December chat 27th-January 2nd - Page 3 « Back to Group Discussions

[LilMomma83]

I'm a mess. DD saw pediatrician and does not have thrush (that at least was good). But, weighing her on that scale, no clothes, (everything the same as the other times) she was actually 1/2 an ounce below her weight a week ago. Pediatrician prescribed breastmilk fortifier (which I can't find anywhere) and suggest I increase my fat/protein intake (I know I've been horrible about eating - it can be 3pm and I realize I have yet to eat..its so hard to find time!) DH is just like, "baby's fine and you are doing great don't worry" but, I'm totally a worrying weeping mess! Ugh.

[Czarena]

Originally Posted by LilMomma83 

I'm a mess. DD saw pediatrician and does not have thrush (that at least was good). But, weighing her on that scale, no clothes, (everything the same as the other times) she was actually 1/2 an ounce below her weight a week ago. Pediatrician prescribed breastmilk fortifier (which I can't find anywhere) and suggest I increase my fat/protein intake (I know I've been horrible about eating - it can be 3pm and I realize I have yet to eat..its so hard to find time!) DH is just like, "baby's fine and you are doing great don't worry" but, I'm totally a worrying weeping mess! Ugh.

PLEASE, contact LLL (La Leche League) and/or a Lactation Consultant. Pediatricians are usually not very good when it comes to this. Their first thought it supplement (formula or in this case fortifier)

Grab yourself some protien shakes instead! And try not to stress, it won't help. Focus on taking care of yourself, lots of skin to skin, nurse whenever she even hints that she might want it!

[aeterna]

LilMomma, I 100% feel your pain. After his first week (of excessive sleepiness which transformed into all-out screaming for hours every night), my DS weighed in at a full pound under his birth weight (6lbs 15oz at birth, 6lbs 9oz at day 3 hospital discharge, 5lbs 15oz at day 6 ped weigh-in). That was devastating for me - I felt (feel) like I'd starved my son for a week of his life. And, frankly, no amount of well-meaning friends/family/partner telling me I'd done everything right/possible made me feel any better about it (and it was utterly infuriating for me to hear "Oh, it's not THAT big a deal" or "He's just a smart baby and not overeating" or "at least he's sleeping, that's better than being sleep-deprived" - they had absolutely NO idea what that felt like, but I do, so from someone who knows.... )

We did supplement with formula (actually, due to my supply issues it felt more like we were supplementing with bm for those first few days =P ) until we got things straightened out. I know a lot of mamas are vehemently opposed to supplementing but I wasn't willing to let my baby go hungry any longer - it wasn't safe and it wasn't helping. I went all-out to re-establish my supply. It took us about a week to get back on the breast full-time.

Do you know, or have any idea, what the problem might be for your DD? Mine was/is a combination of latch (his was/is terrible, so he wasn't draining the breast much at all) and supply (he wasn't eating and I wasn't letting down for the pump at ALL when my milk came in, so my supply never got established). We're still working on the latch (and it's improving, slowly, as he gets a little bigger and a little stronger) and I threw myself at the gamut of fenugreek, mother's milk tea, oatmeal, hand expression and then frequent pumping (once I was letting down for the pump), bf on-demand, hours and hours of skin-to-skin, heat and breast massage... you name it, we did it. We also pursued investigation of tongue-tie and I got my thyroid re-tested, just to rule out those issues.

I'd be happy to share what I've learned and I do very much recommend the BF forum, those ladies are awesome. =) And if you can, go see an LC. Or two, or four - whatever it takes to get some improvement. It's still a work-in-progress here (now I'm dealing with vasospasms! Hooray!! lol) but DS is at least gaining weight regularly... I never thought such a simple thing could make me want to cry from happiness. =)

[futuremamaheather]

My water broke this morning - it's been leaking all day - and I'm GBS+, so now I'm freaking out about having to go to the hospital if the baby isn't born within 24 hours. I don't wanna lose my homebirth!! All "get this labor GOING" vibes are appreciated. I KNOW it's not the end of the world if that's where he's born, and if it gets to that point and that's the safest thing to do, then we'll do it. It's just that the thought of it makes me sad already! The upside? I get to meet my baby in the next day or two!

