What is going on with weight gain?

[Solose]

I posted on here before because it seemed like my milk wasn't coming in. Well, it came in on about day 5 and on day 6, dd had gained 3.5 ounces from her lowest weight. She was born at 6lb 12 ounces and at her lowest weighed 6 lb .5 ounces. Then she went up to 6lb 4 ounces in 3 days and I was so ecstatic. But we just went to get her weighed today at 13 days and she is only 6lb6 ounces. thats only two ounces in a week. I don't know what could be going on. She is having a good 5+ dirty diapers a day. We weighed her after I fed her at the ped's office and she gained 2 ounces in a feeding, going up to 6lb 8ounces. However, when I got home and fed her again she wasn't feeding and i doubt she got much.

Yesterday I had a bad stomach virus and threw up and had a fever, and she wasn't nursing well.I asked the doctor if she could have lost a few ounces just yesterday but she said usually babies don't lose weight in just one day. i am trying to pump but for some reason this time I am not responding to the pump. i can hand express a little milk but not much comes out when I pump. I am so extremely frustrated and depressed over this. i have decided to not supplement until 2 days from now when I am getting her reweighed. If she is still not gaining well, I will start supplementing and reevaluate if I want to keep BF, just because this is really making me depressed and I am unable to take care of my ds. I have been to an LC and they said her latch is good, but in the past couple days when I was sick it seemed to get worse. Please help me, what the heck could be going on?

[brinalicious]

I'm sorry to hear that you are sick. Being sick can certainly make a person stressed out, and I can really hear the stress in your post. I am nursing my 3rd baby, and both of my previous babies were very small, and gained weight very slowly. However, just like you said, they had plenty of wet diapers and were happy and healthy overall anyway. I think you should judge your baby's well being by these things, not the scale. All babies are different, and just because a baby is growing slowly doesn't mean they aren't perfectly healthy and following all the other milestones. I would avoid pumping right now, because the pump will not be able to get out as much as your baby does, and will eventually send the signal to your body that you don't need as much milk and your supply will go down. This is less of a concern when your baby is older. Try having a "nurse in" for a few days and just spend your time in your PJs all day, nursing at least every 2 hours--or more if baby wants more. Follow this up with some fenugreek tea and/or Mother's Milk tea, and you should be on your way.

Above all, I hope you do not get so discouraged that you feel that supplementing is your only option. It might not be a bad option, but it really sounds like its not what you want. Your body does know how to take care of your baby, but you have to trust it. Like I said, my first two were very slow growers, and are still pretty small kids, but they are 6 and 9 years old now, and have hardly been sick their entire lives, and have been right on track developmentally. As the developmental milestones start approaching for your baby, you'll have just another sign that your baby is doing great--even if she's a bit small. Keep up the good work, mama!!!

[Solose]

You are right i am feeling quite discouraged right now. This is my 2nd child and my first was also very slow at gaining weight. I began supplementing with formula after the first week, basically because the doctor scared me into thinking my son was FFT. DS is still quite small as a toddler and was diagnosed FFT later on despite the fact that he was on formula and doing just fine other than weight gain.Now he is fine, still not a giant, but doing just great. i was determined not to make the same mistakes again but I jsut don't know what to do anymore. I have held off for this long with supplementation, but I do realize that she needs to gain weight, as she is gaining even sloer than ds was. I have done everything mentioned in the above post. I have done nothing but nurse, have hardly slept due to nursing sessions lasting several hours at night, but it does not seem to be working. i guess I am just at the end of my rope with exhaustion and feel like I cannot possibly exert any more effort. My son needs me too. I jsut don't understand why she did so well initially when my milk came in, and then almost stopped gaining weight. i do have some issues with PCOS which I have heard causes low supply.

[PatioGardener]

was baby weighed on the same (good, digital) scale each time? If not the weights may not mean anything!

Are you able to rent a scale for a week or 2 and weigh baby every 2nd day? What about milk transfer - did the LC assess the transfer of milk? (See great videos here www.drjacknewman.com) Did she look for a tongue-tie?

If baby is making 6 heavy wet pees in 24 hours and 3-4 poops bigger than a quarter (25 cent coin) in 24 hours then I would not supplement with formula - I'd get some accurate weights. And even then I would work to increase my supply/milk transfer and hand express/pump and refeed that milk before going to formula.

I hope you get this sorted out soon!