We had a BIG day today! Olivia and I went out together alone for the first time. At ten AM we went to have her newborn pictures taken, and I must say they are going to be even better than I expected. Looking at Lindsay Smith's work on her website, I can tell you that Olivia is the most beautiful baby she has ever worked with. Lindsay showed me pictures as we were going, and the are gorgeous! She also said that very few babies get such good photos (smiling, sleeping, and alert shots) and that not all babies are cute, but Olivia is beautiful! About 3 weeks and we get to see the results! The "photo shoot" took three hours, during which time I nursed her twice and she urinated all over me in one of her naked shots. All worth it! I can hardly wait for the pictures!!
At 2 PM, we had our lactation consultant appointment. Olivia has gained back her birth weight and she is now 8 lbs 10.4 ounces, so she is gaining well. (The rest is about breastfeeding, so skip if you are squeamish.) I told the nurses how discouraged I am because I am still supplementing with formula because I am not producing the 3 ounces per feeding that she needs. I told them that I am still doing the triple feed: breast, expressed breast milk, and then formula. Then I pump. All this takes about an hour, and I was trying to do it every hour and a half to ramp up production as everyone says feeding more is a sure-fire way to ramp it up. They said that a "lesser woman than I" would have thrown in the towel by now and that I should be commended for (1) listening to myself and continuing supplementing even though they said to go exclusively breast by Saturday (I did that for 12 hours and Olivia was extremely agitated. She was just too hungry.) and (2) maintaining that crazy routine. They weighed Olivia, and then watched me nurse. The diagnosis: Olivia is an amazing latcher and a "lazy sucker." Ha! So, I was nursing her at each breast for 10-15 minutes, but she was only sucking about 4. Also, I still have a lot of swelling and knots in my breast that are difficult for her to pull down. The solution: (1) The herb Fenugreek for me to ramp up production (and a prescription from the doctor if the herb isn't working by Friday), (2) more water and oatmeal for me--oatmeal helps bring in milk, (3) nursing Olivia naked, agitating her, and moving her from breast to breast three-four times per session (right, left, right, left, right, left) so that she is only at the breast 4-5 minutes per, and (4) continuing to pump after each feeding while kneading at the knots. We had six hands going at my lactation appointment, and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do everything myself, but it is all working out. This past feeding, Olivia didn't take any formula! Hooray! I feel very positive that this is going to work itself out. They weighed Olivia after I nursed, and she was 2 ounces more. So, I am providing her about 2/3 of what she needs. I'll hopefully be able to close the gap soon.
The lactation nurse also commented on what a beautiful baby Olivia is. She asked me if our baby pictures looked alike, and I told her I thought so. She said, "Olivia is beautiful. You aren't so bad yourself, but your baby is gorgeous!" Ha!
Nicholas's mom, Jane, came into town on Saturday and has been helping with the house, cooking, and watching Olivia. (That is a chocolate stain on my shirt. I was eating a chocolate covered strawberry and some fell into my pocket. Whoops!)
Congratulations on the breastfeeding milestone. It's one of those things that falls into the category "People have been doing this for thousands of years, but you and Olivia have been doing it less than two weeks!" Can you believe it's been 10 days already? Can you believe it's only been 10 days?
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see the baby pictures! And you guys in person!!!
Christine..I love your blog, so cute! I know exactly what you are going through since I had the same problem with Benton when he was born. He was jaundice and lost a whole pound from his birth weight (8.3). We had to do the nurse, bottle, pump as well. It was tiring and stressful, but well worth it! I wasn't producing enough at first, so I did the Fenugreek, but didn't see any big results. I did eat lots of oatmeal, drank lots of water and got plenty of rest (or tried to at least) and that helped. I would get up at 4am to pump since that was when I produce the most so Benton would get breastmilk and not formula. Benton was supplemented with formula, but not much. I was fairly against supplementing but when it came down to giving nutrients to my baby and I wasn't producing enough, it was the only choice. So here's to you for not giving up on breastfeeding! Again, it's well worth it!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for that Patricia! Most everyone I know had more than enough milk for their babies, so it is difficult not to feel inadequate. We are working at it, though, so hopefully it is just taking my body a little time to recover from delivery. I did lose a lot of weight and didn't get much sleep the first 9 days. Last night was better. Today is better. I'm going to be optimistic and hope for the best...and work, work, work at it!
ReplyDeleteBTW, I didn't know you had a blog! Cool! I'll be reading, now!