So that's what they're for...

[rivka]

(Still with the short updates until I can get the whole birth story written up.)

We went to the pediatrician on Thursday, the day after we left the hospital, when Alex was just under 72 hours old. She had lost about 14 ounces of her birth weight, and the pediatrician wanted us to come back for a weight check yesterday. At that point, she had lost another half-ounce, and the nurse practitioner told us to supplement every other feeding with formula, by syringe, after she'd had all the breast milk she was going to take.

I accepted the formula and the syringes and went home planning to get a second opinion from our midwife, who was already scheduled to come by for a lactation home visit that evening. (Reason #462 why I love my midwives: imagine an OB doing lactation home visits.)

Between the pediatrician visit and the midwife visit, Alex nursed approximately every 1 to 1 1/2 hours. A lot of times they were snacky feedings, only ten minutes of vigorous nursing until she was asleep, but still: every hour and a half. By the time the midwife got here, I was much less anxious about whether the Critter would gain weight. She kept up the super-frequent feedings until 3am, when she obligingly slept for four straight hours so that I could get a little rest. She also, between 8pm and 8am, had seven dirty diapers. That's just not the sign of a malnourished baby.

Today the frequent nursing continues, but on a slightly saner schedule - every two hours, on average, with plenty of dirty diapers. She's become much more efficient about eating, just in the last couple of days. If I pick her up when she's in a calm, alert state, she makes ludicrously cute mouth-opening faces, like a baby bird, and tries to dive for my breast. I'm not saying that I don't think we'll have any problems from here on out, but for the most part she really gets it, and I get it too. Yay for nursing.

My family has started a pool on how much weight she'll have gained by our next weight check on Monday. My guess is two and a half ounces, and all without formula supplementation.

Comments

snacky!

[(Anonymous)]

She's an eating and pooping genius! And she apparently knows how to pace herself. What a girl.

--
LoRe

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

Alexandra may just be a very efficient feeder -- Weegirl never took more than 10 minutes for a feed, ever.

[darthgeek.livejournal.com]

It took Sam a couple days to get it, but, from there on, it was fairly smooth sailing

[therealjae.livejournal.com]

I love these midwives more the more I hear about them.

-J

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

Actually, as long as Alex isn't dehydrated, the nurse was IMO giving you bad advice... if she isn't getting enough, the way she stimulates your breasts to increase production is by feeding super-frequently. It's a feedback control system... eventually, you'll start producing more, she'll feed less often and things will stabilize for awhile. Adding formula to that will artificially decrease her feeding frequency, so your breasts will conclude that no greater output is needed, and the system won't be stable except by continuing to supplement...

[ljgeoff.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agree. Supplemental feeding will decrease nursing, which will decrease milk production - a vicious cycle.

[pariyal.livejournal.com]

I fought the baby clinic for months with the twins; they (the baby clinic, not the twins) kept wanting me to supplement. I knew that it was a vicious cycle, and I knew that I could produce enough milk because I'd had more than enough for the first.

Don't believe them. Alexandra seems to be doing fine, and it's normal for babies to lose weight at first. Stupid baby clinic, they want all babies to have above-average weight. My smaller twin was just below the broad coloured band of average weight, neatly following the expected shape, and they told me she wasn't growing enough. (looking at tall thin healthy nine-year-old-- yup, she's just built that way)

[purplepaisley.livejournal.com]

I'm a doula, working towards taking the LC boards in the next couple of years. I agree with the previous posters - supplementing with formula is terrible advice! It sabotages a woman's milk supply while it's still getting established. For a sleepy baby who is nursing infrequently, or one who's not transferring milk well, *and* losing more than 10% of her birth weight, it may be appropriate for the mother to pump and supplement *with her own milk*. But it should be after you've tried many other things.

I always tell my hospital clients that if *anyone* comes into their room with a pump or mentions the "f" word in their presence that they should page me right away.

I'm constantly amazed by the bad breastfeeding advice given in hospitals and pediatricians' offices. So glad you had good backup.

[bohemiancoast.livejournal.com]

Oh, well done. We had a lot of problems getting our daughter to feed; ended up pumping & feeding her milk by cup after breastfeeds (see elsewhere in this thread) until she finally got the hang of things. I had to be super-assertive; it's lucky she was a big baby at birth because I think they'd have had me back in hospital otherwise. Anyway, looking at enormous 8 year old you wouldn't believe it.

[xopher-vh.livejournal.com]

Did this nurse have a Nestle logo on her uniform?

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

Oh *meowww*. :)

[laurabel.livejournal.com]

mactavish lead me here....
I am going to add you if you don't mind. My due date is tomorrow and I loved reading your birth story and I fully intend to breastfeed as well. It will be helpful to me to have contact someone who is just days ahead of me in everything.

Congrats on your new daughter!!!!

Your birth story was very reassuring for me as well!!!!