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Post by cakewench on Dec 22, 2017 23:39:21 GMT -6
Question for those of you with more BFing experience:
Today pedi told us to try BFing, worst case give him a bottle while I pump if it doesn’t work out.
First session after we got home, I BF’ed and was super happy it worked. It conked him out for nearly 4 hours. We woke him and I tried BF’ing again. He spent 20 minutes on each breast. Afterward, I was trying to rock him until he fell asleep but he kept crying and making his “I’m hungry” faces and rooting around. My mom said just give him formula, so we gave him some and he drank nearly 25ml!
I guess either my letdown took longer on each breast or maybe I didn’t hydrate enough/produce enough milk, but it just seemed so weird to me. Also I know we probably should have woken him up earlier. He seems to be settling down now, so I guess it was the right call?
Sorry, this is such a jumble. I felt so much better after this afternoons session but I feel like tonight’s session was a step back.
His report from the pedi was good though, we have to go back tomorrow for another weigh/color check, and another lactation appointment on Tuesday.
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Dec 23, 2017 0:56:15 GMT -6
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Post by ldubhawksfan on Dec 23, 2017 0:56:15 GMT -6
Question for those of you with more BFing experience: Today pedi told us to try BFing, worst case give him a bottle while I pump if it doesn’t work out. First session after we got home, I BF’ed and was super happy it worked. It conked him out for nearly 4 hours. We woke him and I tried BF’ing again. He spent 20 minutes on each breast. Afterward, I was trying to rock him until he fell asleep but he kept crying and making his “I’m hungry” faces and rooting around. My mom said just give him formula, so we gave him some and he drank nearly 25ml! I guess either my letdown took longer on each breast or maybe I didn’t hydrate enough/produce enough milk, but it just seemed so weird to me. Also I know we probably should have woken him up earlier. He seems to be settling down now, so I guess it was the right call? Sorry, this is such a jumble. I felt so much better after this afternoons session but I feel like tonight’s session was a step back. His report from the pedi was good though, we have to go back tomorrow for another weigh/color check, and another lactation appointment on Tuesday. Did they give you any other instructions in the hospital? Like ours was 8-10 feedings/24 hrs (still at this point), so we weren’t supposed to let him sleep past 3 hrs. Just now after him gaining a lb did I get the ok for 1-4 hr stretch. But I often have to wake him at 3 hrs. I also usually have to stir him by getting him completely naked before eating so he is alert enough. Make sure you are getting a good latch. Tickle the top lip/nose with your Breast until he opens wide because that will give him more sucking power, especially when he is young and your Milk is just coming in. It takes awhile for them to learn what to do to be efficient. 20 mins each breast seems good, but still might not be long enough for a few day old. Let him go until he pops the nipple out. Also cluster feeding is totally normal at this point too. He may have been hungry again just from the effort of feeding only am hr after starting. It’s frustraying but normal. Lastly, we had to supplement in the hospital because he (and his sister before) were slow learners or something because they both dropped to 10% loss while there. So I’m both cases I would pump a bit after feedings, and then we fed that bm back to them the next feeding. It was nice to supplement bm and know they were getting a certain amount, but for better or for worse, it also helped stimulate my Milk coming in. You are only 3 days in; with DD my Milk didn’t come in to the point of feeling engorged until 5 days and with DS it was 3 days this time. It’s still early, so don’t get discouraged. I’m glad you have a LC appt because correct form can make all the difference!! Good luck!
