Please take your time an help me. Give me advice and put my mind at ease.
DS #2 is 1 month old. Birth Weight - 7lbs 8ozs and at 1 month old he is 11bls. He is gaining lots of weight. Normal yellow seedy stools most of the time, but he screams in pain sometimes or grunts uncomfortably when he needs to poop. Lots of gas pain and stomach rumbling.
DS #1 had many nursing issues with me also, but he is not nursing anymore and when I was nursing him I didn't know what to do and we just dealt with the issues, but he weaned himself early. DS #1 was always below the growth chart with explosive green stools and bad gas. Choked often while nursing. ALL the same issues DS #2 is haveing except he was always very small and his stools were green.
What does this sound like to you? What should I do? Here is my list of symptoms. I have no idea what to do. I don't have a LLL near me.
Left Breast is very small. DS doesn't suck on it much and it doesn't seem to produce much. Very few noticeable letdowns. Rarely hear DS gulp on the left side. It didn't seem to work right before when nursing my first DS either. It has always been smaller. The nipple is smaller and flat until he sucks it out then I relatch him on. He latches on differently to this side than the other side. 1-2 let downs per feeding.
Right Breast is very large. It lets down often and he gulps/sucks a lot while nursing on this side when the breast is full. On most days this breast seems full all the time and I don't feel like he is eating much. I wonder how he is growing when he doesn't seem to drink very much. 6-7 let downs per feeding.
Both sides - Let down chokes him. The first let down when I sit down to nurse is significantly painful on both sides. Each subsiquent let down is less painful till it becomes a tingly feelilng.
He often arches his back during nursing. Sometimes when I try to nurse him to sleep or comfort feed him a few minutes to an hour after a feeding he screams at me and arches his back, but he roots hard. This is the most frustrating! When he is tired or uncomfortable he roots and opens his mouth wide. I help him latch on and he suck until letdown then he screams and is very angry. He almost never nurses to sleep because as soon as I let down when he is full he gets mad. I was very confused for awhile. He would root violently and I would put him to the breast and he would scream. Now I know that the hard rooting does not mean he is hungry, but that he just needs to cuddle and be set down to go to sleep. He goes to sleep better when put down.
I nurse him at 10:30 pm and set him in his cosleeper at 11:30pm then he wakes at 2:30 am. (Times are approx.) I bring him in bed with me and help him latch on and then go back to sleep. We toss and turn as I switch sides and nurse him all night. I don't know how often or how much he is getting. Sometimes he nurses more at night than other times. Sometimes I wake up very full and sometimes I wake up feeling empty. I try to nurse him at 8 am sitting up to give him a full feeding to start the day. He often refuses more than just one letdown and few sucks. I feel like he hasn't eaten much and don't know how long ago he ate because I was barely awake to help him latch on during the night. He starts asking for milk at around 10:30 or 11 am. I feed him and he nurses off and on until 12:30 when he goes to sleep and sleeps until 3:30-4:00pm. He nurses and then sleeps until 6:30 pm and then nurses again at around 8:30 and then again at around 10:30pm. He doesn't like to snack. He gets mad if I try to get him to nurse before he is very hungry. I don't think he is eating 8 times a day.
Will my milk supply drop because he isn't eating very often? I am worried that his weight gain is going to slow down significantly. I don't know why it would but I want to prevent it from happening. DS#1 had such poor weight gain, I want to prevent that from happening again. How can I keep up my milk supply if I am not nursing very often?
This is so complicated and I can't figure out what is wrong or what to do. I have tons of questions.
How do I even out my milk supply on both breasts?
I know that I can let the fast flowing milk during letdown run out on a clean cloth, but really hate letting any of it go. I want DS to get it all. After the fast let down I don't notice any more sucking or swallowing until the next fast let down. I fell like he doesn't get any milk in between so if I let it run out he wouldn't be getting any milk. I am truely paraniod.
When my right breast is full he often gulps for the first 1-2 minutes (often choking) and then slows down significantly to 1-2 gulps per minute. I like it when he is gulping fast because then I feel like he is getting milk. When my breast isn't very full he may only gulp 2-3 times. How can he possible get enough milk in 5-6 gulps (on right side). On the left side he often also chokes at first when the milk lets down, but he only swallows 2-3 times and that is it. Is he getting milk even when I don't notice any sucking?
How can I help him to like nursing?
I have so many questions!!!
My nipples hurt often. I will get them feeling better and then all of a sudden they will start to hurt again. I don't think my latch on is the greatest. He has to latch on to the left nipple differently than that right for it to not hurt. It is confusing to him I think. Both nipple are shaped differently. The bottom side of both nipples is swollen to a larger size than the top of the nipple. My right nipple had a blister yesterday, but it is a little better today. Often after nursing the top of my right nipple is white like dead skin. It hurts a lot when this happens.
Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo much for your time. I truely appreciate it. I am so frustrated! I know he is getting enough milk now, but I am terrified that something is going to happen that I could have prevented if I had known how and my milk will decrease and DS will stop growing.
