1/30 Newborn Check In

[lilyelayne]

Welcome! Please come in and chat!




How old is LO?

How's everything going?

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share?

What positions/props are working for you?
What are you struggling with?

GTKY: what's your go to snack food? Bonus if you can eat it while nursing ;-)

[ellabee]

How old is LO?
3 weeks yesterday

How's everything going?
I think pretty well! I feel like it took me around 6 weeks to get to this level of comfort with my DD, so I'm in a good place!

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share?
Nothing I can really think of at the moment.
ETA: I thought of a question. DSs poops are trending towards more green (not slimy/frothy though) than mustard yellow. At what point should I be concerned about a foremilk imbalance? Recent weight gain has been fine at around 1oz/day.

What positions/props are working for you?
Cross cradle on both sides with a pillow+boppy. We were doing football for a little bit on my left side because for some reason he didn't like latching on that side for the first few weeks.

What are you struggling with?
When I'm engorged at night, DS has such a hard time latching. I do reverse pressure softening, but as soon as I move my fingers out of the way for him to latch, its like it's just too much for him to get a good hold. Add the leaking milk and everything is too slippery for him. It takes me several minutes for him to get on and I feel like I sometimes settle for a shallower latch than I should out of frustration.

GTKY: what's your go to snack food? Bonus if you can eat it while nursing ;-)
I've been popping chocolate covered almonds lately. I tell myself it's for healthy lactation...because almonds!

[judyblume14]

Hola!

LO is 2w3d old.

Things are going well. We just had her 2 week weight check and she is 7lb 7.5oz. Her birthweight was 6lb 13oz!!!! This is AMAZING, because IIRC, her big sister was almost 8 weeks before she was back at birthweight!

Nothing special. Just that, after my rough start with DD1, I'm in disbelief that things are going well right now.

We use a boppy at home. It's a big help for us, but I still need to be conscious of bringing baby to breast, not leaning over to bring breast to baby.

Snack - granola bars. I get the "high protein" ones though, so I can pretend they're healthy.

[tex]

How old is LO? 12 days old

How's everything going? Meh. We are pumping and supplementing until our 2 week appointment on Wednesday because W decided to scream everytime I try to feed him. I've been down this road with DS1 so I kinda know what to expect. I also suspect he has a tongue tie. I had a lot of guilt about it the last few days, but it's better now. The most important thing is that he's being fed.

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share? He did latch for about 8 minutes last night with no fussing so that's better than we have been doing.

What positions/props are working for you?
What are you struggling with? I'm working on getting my supply up so he can be strictly on BM. A friend of ours did give us a ton of formula to help with supplementing. She used to work for the company that makes Similac (what we used with DS1) and still has friends there that send her free stuff.

GTKY: what's your go to snack food? Bonus if you can eat it while nursing ;-). Belvita bites are my favorite right now. Easy to eat while pumping/nursing.

[bazinga]

How old is LO? 1mo today.

How's everything going? Pretty good! We had his 1mo check up this morning. Compared to being just under bw (7lb13) at his 2wk appointment when we were refered for his tongue tie, he is now 9lb8.8! I'm so pleased he's done so well and his latch seems to improve day by day too. I think we'll get there, but if this is as good as it gets that's not terrible.

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share? Just impatiently waiting for an awake smile.

What positions/props are working for you?
What are you struggling with? We're kind of stuck in a rut with x-cradle on the left and football on the right but trying to switch it up a little now we're getting the hang of this. Currently focusing on bringing baby to breast not breast to vaby, and trying to get a deeper latch more consistently.

GTKY: what's your go to snack food? Bonus if you can eat it while nursing ;-) baby carrots and humus - quick and easy to throw in a bowl and eat one handed!

[tex]

Jan 30, 2017 17:36:53 GMT -5 bazinga said:

How old is LO? 1mo today.

How's everything going? Pretty good! We had his 1mo check up this morning. Compared to being just under bw (7lb13) at his 2wk appointment when we were refered for his tongue tie, he is now 9lb8.8! I'm so pleased he's done so well and his latch seems to improve day by day too. I think we'll get there, but if this is as good as it gets that's not terrible.

