New and BTDT mamas: How's nursing going? - Page 3

[Koalamom]

Sarah, Sounds tough, but don't give up. These kind of challenges pass by quickly, and then you will have a wonderful nursing relationship soon.
With my dd, she nursed great, and I never had any problems not even engourgment.
But with this little ds, I was not so lucky. What he went throug sounds a bit like your LO. He was so sleepy all the time. For one he was born at 37 weeks, and early babies can be extra sleep the first few days. And also I learnedthat I was bundling him too much. He was so hot that he just was tired froim that. My midwife suggested making him cold, I did, and he would nurse more then. Also if you can't nurse that long, herbs like nettles infusions can enrich your milk and so will almonds. So try eating/drinking those, and that will help with the weight gain of your babe. I was only nursing for 3-5 min max and my baby slept all the time, but he got over his birth weight in 2 days and I really think it was becaus I lived on larabars, and nettles tea those first days.
Also my baby was very jaundice the first few days and that can make them sleep. The place my baby nursed that best was naked on my bed in the sun. Helped make him cold and heal the jaundice.

[thorn]

after successfully nursing dd1 and dd2, I was not expecting issues with this baby. but he was not gaining well, and I was keeping an eye on it, and then he actually lost weight so I called a local IBCLC and he has a type 3 posterior tongue tie.

I can't believe i waited so long, my poor baby has been starving pretty much. We're having it clipped on thursday. She showed me some really effective positions to help him maximize his nursing ability until then.

if you are having issues nursing CALL AN IBCLC!! it is totally worth it. don't wait.

[wombatclay]

I was going to suggest jaundice too. DD2 was really jaundiced and a very lazy nurser. I was shocked because DD1 was a nursing fiend and then there was DD2 acting like nursing was a chore. Can the midwife or health aid do a blood test for jaundice? There are actually two different "types" of newborn jaundice and while one tends to clear up on its own the other generally needs phototherapy so it may help to either rule out jaundice or to get it treated.

I found that toe/feet tickles and cool air on the tummy helped dd2 wake up and sitting diaper only skin to skin in a sunbeam helped with jaundice. During the sleepy/jaundice phase our fam practice dr asked me to make sure she woke/tried to nurse at least every two hours round the clock. It was exhausting (I had a 2yo and a huge 4th degree repair on top of everything else) but worth it in the end.

Also... at just 2 days your full milk probably isn't in yet. It could be your babe will wake up and get more interested when it's milk instead of colostrum and the sleeping is a way to conserve energy while waiting? This is the website/phone info for the Fairbanks LLL... maybe one of the leaders could come over too? You don't need to be a LLL member to get help!

[stardust swallower]

hey sarah: how's it going today? all those dipes are a great sign. pumping sounds like a good idea if nothing else to ensure you get lots of milk ready for babe when she wakes. remember that she has a full 2 weeks to get back to birth weight! are you taking her to a ped? that could answer the J question. you're doing an amazing job -- just stay confident and keep seeking solutions. you two will figure this out!

[saoirse2007]

my daughter is 13 days old and sleeps up to 6 hours at night...I went to the Jack Newman bf clinic and they told me not to wake her to feed...she is at her birth weight...8lbs 9.5 oz

i was thrilled!!!!

boobs are alot better...dr newman snipped her tongue tie...and showed me how to feed her better...i was squashing her nose in my boob.

she still loses suction, and while i was feeding her like a pro during the appointment...without the coaching i am not having the same success at home

she is a bit jaundice, but they said no intervention was needed...

soo funny...i thought since i had bf ds for 2 1/2 years i would be an old pro for dd, but alas that is not the case......

[wombatclay]

Congrats on birthweight!

Isn't it odd how different babes change the nursing relationship so much? I had such a huge/painful learning curve with dd1 and she nursed all through dd2's pregnancy... I figured I'd rock the lactation world! And then dd2's nursing personality was so opposite to dd1's I felt like I was back to square one. I'm feeling blessed that ds seems to be a good nursling who meshes well with my own style.

However... I'm waking up dehydrated each morning! DS simply wont sleep if he doesn't have full breast access, and while he'll go for a good 2-3 hours right off the bat, around 2am he latches on and stays latched till about 6am. Literally. He'll pop off and sort of pull for the other breast and latch back on. Combine that with night sweats and every morning I'm soaked and dehydrated! With dd1 I had sweats for about 2 weeks, with dd2 no sweats at all, so maybe this time they'll be over in a few more days? I do have water by the bed, but I can't drink in my sleep.

[dislocator3972]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your replies of advice and encouragement. After a desperate night and very teary email to our local LLL leader, I think DH and I have come up with something that gets Adelaide what she needs without destroying our relationships or sanity.

We've decided that if she's not awake and calm, nursing is not a good idea. We've been bottle feeding whatever I have pumped and left over and either trying nursing once she's calmed down or just pumping and being glad she has food. I've decided not to feel guilty about the bottles because I can't face another feeding where we both start in tears. I can't do it. And feeding her by spoon gives her so much gas and hiccups that all our problems are aggravated. So far today, we've had three WONDERFUL nursing sessions and only added some expressed milk once. I'm not sure how tonight will go because it's much harder to wake her up at night (and who wants to wake a baby that WANTS to sleep through the night? People dream of babies like this!) but I'm determined that as long as she's eating, and as long as our daytime nursing sessions are going so well, this is good. Especially since we should be able to get a free home visit from an LC once we get ahold of her on Monday.



WARNING: THE FOLLOWING MAY BE TRIGGERING.
I've realized that part of my panic is due to normal pp hormones and part is due to my cousin having lost a baby at 30(ish) weeks gestation this summer. She was due just a week after me and when she lost her baby (Pre-E, unknown clotting disorder) I was suddenly aware of the possibility of death. I thought I'd dealt with it just fine but once I found out how much weight my Adelaide had lost in her first 48 hours, I did the math and realized that if big changes didn't happen she would lose almost 1/3 of her body weight by Monday. After letting that thought in my head, I was a wreck. After seeing her eat and seeing her be more awake and aware (albeit slightly) I'm starting to remember that someone else's pre-e has nothing to do with my normal breastfeeding challenges.



Thanks for all your support ladies. We are definitely going to check into jaundice at our next visit and I am going to relax and enjoy the good sessions and just let go of the others.

Also, I'm not sure how I'll know when I'm officially producing milk and not colostrum, but the color and consistency are changing, and the product looks more like milk now, so I'm confident there's SOME caloric value in there. And maybe tomorrow, we'll try nursing nakey on the back porch! We'll have to rig up a sight block, but that sounds fantastic and fresh air is almost always a good idea.

Something else I've discovered is that when we're skin to skin, she relaxes almost instantly and goes right to sleep. Swaddling is NOT her favorite, but a mostly unbuttoned onesie today seemed to be a nice medium between covered and not.

Thanks again everyone, this forum has been SO helpful!