today was Caitlin's 2 week (i cant believe its been 2 weeks already since her birth..it felt like forever till she was gonna be born, now time is flying so fast!!) follow up with the pediatrician. she also got the first installment of the hepatitus b shot. i couldnt bear to watch as they gave her the shot, but she did pretty darn good with it!
i have been having some problems with the breastfeeding-my milk isnt emptying like it should (and boy are my breats sore!!!) , and unfortunatly Caitlin is showing the result of it--at her birth she weighed 7 lbs 12 oz. today she is weighing 7lbs 2 oz. due to the fact that she isnt pooping and peeing enough and her weight is so much down the doctor thinks she isnt getting enough nourishment with the breastfeeding so i am now to supplement with formula at each feeding along with the breastfeeding. i had to go see the lactation consultant today and they said to breastfeed her as normal then give her 2 oz of formula after that at each sitting. when thats done i am to pump each breast with the pump i'm renting from them and store the milk for later use. this ordeal needs to happen every 1.5-3hrs from the start of the first feeding. i've done it twice now, and basically by the time its all said and done i have about an hour of peace before it starts all over again!!! i go back on wednesday to both the pediatrican and lactation consultant where they will weigh her and hopefully see some progress.
all i know is that this means pretty much no sleep for me. i'm already on the verge of burning out because of lack of sleep. how can i keep this up??????????
4 comments:
you can do it!!!! I know you can. :)
Oh lani, I SO feel your pain. The lactation consultant was my BEST FRIEND the first few weeks. Bryce and I had every feeding issue you can imagine, so I TOTALLY remember how frustrating it is. Bryce would NOT nurse for the first week of his life. . .would NOT. I was pumping and pumping and PUMPING, and we were feeding him with a siringe,and a tube, and trying to get milk in him however we could. and as soon as we finished, it was time to start again. UGH. i wish i could share a great solution with you. . . .just take it one feeding at a time, and do the best you can. any bit of breastmilk she can get is worth it, and if it ends up that you have to stop breastfeeding. . .you know what? She will be JUST fine with that too. There is no right or wrong way to do things . . .just hang in there and do the best you can. Hugs girly! XOXO
Oh Lani - I went to every lactation consultant out there. I think because my kids were in the NICU and learned on the bottle (they say the bottle is easier for preemies who have a hard time sucking and swallowing so they start them out and then let them try to nurse - well at that point, who wants to nurse if the bottle is so easy? ). Anyway, not to discourage you, I tried and tried to get them to latch on and produce milk and it didnt work so I pumped every 2 hours for 8 mos - yep, I did. I finally was going crazy so my OBGYN and hubby said it was time to stop. You can do it. Think of it as a small sliver of your life for the entire foundation of Caitlin's - that's what I did to help me get through because when you are pumping all the time, it makes you crazy. Im feel your pain and angst. Great job for keeping at it and there is nothing wrong with some formula! Yes, breast is best as they say but dont beat yourself up over the other. You're doing a GREAT JOB! It's not as easy as they make it look on tv :).
thanks for sharing your stories and encouragement!! you're so right...it isnt as easy as on tv!
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