My baby is now 5 1/2 weeks old and only 6 oz above her birth weight. She was 8lbs 4oz at birth, 7lbs 8oz on day 3, and is now up to 8lbs 10oz (so an average of just over 3oz gained per week). Over the course of the last 5 weeks we've dealt with some serious nipple trauma related to having inverted nipples and a shallow latch. I started using the nipple shield at 2 weeks to allow my nipples to heal and to help with the pain and anxiety I was experiencing every time she wanted to nurse. I also developed mastitis twice in my right breast. My nipples are now healed and I haven't had mastitis or plugged ducts for the past couple of weeks. I met with a IBCLC yesterday and she suspected that I might have low supply and recommended herbs and pumping, plus supplementing 3-4oz of pumped milk/day with an SNS. When pumping I easily get 1 1/2-2 oz out of the left breast in about 5-10 minutes, but can only get 1/4 oz out of the right breast. Baby is also noticeably frustrated when she nurses on that side (and sometimes outright refuses to latch onto it), but when she unlatches the shield is often full of milk so I'm not sure if it's actually a low supply or just slower flow? We're working on weaning off the shield, but she gets frustrated quickly so it's been a very gradual process. Any other suggestions for how I can help my baby gain weight at a healthier rate?
(hopefully this makes some sense, good ol' sleep deprivation!)
(hopefully this makes some sense, good ol' sleep deprivation!)
Those first 6 weeks are HARD! Great to hear you are supplementing at the breast. That will mean that baby continues to learn how to breastfeed, gets your milk and your SNS milk too and will start to gain faster. If you can keep your supply up, there will be a point most likely when baby gets big enough and strong enough to breastfeed as she needs to to gain well. Until then it sounds like you guys need the SNS and extra milk.
- keep at it!