[mammamo]

Heather- YAY!! And ***labor vibes***

[Azadehhast]

Oh, Heather, breathe deeply and be at peace. Don't worry about what you can't control! You're going to meet your baby soon! Sending you calm, peaceful, laboring vibes.

[BennyPai]

  HUGS to you, LilMomma83 & Heather!

I second the recommendation to get in touch with LLL!  It took me almost a year to discover that La Leche League has support groups that meet locally where I could meet other breastfeeding mothers and an expert in person.  Here is a link to where you can find a La Leche League chapter near you:  http://www.llli.org/webus.html

Heather:  Walk, walk walk!  Nipple stim, eat fresh pineapple,  here are some links to videos demonstrating various accupressure points:  Spleen 6 , back & shoulders , Hand  And I like Azadehhast's advice.

[rustydaisies]

Originally Posted by BennyPai 

Heather:  Walk, walk walk!  Nipple stim, eat fresh pineapple,  here are some links to videos demonstrating various accupressure points:  Spleen 6 , back & shoulders , Hand  And I like Azadehhast's advice.

Eat fresh pineapple!  i ate some pineapple and had my first real contractions ten minutes later!  i think it was coincidence but you never know!  i had also been boot camp style nipple stimulating for 2 days!  its easy to do in the shower because if you are making colostrum already it isnt a huge mess. 

Im still so sore...... 8 days pp and standing still hurts so does putting direct pressure on my pubic area by sitting straight up on a had surface (like a chair). i did go out to CVS the other night but when i got back i was pretty ouchy.  how long does it take the bruised feeling to go away?

in baby news  not to jinx it but.... can babies be too good of sleepers?  he wakes once or twice during the night.  last night we went to sleep at 1 am and he woke up once to nurse then didnt wake up till 8 when DPs alarm went off.  i dont think he wakes up when he poops or pees because last night the one time he woke up he just latched on and fell back asleep......... hmmmmmm

also

do babies have nipple preference?   he never wants to start on the left always the right.  ive been trying to alternate sides when feeding him one boob per session so that way i dont get too full and it keeps everything comfortable.   but he screams! when i put him to my left, he has trouble latching and not pulling off, and he sticks his hands in his face sucks on them and then screams takes the nipple spits it out screams and then if i give in and switch he instantly latches perfectly no fuss no problem.  any ideas or suggestions?  my left nipple is sore from him latching badly so repetitively.  when he does manage to get on it his latch is fine.

Ember and i took our first shower today!  i wanted to make sure his first water experience was calm and enjoyable so i wanted to make sure i was in there with him, not him down in a baby bath screaming his head off.  i wanted him to be able to comfort nurse if he needed to.  it was great!  not a single shreik!  just wide eyed he took the boob for a minute but then pulled off and made some cute faces.  i even got his face wet, it was an accident i was leaning over to turn it off and got his face. but he didnt even peep! 

[LilMomma83]

Heather I hope you are contracting now! I rocked in a rocking chair to get my contractions a little harder/closer together - I also put sage oil on my 4yo and I swear things picked up after that lol...of course anything can be coincidence but it can feel good to try!

I do attend LLL as much as I can and my mom is a long time leader so I have been on the phone with her all day, and also psoting on the FB group for my local LLL. I saw a LC last Saturday, and I talked to one on the phone today. Talking to my mom made me feel better because she's my mom lol..she also had some good things for my to think about. Talking to the LC she helped me find a medium inbetween what felt ok to me and what the pediatrician's suggested (I talked to two different ones and got different advice from each and the LC's advice was something inbetween what they said and what I felt was right). I'm still a bit stressed, but, I'm feeling better. For now I'm adding neosure to my EBM and feeding via SNS and within a week I should have some fortifier to use instead. LC thinks I will need to use the SNS until DD is 6-7 weeks and then she will be strong enough to nurse on her own - I hope she's right! I need to remember to take it one day at a time... I am relaxing though some..I think I can live with this so now I'm just hoping she starts gaining.

