What's 'normal' for the first week?

[JTA Mom]

Looking at my sig, most of you might be wondering why I am posting this question.

See, ds1 was born too early, before viability.

Ds2 was in NICU for an entire week, and other than pumping like crazy and getting almost nothing for 5 days and having them supplement with formula, I don't know what a 'typical' newborn is like.

Ds3 is going on day 3. He was born Tuesday morning at 1:30 am. So we are in early day 3. I am nursing him often, at least 12 times a day. I don't obsessively count or anything, whenever he roots, he gets boob. He also 'naps' pretty well, longest is 3/4 hours, but after those types of naps, he 'power' nurses for a few hours. Yesterday he gave 4 big meconium poop diapers. Today, no meconium that I am aware of, but he did have dark urine crystals in one diaper. So 'one' dirty diaper.

I asked ds2, who likes some occasional bf, to check them out. According to him, it's still 'bad' milk (aka colostrum) and there isn't much.

What should I expect?

I don't like the urine crystals, but don't want to supplement. Just took 5 capsules fenugreek and am readying my pump.

Also, I had a c/s this time again. Last time my milk took 5 days to come in. What should I do if this happens this time around?

Oh, and he is also becoming jaundiced. Other than sitting out side with him, what else can I do?

Should I have some formula on hand?

Ami

[JamieCatheryn]

Minimum 1 wet and 1 poopy diaper for each day old (day 1:1, day2:2, day 3: 3, day 4 and after, 4), then 5-6 wet diapers a day after milk comes in.

Weight loss of up to 10% of birthweight is normal.

Every 1-3 hours nursing, tending toward the shorter side (under 2 hours between) is a normal frequency. The more the better these first days especially with jaundice and less wet/poopy dipes.

Regular jaundice mostly gets cured by getting enough nursing in to poop and clear that bilirubin out. I'd only be concerned if the jaundice was bad enough to make baby too sleepy to nurse well. It peaks on day 4 I think. It's really interesting what it is, a byproduct of the extra red blood cells needed in-utero but not needed once breathing air breaking down and being slowly eliminated in the dirty diapers.

How's the latch, is baby swallowing well while nursing? Lots of *successful* nursing of colostrum should be plenty for now, on day 3 it's normal not to have milk yet, I transitioned to milky colostrum about day 4 with mine. It gets way better very quickly when the milk comes in.

[Parker'smommy]

Just keep doing what you're doing!!! Nursing, nursing, and more nursing. The more he nurses, the more quickly he'll bring in your milk.

Day 4 seems to be the big day for most moms so I would expect milk to come in soon!! BUT....colostrum IS good for your baby and adequate nutrition for him too. You'll know your milk is coming in when his poops start to turn from black to green.

Don't supplement. The missed feeding will tell your body to not make more breastmilk. Also, you don't want to mess with the flora in your baby's perfect gut right now.

Good luck!!!

[LadyCatherine185]

I would nurse as much as you can, don't let baby go more than 2-3 hours during the day without nursing. It is still early, it may take another couple days for your milk to come in.

hang in there mama!

[neonalee]

I had the same worries (minus jaundice) last month. Keep nursing! Just want to mention also - I had a lot of IV fluid (so I was told, I don't remember much) during labor before my cs, and after the cs as well. Because of this my baby's weight loss after delivery appeared more than 10%. I just kept nursing as much as he would take and he regained 10 or 12 oz in 3 days!

[MamaPhD]

My milk came in on day 5. So we supplemented the frst week with formula 0.5 oz per feeding (only after nursing or trying to nurse) and I was pumping after almost every feeding as well (but only like 0.5oz would come out). After my milk came in we slowed down the supplement to every other feeding, then every third feeding, etc. I think we totally stopped at 2 weeks. DD had no issues from supplementation and then breastfed beautifully for 18 months.

[JTA Mom]

Thanks for all the input!

I must say, I love the difference in bf a term, healthy infant. I get to snuggle him all the time, and everything. Totally different experience than trying to pump while running to NICU and back.

My milk came in yesterday, according to my toddler. Since then, ds3 has been giving me good wet diapers, so my worries have eased. His jaundice also seems to have gone down a bit from yesterday.

Whew. It was scary there for a little while.

His nursing pattern is totally different from ds2 too. Elias sleeps for a good 3-4hr chunk, then nurses nonstop for 2-3 hrs, then repeats the cycle. Since his diapers are good, I think I'll leave him alone.

We went to his 4 day checkup and he's only lost 2oz so far. I think with my milk coming in, I won't have to worry too much about too big a drop in weight.

Ami