Thursday, February 12, 2009

Ok, here is an update. I know I said I wouldn't do updates, but I do plan to still 'talk' on this blog about random things. :)

My son weighs 9lbs9oz. He was born at 7lbs, but quickly lost 9.5% of his weight and was diagnosed as 'failure to thrive'. I've been stressed since then and not producing enough milk.

I heart my lactation consultant. I completely advocate getting one. She has come to the house several times since it was hard for me to even get out, but today I went to her office. (I was also paranoid for germs with a young infant - she works out of my pedi's office). Home visits can also get expensive too.

I am starting to produce so much more than before. Yea! I have almost quit breastfeeding so many times. It is stressful and the hardest thing I've ever done - harder than labor even. I've been prescribed Reglan which is for something else but works to increase milk supply - it is working for me she thinks. I'm still not producing everything that he needs and he is growing so fast, but I figure some milk is better than none. The lactation consultant is surprised at how much my son eats and its easy for her to say - 'give him less formula' when he is hungry.

My baby gained 2oz a day in the last 9 days.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

First 3 weeks in review

Someone on the nest said that the first 2 weeks are all about survival. This is true.

It's insane, but I'm not complaining.

This is my update.
Lump under my arm has gone down, but I don't even have time to ice it as lactation consultant told me. I barely have time to go to the bathroom. I'm seeing a lactation consultant. She saw first hand that I have the sleepiest baby on the planet. He cries sometimes, but he doesn't alert us that he is hungry, wet, or has a dirty diaper. So it has been hard to wake him up to feed - he falls asleep while feeding.
I am not producing enough milk -my sister says because I'm stressing about it. Lactation consultant said that doesn't matter. I'm having to supplement.
The first week the consultant came by -one day after my pedi visit where he had gained 3 ounces - well he lost one ounce from that time (one day later). So following her visit I was so stressed out for several days - until she came again. She gave me an SNS to give him formula at the same time as breastfeeding. It seems to work well, but I'm getting tired of using it. She came back on Monday and found he has gained A LOT. He was 7lb 1oz.
I stopped using the SNS to supplement on the breast with formula. I'm still breastfeeding and supplementing with formula in a bottle. The SNS has strings and when he was awake he would pull at them. Everyone keeps saying to stick with it. I'm not sure how long I can go this way. I'm exhausted. The lactation lady says that she thinks once he hits 9 lbs he may get more alert. She told me a story of a lady who had 5 kids and none of them were like her last one - which is similar to mine. He wouldn't feed actively. She wanted to pull her hair out - so it isn't just me and it's not completely normal.
At last week's appt, he was 8lbs 1 oz. The next day - with lactation lady - about the same. I'm concerned he isn't getting enough. He is supposed to gain 1/2 oz to 1 oz a day. I'm now on a prescription to increase my milk supply. It hasn't seemed to work yet though. My mom was here last week which helped a lot. She could feed him the bottle while I pumped. I even tried pumping every 2 hrs to increase flow - for almost 18hrs straight. No dice. My family wasn't very available to help me, which also set me in a bad mood these last few weeks. They finally came through, but that is another story.
We got his SSN at 2 wks and it makes me feel like he is a real person now. I also got his insurance card this week.

This is my last blog entry on the baby. This blog isn't really a baby blog, but it is for incompetent cervix. I hope this blog helped someone have some hope that a cerclage can be successful. They count a cerclage as being successful if you can get to 37 wks with it - I think.