On another note I made a delicious meal again today...I've now cooked twice since she was born haha! So proud!

[onetwoten]

Originally Posted by aeterna 

It's still a work-in-progress here (now I'm dealing with vasospasms! Hooray!! lol) 

Uhh us too. And it's funny how few people have heard of it, so it's so much fun trying to explain to people. lol

How do you pump so much with the vasospasms? I keep wanting to, because I want a bit of a stash built up for those times when I just need a break, but it seems like my nipples are always already in use by her, or in pain afterwards, so I don't get around to pumping much. On that note-- anything you've found that really helps more than a few seconds?

Originally Posted by rustydaisies 

Im still so sore...... 8 days pp and standing still hurts so does putting direct pressure on my pubic area by sitting straight up on a had surface (like a chair). i did go out to CVS the other night but when i got back i was pretty ouchy.  how long does it take the bruised feeling to go away?

Ember and i took our first shower today!  i wanted to make sure his first water experience was calm and enjoyable so i wanted to make sure i was in there with him, not him down in a baby bath screaming his head off.  i wanted him to be able to comfort nurse if he needed to.  it was great!  not a single shreik!  just wide eyed he took the boob for a minute but then pulled off and made some cute faces.  i even got his face wet, it was an accident i was leaning over to turn it off and got his face. but he didnt even peep! 

I think it took two solid weeks before I felt ok, and three before I felt 'normal'. I'm a month pp now, and feel completely back to normal most of the time, other than my hips are still out of joint. I really need to get back to the chiro. 

We've been showering with Tenley too, much more often than bathing. I think she's only had 2 or 3 baths (she's a month) but she showers with us probably every second day. She's totally mamas girl, she calms to music, or immediately to the sound of running water. She reacted the same as Ember, she just kind of curled into me and started smiling. I love having a baby who enjoys the water as much as mama. 

[LilMomma83]

Oh yeah, I get vasospasms too...I think I have Raynaud's...I feel much better if I keep warm, I actually put a blanket over my shoulders a lot of times while feeding/pumping and have the heat in our hosue cranked way up. They hurt when I go outside or anything though...not fun, but, I'm kind of "used to it" now that I'm on my 3rd kid...doesn't make it anymore fun though, I can just manage it a little better...it was horrible for the first 6 months or so with DS1 I had no idea...went through a million tests and saw all sorts of specialists because nursing hurt so badly...in the end I think figuring out I needed to keep warm and his mouth growing made me get relief - it just stopped hurting one day...then I got pregnant and it hurt again LOL the good think is that boy was a CHAMPION sucker LOL - and he could pretty much be happy to LIVE on the boob (he spit up -AKA projectile vomitted- all the time though lol)

Rusty- I'm 3 weeks post partum and its just been this week that I haven't been sore, and I still bleed fairly heavily and get really tired if I stay on my feet more than 20-30mins at a time. I had horrible PPD after DS1 and don't remember my recovery from him too well, I was up and at em within a few days of DS2 being born, but, I guess it is just different each time!

[APToddlerMama]

I have raynauds as well. What helped with the vasaspasms with ds1 was taking 200 my a day of b6 for four days.  You aren't supposed to take that high dose longer than that but it did help take the edge off. I usually drink hot tea before nursing and keep the house insanely warm which helps too. 

[aeterna]

Originally Posted by rustydaisies 
can babies be too good of sleepers? 

also

do babies have nipple preference?   he never wants to start on the left always the right. 

Yes, they can definitely sleep too much. My DS slept until I woke him up to eat (and didn't eat much before going back to sleep). But as long as he's waking up every 3-4 hours overnight, he'll be okay. If he's sleeping for longer than that, wake him up.

And yes, they can have a nipple preference. Nipple anatomy may make latching harder on one side; ear infection may make them object to lying on one side; letdown speed or intensity may cause him to prefer one side. If he won't eat off one side, feed him on one and pump the other until he will take to it again.