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share? Just impatiently waiting for an awake smile.

What positions/props are working for you?
What are you struggling with? We're kind of stuck in a rut with x-cradle on the left and football on the right but trying to switch it up a little now we're getting the hang of this. Currently focusing on bringing baby to breast not breast to vaby, and trying to get a deeper latch more consistently.

GTKY: what's your go to snack food? Bonus if you can eat it while nursing ;-) baby carrots and humus - quick and easy to throw in a bowl and eat one handed!

I love carrots and hummus

[emilie]

How old is LO? 6 weeks

How's everything going? ok. I feel like my stupid boobs are failing, though. I know I have low supply and have been supplementing with pumped BM + formula for almost a month now. Despite pumping after every nursing session - so a minimum of 6 times a day - I have not seen an increase in pumped supply. I only pump about half an ounce in 15 minutes after nursing - occasionally more but not too often. I still am pumping into colostrum bottles that measure in cc's I'm doing a power pump right now. I feel like I'm working so hard and am not really seeing any good results, so I'm bummed.

However - LO is gaining weight and seems happy and only gets about 12 oz a day in supplement (BM and formula) - so I know she must be getting something at the breast if most babies her weight take 20-30 oz a day.

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share? She started smiling at us this week, which is just amazing

What positions/props are working for you? Usually we do football hold because I had a c-section, and it prevents me from getting kicked in my incision area. I use the My Brest Friend pillow most of the time with another pillow under it.

What are you struggling with? See above. I am very lucky in that I am not going back to work anytime soon - the very very earliest would be May - so I have time to sit here and nurse and pump all day and try to get things into gear. However, I've gotten very discouraged about the possibility of ever getting to EBF. I thought a month of diligent nursing and pumping would increase my supply but maybe I just can't make enough milk.

QOTW: Granola bars - I've been housing them, especially during the middle of the night. I get so hungry when I wake up! Also, I wish I could eat hummus. It makes baby gassy

[tex]

I pumped almost 2 oz and spilled over half of it on the bed. 😭.

[ellabee]

Jan 31, 2017 6:15:25 GMT -5 tex said:

I pumped almost 2 oz and spilled over half of it on the bed. 😭.

Nooooo. That's the worst. 😭

[lilyelayne]

ellabee turns out research is showing foremilk imbalance isn't really a thing. Green poops may be normal, may be from overactive letdown.

"The total milk consumed daily—not the hindmilk—determines baby’s weight gain. Whether babies breastfeed often for shorter periods or go for hours between feedings and feed longer, the total daily fat consumption does not actually vary."
breastfeedingusa.org/content/article/worries-about-foremilk-and-hindmilk

ETA- green bloody poops, however, are often sign of food sensitivity and should be addressed with your pedi

[lilyelayne]

tex glad you've got a positive mindset (other than the tragically spilled milk, oh no!!) and hopefully you can get LO to the breast if that's what you want. Have you considered a supplemental nursing system (SNS) so you can give your expressed milk or the formula while at the breast? Are you going to see an IBCLC about the tongue tie / latch issues?

emilie have you done a weighted feed recently to see how much LO is transferring? Remember pump output is not indicative of the milk available to baby. Sorry I can't remember, are you working with an IBCLC? So glad LO is gaining! And smiling!

[ellabee]

Jan 31, 2017 8:24:21 GMT -5 lilyelayne said:

ellabee turns out research is showing foremilk imbalance isn't really a thing. Green poops may be normal, may be from overactive letdown.

"The total milk consumed daily—not the hindmilk—determines baby’s weight gain. Whether babies breastfeed often for shorter periods or go for hours between feedings and feed longer, the total daily fat consumption does not actually vary."
breastfeedingusa.org/content/article/worries-about-foremilk-and-hindmilk

ETA- green bloody poops, however, are often sign of food sensitivity and should be addressed with your pedi

Thank you!! You have no idea how much this helps with my feeding anxiety. With my DD I was constantly dissecting the color of her diapers and worrying about getting her enough hindmilk. I was gearing myself up for the same journey with DS, but looks like we may be okay. I think I do have a bit of a fast letdown, so once we get a little better at latching I think I'll try some uphill nursing positions.

