When DD was a nursling, I'd pop in here and there to offer support to other nursing moms who had questions or whatever. Every so often, there would be a "how do I increase my supply" question, and someone would invariably reply to make sure they're drinking enough water. I'd also add that the mama needed to make sure she was getting enough calories as well.
Fast forward a couple of years, and I didn't remember my own advice. DS gained only 2 ounces from his 4 month to his 6 month visit. He had an appropriate number of wet diapers and dirty diapers (he had the same slowdown in dirty diapers that DD had, about 1-3 diapers/week) and was nursing often enough and swallowing and stuff, so I didn't think there was anything wrong with my supply. He got put on Prevacid b/c he seemed to be in pain sometimes and it was hard to get him to eat.
He got weighed again about 3.5 weeks later and had gained 4 ounces. His own growth "curve" was still pretty much a flat line (flat just by itself, not even taking into account his continual drop in percentages). His pedi's office has an IBCLC on staff who comes weekly, and his last appointment happened to be the day that she is there. I talked with her and she asked me how many calories I was getting, and that I needed to be getting at least 2200. I didn't think that I was under that, but I told her I would start counting them.
Meanwhile, DS's doctor sent him for bloodwork, too, which came back w/ elevated liver enzymes. She said it could be something wrong with his liver or it could be that he's basically "eating himself" because he isn't taking in enough calories. She had also talked w/ the IBCLC and wanted me to count my calories, too, and then come back this Thursday (when the IBCLC would be there again) and weigh DS again, and hopefully he would have gained at least a few ounces in a week.
So since Thursday, I have been counting calories. And let me tell you, it is HARD to get that many calories AND still eat somewhat healthy. That is a LOT of food! I have missed my goal by ~150 or so a couple of times.
But...
DS is gaining!
I have a postal scale at home that I can balance a plastic drawer on and set DS inside to weigh him, and he's gained about 4-5 ounces just since Thursday! I hope that his official weight at the doctor's scale shows a similar gain.
Fast forward a couple of years, and I didn't remember my own advice. DS gained only 2 ounces from his 4 month to his 6 month visit. He had an appropriate number of wet diapers and dirty diapers (he had the same slowdown in dirty diapers that DD had, about 1-3 diapers/week) and was nursing often enough and swallowing and stuff, so I didn't think there was anything wrong with my supply. He got put on Prevacid b/c he seemed to be in pain sometimes and it was hard to get him to eat.
He got weighed again about 3.5 weeks later and had gained 4 ounces. His own growth "curve" was still pretty much a flat line (flat just by itself, not even taking into account his continual drop in percentages). His pedi's office has an IBCLC on staff who comes weekly, and his last appointment happened to be the day that she is there. I talked with her and she asked me how many calories I was getting, and that I needed to be getting at least 2200. I didn't think that I was under that, but I told her I would start counting them.
Meanwhile, DS's doctor sent him for bloodwork, too, which came back w/ elevated liver enzymes. She said it could be something wrong with his liver or it could be that he's basically "eating himself" because he isn't taking in enough calories. She had also talked w/ the IBCLC and wanted me to count my calories, too, and then come back this Thursday (when the IBCLC would be there again) and weigh DS again, and hopefully he would have gained at least a few ounces in a week.
So since Thursday, I have been counting calories. And let me tell you, it is HARD to get that many calories AND still eat somewhat healthy. That is a LOT of food! I have missed my goal by ~150 or so a couple of times.
But...
DS is gaining!
I have a postal scale at home that I can balance a plastic drawer on and set DS inside to weigh him, and he's gained about 4-5 ounces just since Thursday! I hope that his official weight at the doctor's scale shows a similar gain.