Originally Posted by jeninejessica 

Uhh us too. And it's funny how few people have heard of it, so it's so much fun trying to explain to people. lol

How do you pump so much with the vasospasms? I keep wanting to, because I want a bit of a stash built up for those times when I just need a break, but it seems like my nipples are always already in use by her, or in pain afterwards, so I don't get around to pumping much. On that note-- anything you've found that really helps more than a few seconds?

Honestly, I wasn't dealing with the vasospasms when I was pumping like a maniac. Now, I'm with you on that: if I'm not nursing or sleeping or in pain, I'm relishing those short periods of time where nothing is sucking on my nipples and they aren't trying to cut glass, and you could not pay me enough money to hook up to the pump at those times. =/

I'm using a hot rice sock and living on ibuprofin - a humbling experience for me as I am pretty vehemently opposed to popping pills of any sort. Oh well. If it comes down to ibuprofin or formula, the choice is easy. =P

I am going to pick up a B complex vitamin and try that, but haven't been able to get to the store since hearing about it.

My sympathies, ladies. It's nice to know I'm not alone, but I wouldn't have wished this on anyone!

[Ruthiegirl]

Hooray futuremamaheather!  You are going to need a new user name soon.       Fingers crossed that you are birthing at home...

Anyone else still pregnant?  I am 40+5 today and feeling nearly constant contractions.  So tired.....I was up till 2am last night, contracting steadily, but they fizzled out...

Went in for a check-up yesterday and baby and I seem just fine.  My ob is rather relaxed and while he will let me go as long as possible (as long as baby and I remain healthy), his office has a 'not past 42 weeks' rule. So, I have another week and then I am going to get pressured for induction.  He is talking about using cervadil or breaking my water.  I have not had either done before and am super leery of inductions.  This would all be much easier if I could just get labor going for real.  

I will walk as much as possible today.  Putting away the Christmas ornaments.  Maybe I'll get down and dirty and clean the bathrooms....or eat a pineapple...or have sex...or anything, anything that might get contractions moving!!!!!

[jenrose]

Havent' been posting much here, but I'm still reading, still pregnant.

40 w 6 d. Had a bpp yesterday, baby was in a lousy position but otherwise passed with flying colors. We're hitting the end of everyone's comfort zone, I'm not particularly low risk, and the perinatologist would have preferred I deliver at 39 weeks. I did something to my rib coughing about 5 weeks ago, and it went from getting better to getting worse again, and is starting to interfere with my sleep horrifically, and when I don't get enough sleep my blood pressure goes up... 

I took castor oil last week, had a couple of bouts of contractions with the first small doses, but a larger dose produced no contractions, heck, it didn't even have a laxative effect. 

At this point I think the choices are essentially homebirth or cesarean, I'm skeptical that they'll be willing to do an induction, and at this point I'm not even sure I'd want to if we can't get things going at home. I'm currently on hands and knees trying to get baby to turn to anterior now that he's finally at the midline, if we can get him anterior and engaged I think things will go fine. But I'm not getting enough contractions to help, despite doing just about every home induction technique short of having the midwife manually dilate me and break my waters, and quite honestly, those are not off the table if we can get baby positioned well and contractions don't start.

It would be different if this pregnancy hadn't been so hellishly difficult, if I was 21 like I was with my first (I'm 39), if I didn't have so many risk factors. I'd just wait. I did last time, but Shiny never did trigger labor due to her issues (I got to 6  cm with prodromal, contractions stopped for hours, I took a teaspoon fo castor oil and hit transition 10 minutes later), and part of me has lost faith. I've been having bouts of contractions since 35 weeks, but they haven't been that strong this time around because baby has not been well applied to the cervix. 

I've been certified in the past as a doula and childbirth educator. I've been reading about and learning about birth for 27 years, since my parents were pregnant with my kid sister. I've seen 17 or 18 babies born, a couple of them mine. And my kids persist in flummoxing me.

Not looking for advice at this point, we're doing everything I'm physically capable of doing right now, I'm just a bit demoralized. My husband had this whole past week off and goes back to work on Tuesday, it's completely unavoidable, would have happened regardless of when my due date was, and I really wanted him to have more free at home time with his son. 

