Hi everyone - this is long, I'm sorry! I've tried to edit it down, I promise!
DS2 is 12 weeks old. His birth weight was 7lbs2. He was down to 6lbs11 at day 5, and then at 2.5 weeks he was 8lbs6! We thought we were off to a great start and continued as normal for another 5 weeks, when we went for another weigh-in. At that point (7.5 weeks) he had only gained 2 ounces - in 5 weeks! Yikes. At 9.5 weeks he had gained another 8 ounces, which, though a bit on the low side for 2 weeks, we were really happy with considering the poor weight gain before that. At 11.5 weeks he had gained another 6 ounces, making his weight now 9lbs6.
We aren't happy with the 6 ounces in 2 weeks. We had hoped that the 8 ounce gain was a step in the right direction and that his weight gain would continue to increase. (I keep 5-7 ounces a week in mind for a good weight gain.) Going down is not the right direction! I'm worried that my supply is dwindling. I would say his diaper output is mostly OK though he's certainly not a heavy wetter. He poops usually once or twice a day. He's a happy, strong, alert, active baby. So that's all good.
During those 5 weeks of almost no gain everyone else in the family had been sick - me, dh, ds1. Ds2 had some green poops during this time, which we thought might be a foremilk/hindmilk thing at the time so I did a bit of block feeding but never figured out if it was related or not and went back to normal feeding. His poops went back to normal a bit before the two week period that he gained 8 ounces, so we think now that maybe he was sick during that time too and that's why he didn't gain much. But I also worry that during that time my supply suffered.
His latch has never been textbook, but I've had a doula and a nurse from public health check it and they think it's fine. Ds1's latch was the same, and after struggling to improve it with him I gave up and decided it was 'good enough' - and it was good enough for over four years of nursing! I still wonder if I can't improve it though. I do get a lipstick nipple and white nipple on one side a lot of the time, but don't know why. It doesn't hurt though. His latch used to be quite shallow but as he's gotten older (and bigger, kind of!) it's just improved naturally I think. It is still shallow at times but I either relatch him or let it be and after nursing a few minutes it normally improves.
He is at the breast a lot, but a lot of it isn't active feeding. He comfort nurses a lot, which I understand still stimulates milk production but isn't getting the calories in him. He also falls asleep during feeds very easily. We get into a cycle of him nursing a bit, falling asleep, jerking away, nursing a bit more, sleeping a bit more, and repeat. It results in not a great sleep and not a great feed. I've been trying switch nursing this past week to keep him awake which is helping, but I never quite know when to switch sides. When he goes into comfort sucking mode, or just lays there with boob in mouth looking around, or starts to fall asleep, I do breast compressions. I try that a few times and then also normally wait a bit to just see if another letdown will come on its own. If nothing happens after a few minutes, then I switch sides. Should I switch though as soon as he isn't actively sucking? Also I'm worried that this way he isn't getting the hindmilk. We usually end with comfort nursing on one side after it seems like he's had a good feed, so maybe he's getting hindmilk then? This all takes a long time and feeds are normally about an hour.
He also latches on and off quite a lot, in frustration, mostly on the right but sometimes on the left. I figure it's him wanting a faster letdown or more milk. The last week he doesn't latch on and off so much as moans and grumbles at the breast instead. I started doing breast compression after we realized he wasn't gaining well and *sometimes* doing compressions will stop the moaning. When he starts to grumble should I switch him to the other side straight away? I haven't been straight away - instead doing compressions, massage, burp him - and after a while if it isn't helping I'll switch him. My thought was if that breast is having trouble making milk I want to have him nursing there as much as possible, but I'm wondering if at the grumble stage if I shouldn't just switch the poor lad to a better breast right away so he at least gets milk and is happy, and then try the other breast after??
I started taking fenugreek and blessed thistle on Wednesday. I totally smell like maple syrup! I noticed an increase in supply on Friday, but not a huge amount. I started taking domperidone on Sunday. I'm not sure how long it'll take to notice an increase?
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We've been doing lots of nursing in bed, skin to skin, resting, drinking lots of water, eating oatmeal, etc.
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My feeling is that because of sickness, sleepy baby and poor latch my milk supply started to go down, which resulted in more of a sleepy baby at breast and more poor latch, which decreased my milk more, etc etc. I'm hoping if I can get my supply up, get him used to being awake at the breast and actively feeding, and ideally fix his latch, then he will start gaining more weight and his nursing will then maintain my supply. But what else can I do to help my milk supply? Do I just need to wait for the domperidone to kick in? I am not a patient person!
Also, is there a difference between slow letdown and low supply? Even with the increase in supply, we've still had plenty of grumbling at the breast. I'm not quite sure what's going on with that. It does certainly get worse as the day goes on.
Well if you've read to the end of this I applaud you!! I'm sorry it's such a novel. On the WHO growth charts he is way below the 3rd percentile. I know that's just one measurement and really he is a happy, strong baby (though in my more paranoid moments I think he's becoming less and less of a happy baby!), but I'm still worried. Thanks so much for reading and any advice/support you can offer!