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Post by cakewench on Dec 23, 2017 1:30:53 GMT -6
Question for those of you with more BFing experience: Today pedi told us to try BFing, worst case give him a bottle while I pump if it doesn’t work out. First session after we got home, I BF’ed and was super happy it worked. It conked him out for nearly 4 hours. We woke him and I tried BF’ing again. He spent 20 minutes on each breast. Afterward, I was trying to rock him until he fell asleep but he kept crying and making his “I’m hungry” faces and rooting around. My mom said just give him formula, so we gave him some and he drank nearly 25ml! I guess either my letdown took longer on each breast or maybe I didn’t hydrate enough/produce enough milk, but it just seemed so weird to me. Also I know we probably should have woken him up earlier. He seems to be settling down now, so I guess it was the right call? Sorry, this is such a jumble. I felt so much better after this afternoons session but I feel like tonight’s session was a step back. His report from the pedi was good though, we have to go back tomorrow for another weigh/color check, and another lactation appointment on Tuesday. Did they give you any other instructions in the hospital? Like ours was 8-10 feedings/24 hrs (still at this point), so we weren’t supposed to let him sleep past 3 hrs. Just now after him gaining a lb did I get the ok for 1-4 hr stretch. But I often have to wake him at 3 hrs. I also usually have to stir him by getting him completely naked before eating so he is alert enough. Make sure you are getting a good latch. Tickle the top lip/nose with your Breast until he opens wide because that will give him more sucking power, especially when he is young and your Milk is just coming in. It takes awhile for them to learn what to do to be efficient. 20 mins each breast seems good, but still might not be long enough for a few day old. Let him go until he pops the nipple out. Also cluster feeding is totally normal at this point too. He may have been hungry again just from the effort of feeding only am hr after starting. It’s frustraying but normal. Lastly, we had to supplement in the hospital because he (and his sister before) were slow learners or something because they both dropped to 10% loss while there. So I’m both cases I would pump a bit after feedings, and then we fed that bm back to them the next feeding. It was nice to supplement bm and know they were getting a certain amount, but for better or for worse, it also helped stimulate my Milk coming in. You are only 3 days in; with DD my Milk didn’t come in to the point of feeling engorged until 5 days and with DS it was 3 days this time. It’s still early, so don’t get discouraged. I’m glad you have a LC appt because correct form can make all the difference!! Good luck! The hospital said every 2-4 hours, no more than 6 hours between feeds because that is way too long. He’s been making good diapers thus far, so I know I shouldn’t worry but especially now that I’m trying to get more breast milk involved I’ll try and be better about waking him even when he’s out cold. He did get frustrated at the second session early on so I’m thinking a), we waited too long and he was legit hungry when he was awake, and b), let down took too long. He just woke up for more formula almost exactly two hours after I last gave it, and drank healthily again. And is now passing out in my arms. I think pumping and putting it in a bottle will be helpful over the next few days. Thanks for your advice, I find this all rather overwhelming (clearly).
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Dec 23, 2017 4:05:41 GMT -6
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Post by ldubhawksfan on Dec 23, 2017 4:05:41 GMT -6
Did they give you any other instructions in the hospital? Like ours was 8-10 feedings/24 hrs (still at this point), so we weren’t supposed to let him sleep past 3 hrs. Just now after him gaining a lb did I get the ok for 1-4 hr stretch. But I often have to wake him at 3 hrs. I also usually have to stir him by getting him completely naked before eating so he is alert enough. Make sure you are getting a good latch. Tickle the top lip/nose with your Breast until he opens wide because that will give him more sucking power, especially when he is young and your Milk is just coming in. It takes awhile for them to learn what to do to be efficient. 20 mins each breast seems good, but still might not be long enough for a few day old. Let him go until he pops the nipple out. Also cluster feeding is totally normal at this point too. He may have been hungry again just from the effort of feeding only am hr after starting. It’s frustraying but normal. Lastly, we had to supplement in the hospital because he (and his sister before) were slow learners or something because they both dropped to 10% loss while there. So I’m both cases I would pump a bit after feedings, and then we fed that bm back to them the next feeding. It was nice to supplement bm and know they were getting a certain amount, but for better or for worse, it also helped stimulate my Milk coming in. You are only 3 days in; with DD my Milk didn’t come in to the point of feeling engorged until 5 days and with DS it was 3 days this time. It’s still early, so don’t get discouraged. I’m glad you have a LC appt because correct form can make all the difference!! Good luck! The hospital said every 2-4 hours, no more than 6 hours between feeds because that is way too long. He’s been making good diapers thus far, so I know I shouldn’t worry but especially now that I’m trying to get more breast milk involved I’ll try and be better about waking him even when he’s out cold. He did get frustrated at the second session early on so I’m thinking a), we waited too long and he was legit hungry when he was awake, and b), let down took too long. He just woke up for more formula almost exactly two hours after I last gave it, and drank healthily again. And is now passing out in my arms. I think pumping and putting it in a bottle will be helpful over the next few days. Thanks for your advice, I find this all rather overwhelming (clearly). Yeah I try to look for hungry cues like licking lips which is before he’s too hungry. A fed baby is best, so I’m glad you are supplementing, but I don’t want you to get discouraged if BFing is your goal. So try putting him to the boob bwfore the bottle. I just don’t want your milk to come in too little. Right now is when your body is determining how much to make. I’m lucky that my hospital is very pro BFing and had a lot of help in the 3 days before discharge, and then again with free weighed feedings the last two weeks. Without that help, I would not have known what to do. Even as my second child, I needed help with his latch and was still really sad when he was losing weight just like DD initially when my Milk was still coming in even though he’s a chunker now 2 weeks later. BFing is natural, but very hard. We used to have villages of elders to help teach us what to do to be successful with it. Now we are sent home mostly alone and it’s daunting. Try not to get discouraged!