I really don't WANT a section, or to deal with the hospital, or any of that. But a huge part of me just wants this over, with my baby in my arms. I know it's not that simple, but god, does it have to be this hard?

[Azadehhast]

Come on, Ruthie's baby! Make your way out!

Rusty, Winter was born the day after Ember, and I'm still quite sore in the way you describe. Actually, everything in my bum feels like the pressure of a pushy contraction, and everything just makes it achey. I've found that leaning forward at the hips under a hot shower really helps it all relax, as does nestling with the hot water bottle.

Oh, man, all these nursing issues sound sooooo stressful! I'm incredibly glad that we haven't had any trouble nursing at all, even with a pretty real tongue tie, the traumatic birthing, the drugs, my babe came out rooting and has a great latch, strong suck, and has gained a full pound in four days! He's 11 ounces over his birth weight at one week old. Woohoo! (BTW, I don't say all this to brag, but just because I'm so impressed at mt strong boy. I'm so glad that even if birthing went...not as planned, at least feeding is pretty perfect.)

We went to visit the naturopath yesterday, and got some vitamin d drops, homeopathics for future use, and probiotics for us both, since I had the abx from the surgery and want to make sure we aren't open for yucky bacteria now. It was our first trip out, and what fun it is to go around with him in the sling! I love so much more the adorable baby comments than the massive pregnant lady stares!

DH's parents are finally gone. God, they're so frustrating. His mother "helped us out so much" by eating through our precious stores of food, washing half the dishes in such a fashion that they all have to be rewashed, and stressing mama and baby out so much that he didn't sleep at all the first night they here. I told DH they can't come back for at least a month. And I'm so happy to have my peaceful little home and child back.

Oh, and I'm happy to report Winter loves the wrap carrier! We just took our first tiny little walk outside for some fresh air, and he was so happy.

[aeterna]

Jennrose:

Azadehhast: brag away, you've earned it after his birth, and I sincerely doubt anybody here would begrudge you a happy, healthy boy regardless.

Ugh. I've come down with a cold, and the poor lil man has caught it too. =( can't take Sudafed (not willing to risk my supply) and antihistamines aren't working for crap. Suggestions? Generally I just suck it up but I'm afraid to pass it back and forth to Eli, plus last year I had a head cold turn into an ear infection that left me with vertigo for six Weeks. Can't do that again!!

[LilMomma83]

Hugs to Jen

Azadeh- that's wonderful about Winter's feeding and also that he loves the wrap! I actually psoted on my FB about the baby looks..it is WAY more fun!

Aeterna- Me and DD have a cold too (mostly a cough). I've been drinking ginger and echenacia tea (mixing the too) with honey...it helps for a little while. I have taken ibuprofin a couple nights too and it helped a little more with the cough (I think my throat was getting inflamed and making me cough even more). I used  to put sage oil on my chest (works like vicks) but since sage can reduce milk supply I don't want to take a change..not sure how much it would absorb, but, I'm not willing to risk it. I did put some on DD's feet though and it seemed to help her. I've also been sleeping with both of us propped on more pillows than usual.

We saw another LC today (just because that's who was there today) and she showed us ANOTHER problem with DD's latch, fixing that stopped her from clicking (she's done so since birth) and she had a textbook feeding and took in 2oz almost with no suppliment (LC unhooked it at the beginning of the feeding saying she didn't need it lol) and she didn't....but, we haven't been able to repeat the latch or such a good feeding again (so we have used the SNS) at home...going to keep trying though! My little show off girl haha.

Now DH and I are dozing off while the kids watch movies...all of us trying to stay up for another 3hrs to 2012. :-)

[mammamo]

I'm still pregnant too. 40+2....oy, annoyed by everyone and everything. Took a nap today that was heaven, hoping it was my body telling me that I needed to rest up for tonight.

[aeterna]

Happy new year! To those ladies still waiting for their babes, at least now you know you're bound to have them in your arms before the next year comes!