[tex]

lilyelayne We are going to see an IBCLC tomorrow before his 2 week appointment. And put I'm at the breast when we are both in a good mindset (him not hangry and me not exhausted). As far as the SNS, I totally get the effectiveness of it, but with a toddler at home, that's one more thing for me to have to keep track of lol.

[judyblume14]

lilyelayne, thanks for keeping tabs on us! It's very helpful

[Deleted]

ellabee carrots my pedi said that green poop mean it just runs through their system quicker as opposed to the yellow poops

[lilyelayne]

carrots kellymom says at LO's age 8-12+ feedings in 24 hours. So with the diaper count and weight gain good, I'd say keep on keeping on. Also the 3 week growth spurt is right around the corner so you may see an increase in frequency or length or cluster feeds.

judyblume14 happy to do it :-)

[tex]

LC appt might not happen tomorrow. LC is feeling under the weather and will call tomorrow morning and reschedule if she is still feeling crappy.

[Deleted]

LO will be two weeks on Thursday

It's going ok. The bringing baby to me/rolling the nipple in tips from last week really helped! My cracks are almost healed. No more bleeding just some initial latch on soreness. However..

The past 24 hours I've had pain in my cracked nipple in between feeds, it seems to be in my areola. Any ideas?? I might make an appt with a LC if it continues.

ETA:I just fed her and it looks like my areola ducts(?) are swollen.

ETA again! I think it was just clogs, I noticed some strings when she would pull off from nursing, FX it clears up today.

We usually do cradle, mostly off football as it was making the cracks open up. We use a Luna lullaby pillow.

I love string cheese and kind bars. I also made and froze a bunch of blueberry muffins pre baby which I'm very thankful for now!

[tex]

What I'm doing is working . W is back up to his birth weight. I didn't get to meet with the LC today because she's still sick.

[peaseblossom55]

How old is LO? 14 weeks,

How's everything going? Ehh my supply is still awful, sometimes she latches and has a great session other times she could care less

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share? None

What positions/props are working for you? not much
What are you struggling with? low supply

GTKY: I like veggie straw and trail mix

[lilyelayne]

Yay for birth weight tex! Hope the LC reschedules soon.

peaseblossom55 hugs.

[tex]

My left boob is not responding to the pump as well as my right boob. I suspect part of it is a flange issue, but can you power pump just one boob?

[lilyelayne]

Feb 1, 2017 15:39:54 GMT -5 tex said:

My left boob is not responding to the pump as well as my right boob. I suspect part of it is a flange issue, but can you power pump just one boob?

No reason why you can't. In general it's recommended to pump both because the double stimulation helps letdowns, and it's more difficult to let down for a pump than a baby, especially multiple letdowns in a session.

I always had to use different flange sizes for different boobs. They aren't noticeably different when I look at them, but it makes a big difference with the pump.

[tex]

I have an LC appointment on Saturday morning with the not sick LC.

[tex]

W was rooting after I gave him the pumped bottle from this mornings session and he's latched on the boob. Whether or not he's transferring remains to be seen but he's on there. I see swallowing so I'm thinking he's getting something.

[tex]

W fell asleep after I gave him the boob after a pumped bottle! Currently pumping because I need to for tonight but I have enough for two feeds set aside right now 😃.

[lilyelayne]

Way to go tex! Hope it's a sign of easier days to come!

[tex]

So W has a 3rd Degree lip tie and a posterior tongue tie. That explains so much. Now the battle will be convincing DH that it's worth it to go get them revised. Thankfully there are two doctors in our area that take Tricare (military insurance) and we can self refer.

[lilyelayne]

tex I hope you get LO to the doc asap. If your H needs convincing beyond your Breastfeeding trouble (which I hope isn't the case), tongue ties are linked to speech problems and significant lip ties are linked to tooth decay.

Dr Ghaheri's FAQ on ties
static1.squarespace.com/static/52ee7826e4b07fbe8885e2ab/t/54a99047e4b0c309d0223ca4/1420398663126/TT_LT_FAQ.pdf