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Post by kensie5226 on Dec 23, 2017 8:20:51 GMT -6
cakewench I like to tell people even when BFing is easy it is hard. Infants used to die when it didn’t work out, but now we have the genius of science and formula is amazing. Any amount of breast milk has benefits and combo feeding is a really effective way to feed baby. Fed is best. Happy mama is best.
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Post by kensie5226 on Dec 23, 2017 10:07:38 GMT -6
I woke up leaking this morning and I caught nearly 2oz in my water glass. Time to bust out my hand pump.
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typo31
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Dec 23, 2017 10:12:27 GMT -6
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Post by typo31 on Dec 23, 2017 10:12:27 GMT -6
How old is baby? 3 weeks
How is baby doing? Amazing. As of her 2 week appointment she was back half a pound past her birth weight. She is very chill and hardly ever cries unless she's hungry or is working out gas in the evenings. We put her to bed with us between 10:30-12 and she'll sleep two 3.5 - 4.5 hour stretches with a feeding in between. She is just sweetest and I'm obsessed with her!
How is mama doing? Pretty well. Physically I'm in a good place - still bleeding a bit but able to use liners most of the time instead of pads. My weight loss has stalled but I'm trying not to worry about it until after the holidays. Emotionally, I still get weepy in the late afternoon but not every day like the first few weeks.
Rants/Raves/Concerns? I just feel so fortunate to have her for the holidays this year, after so many christmases being the only ones in both families without kids. I've never been happier and I'm trying to treasure every minute.
GTKY: any TV recommendations for maternity leave TV? If you haven't watched Search Party (on TBS) I highly recommend it! It's a funny, creepy, quirky little show and the episodes are only a half hour.
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Post by cakewench on Dec 23, 2017 11:13:29 GMT -6
So some good things happened already today, but first special thanks to ldubhawksfan and kensie5226 for talking me off a ledge. For starters H and my mom basically forced me to go to bed because I was in tears over thinking I have been underfeeding (and thus permanently ruining) my son. Then we went to the doc for this second color and weight check. He’s up two ounces from yesterday and his color is consistent with 4 day old infants. Doc confirmed to keep doing what we are doing and that even if he’s in the best nap ever, we wake him at 3 hours for feeding if he hasn’t woken on his own. Then I came home and pumped enough milk for a feeding! He’s due to eat soon so we will see how he likes it. Baby steps but we are getting there. Sorry I’ve been so crazy the last two nights, there’s not a lot to do when everyone else is asleep except overthink everything...
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jrun2013
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Post by jrun2013 on Dec 23, 2017 11:31:51 GMT -6
cakewench I'm glad you're getting some sleep and getting breastfeeding figuring out. FWIW I had a lot of issues trying to breast feed DD1 and she lost a lot of weight, like 13 percent of her birth weight. She is an amazing three and a half year old today and those first couple of days haven't had a long lasting impact on her. I'm glad you're starting to see weight gain and are getting it figured out!
