Another common pattern is every 2 weeks for the first 3-4 months.

Growth spurts can happen at any time. Hang in there! As long as LO is having 6+ wet diapers in 24 hours, he's getting what he needs.

[tex]

After talking with the lactation consultant, I'm gonna pump for a few days while working on the latch for my own sanity and hopefully sleep, until W's two week appt. I'm gonna work on latching too but my main goal is getting him back up to his birth weight for his appt Wednesday.

[emilie]

@orangcrush my nipples were cracked and bleeding at first due to my LO's tongue tie and I found that the Lansinoh and Ameda gel pads really really helped them heal and feel better. Especially if you put them in the fridge first!

How old is LO? 5.5 weeks

How's everything going? Ok! We are still triple feeding - nursing, pumping, and supplementing with some formula. She was having weight gain issues due to sleepiness at the boob so we started this at 2 weeks. It is exhausting but I am glad I can still BF some and maintain a nursing relationship. I rented a Symphony which makes pumping 6-8 times a day tolerable. She seems to be getting more and more alert and seems to be getting more from the breast which makes me happy. Just taking it one day at a time. Her supplements are about half BM and half formula at this point.

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share? So since we let her make her own schedule, she sleeps for longer than 3 hour stretches and feeds less often, but nurses longer and eats more at each feeding. We are doing 6-7 feeding cycles a day with some random nursing in between. Is this pretty normal for a baby her age that is combo fed? She seems happy and is gaining slowly but surely.

Who is your biggest BF cheerleader? H is great but I have to give this one to myself. I always push myself to add in that one extra pumping session or whatever just to keep my supply up and to try to keep this going.

GTKY: what is your favorite concert you've attended? I love music and have been to a lot of concerts in my life, so I don't know if I can pick an overall favorite. But a recent favorite was seeing Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys at the Hollywood Bowl. Such a great venue, and he played the entirety of Pet Sounds. It was truly an amazing show.