DS #2 is 1 month old. Birth Weight - 7lbs 8ozs and at 1 month old he is 11bls. He is gaining lots of weight. Normal yellow seedy stools most of the time, but he screams in pain sometimes or grunts uncomfortably when he needs to poop. Lots of gas pain and stomach rumbling.
DS #1 had many nursing issues with me also, but he is not nursing anymore and when I was nursing him I didn't know what to do and we just dealt with the issues, but he weaned himself early. DS #1 was always below the growth chart with explosive green stools and bad gas. Choked often while nursing. ALL the same issues DS #2 is haveing except he was always very small and his stools were green.
What does this sound like to you? What should I do? Here is my list of symptoms. I have no idea what to do. I don't have a LLL near me.
Left Breast is very small. DS doesn't suck on it much and it doesn't seem to produce much. Very few noticeable letdowns. Rarely hear DS gulp on the left side. It didn't seem to work right before when nursing my first DS either. It has always been smaller. The nipple is smaller and flat until he sucks it out then I relatch him on. He latches on differently to this side than the other side. 1-2 let downs per feeding.
Right Breast is very large. It lets down often and he gulps/sucks a lot while nursing on this side when the breast is full. On most days this breast seems full all the time and I don't feel like he is eating much. I wonder how he is growing when he doesn't seem to drink very much. 6-7 let downs per feeding.
Both sides - Let down chokes him. The first let down when I sit down to nurse is significantly painful on both sides. Each subsiquent let down is less painful till it becomes a tingly feelilng.
He often arches his back during nursing. Sometimes when I try to nurse him to sleep or comfort feed him a few minutes to an hour after a feeding he screams at me and arches his back, but he roots hard. This is the most frustrating! When he is tired or uncomfortable he roots and opens his mouth wide. I help him latch on and he suck until letdown then he screams and is very angry. He almost never nurses to sleep because as soon as I let down when he is full he gets mad. I was very confused for awhile. He would root violently and I would put him to the breast and he would scream. Now I know that the hard rooting does not mean he is hungry, but that he just needs to cuddle and be set down to go to sleep. He goes to sleep better when put down.
I nurse him at 10:30 pm and set him in his cosleeper at 11:30pm then he wakes at 2:30 am. (Times are approx.) I bring him in bed with me and help him latch on and then go back to sleep. We toss and turn as I switch sides and nurse him all night. I don't know how often or how much he is getting. Sometimes he nurses more at night than other times. Sometimes I wake up very full and sometimes I wake up feeling empty. I try to nurse him at 8 am sitting up to give him a full feeding to start the day. He often refuses more than just one letdown and few sucks. I feel like he hasn't eaten much and don't know how long ago he ate because I was barely awake to help him latch on during the night. He starts asking for milk at around 10:30 or 11 am. I feed him and he nurses off and on until 12:30 when he goes to sleep and sleeps until 3:30-4:00pm. He nurses and then sleeps until 6:30 pm and then nurses again at around 8:30 and then again at around 10:30pm. He doesn't like to snack. He gets mad if I try to get him to nurse before he is very hungry. I don't think he is eating 8 times a day.
Will my milk supply drop because he isn't eating very often? I am worried that his weight gain is going to slow down significantly. I don't know why it would but I want to prevent it from happening. DS#1 had such poor weight gain, I want to prevent that from happening again. How can I keep up my milk supply if I am not nursing very often?
This is so complicated and I can't figure out what is wrong or what to do. I have tons of questions.
How do I even out my milk supply on both breasts?
I know that I can let the fast flowing milk during letdown run out on a clean cloth, but really hate letting any of it go. I want DS to get it all. After the fast let down I don't notice any more sucking or swallowing until the next fast let down. I fell like he doesn't get any milk in between so if I let it run out he wouldn't be getting any milk. I am truely paraniod.
When my right breast is full he often gulps for the first 1-2 minutes (often choking) and then slows down significantly to 1-2 gulps per minute. I like it when he is gulping fast because then I feel like he is getting milk. When my breast isn't very full he may only gulp 2-3 times. How can he possible get enough milk in 5-6 gulps (on right side). On the left side he often also chokes at first when the milk lets down, but he only swallows 2-3 times and that is it. Is he getting milk even when I don't notice any sucking?
How can I help him to like nursing?
I have so many questions!!!
My nipples hurt often. I will get them feeling better and then all of a sudden they will start to hurt again. I don't think my latch on is the greatest. He has to latch on to the left nipple differently than that right for it to not hurt. It is confusing to him I think. Both nipple are shaped differently. The bottom side of both nipples is swollen to a larger size than the top of the nipple. My right nipple had a blister yesterday, but it is a little better today. Often after nursing the top of my right nipple is white like dead skin. It hurts a lot when this happens.
Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo much for your time. I truely appreciate it. I am so frustrated! I know he is getting enough milk now, but I am terrified that something is going to happen that I could have prevented if I had known how and my milk will decrease and DS will stop growing.
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