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Dec 23, 2017 12:14:25 GMT -6
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Post by ldubhawksfan on Dec 23, 2017 12:14:25 GMT -6
So some good things happened already today, but first special thanks to ldubhawksfan and kensie5226 for talking me off a ledge. For starters H and my mom basically forced me to go to bed because I was in tears over thinking I have been underfeeding (and thus permanently ruining) my son. Then we went to the doc for this second color and weight check. He’s up two ounces from yesterday and his color is consistent with 4 day old infants. Doc confirmed to keep doing what we are doing and that even if he’s in the best nap ever, we wake him at 3 hours for feeding if he hasn’t woken on his own. Then I came home and pumped enough milk for a feeding! He’s due to eat soon so we will see how he likes it. Baby steps but we are getting there. Sorry I’ve been so crazy the last two nights, there’s not a lot to do when everyone else is asleep except overthink everything... Yay!! I’m so happy today started off well. You are doing a great job! And seriously, at 4 days, you Milk is just starting to come in and things should get easier! 2 oz in a day is amazing!! He is rebounding with his weight gain. Just to give you perspective like jrun as well, DS has lost 9% of birth weight by 36 hours. DD had reached 10% loss by the 3rd night. Both rebounded right after I supplemented with pumped bm and DD is now a totally healthy 2yo, and DS has gained a lb in a week at 2 weeks old. It is totally normal to start slow and it’s hard at first. You are doing great! That is great of your dh and mom too. Sleep is necessary! Keep up great work mama!!
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Post by sarahandben108 on Dec 23, 2017 14:35:46 GMT -6
That's awesome cakewench! Breastfeeding is extremely difficult and even with my second I struggle with it. You are not alone in thinking you're failing and in tears over it. I have shed many a tear over our breastfeeding struggles. Our doctor also said never to let the baby go longer than 3 hours between feedings. It sounds like you guys have a good plan going forward for now and that you have a good support system. A good support system is extremely important.
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Waffle
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Post by Waffle on Dec 24, 2017 13:20:05 GMT -6
How old is baby? 5 weeks today!
How is baby doing? Great! She is visibly bigger and has outgrown the tiny outfits she was floating in in hospital. Not sure how much weight she has gained as our scales are stupid and tell me a different thing every time I get on them. She was crying quite a bit yesterday and we ended up offering her more food, which she guzzled down so we're now offering 4 ounces per bottle instead of 3. So far, she has tanned every bottle, which seems to indicate she needs it?
How is mama doing? I'm ok. DH is off and at home for a few weeks so I have not had to do anything by myself, which is hugely helpful and means I get to sleep quite well.
Rants/Raves/Concerns? No idea if I'm feeding her right. By the internet, she should be on the amounts she had yesterday if she is 4kgs but I don't think she is that heavy yet so I'm worried we're overfeeding her.
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typo31
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Dec 25, 2017 15:55:24 GMT -6
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Post by typo31 on Dec 25, 2017 15:55:24 GMT -6
Waffle We've been giving M between 2 and 3oz a feeding, but sometime she still seems starving and will scream for more. A few times she's done 4oz. I also feel like it's a lot for this age, (internet says between 1.5 and 3??) but she keeps it down and seems really happy so we're continuing to let her guide us on how much she wants at a time.
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Post by sarahandben108 on Dec 25, 2017 18:03:02 GMT -6
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Dec 25, 2017 23:16:57 GMT -6
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Post by ldubhawksfan on Dec 25, 2017 23:16:57 GMT -6
Waffle We've been giving M between 2 and 3oz a feeding, but sometime she still seems starving and will scream for more. A few times she's done 4oz. I also feel like it's a lot for this age, (internet says between 1.5 and 3??) but she keeps it down and seems really happy so we're continuing to let her guide us on how much she wants at a time. Seems reasonable. At 2 weeks at a weighed feeding DS are 3.5 oz and the week before 2.7 oz. Obviously this is BM, but since their stomachs are so small right now, and formula is usually slightly larger quantities, it seems in line.
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Waffle
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Post by Waffle on Dec 26, 2017 0:09:53 GMT -6
Thank you, it is helpful! Seems we are in line with the average after all!
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Waffle
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Post by Waffle on Dec 26, 2017 0:14:20 GMT -6
Waffle We've been giving M between 2 and 3oz a feeding, but sometime she still seems starving and will scream for more. A few times she's done 4oz. I also feel like it's a lot for this age, (internet says between 1.5 and 3??) but she keeps it down and seems really happy so we're continuing to let her guide us on how much she wants at a time. Yeah, we're now a couple of days in and she's consistently having close to 4 per feed and sleeping 4 hours stretches. We've had one occurrence of 5 hours but it was during the day so we chickened and woke her up. Hopefully we can get a repeat of that at night soon!
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