When DS was born the LC's at the hospital weren't very good. We had to supplement a few times there for low blood sugar, but they kept saying things were looking good and he was latching fine. I was sent home with a rental pump.
The day after we got home DS slept through a sponge bath, blood work for bilirubin, spit up what looked like bile, and then would not rouse to eat a bottle at the pediatrician. We ended up being sent to the ER at a different hospital where he got a glucose bolus and some testing to be sure his stomach was connected correctly. They admitted us for the night and the LCs there told me immediately he had a tight frenulum contributing to a bad latch. Since he had the blood sugar issues, I was told to just pump every two hours and feed him that plus supplement with formula as needed and to contact them once I was pumping enough for a feeding. That also gave my nipples time to heal from the mauling he'd done. Less that a week later we meet with them again and were able to get him to nurse. The difference between the LC at each hospital was like night and day. If I was having another child I would switch hospitals due to it.
At the BF group did they have any access to SNSs? I went back to the daily breastfeeding groups frequently (that ER visit stuck with me for months, I was constantly anxious about him eating) and I saw them pulled out occasionally for women with newborns.
We also had to strip DS down to his diaper and put him on a hard surface every few minutes to keep him awake for a feeding.
you would not believe the set of lungs on this baby, lol. We just had our worst/best feeding. Tried the new techniques and she was not feeling it, kept screaming. Then I broke down and we cried together. Finally had to give her a bit of formula to calm her and then she latched right on. Dh is a rockstar, he is helping me do compressions and she was taking big gulps, it was great.
we'll see how the night goes! I think if we can keep her calm we can get her to latch, she just gets angry so fast.
You are bringing back so many memories. I remember the first time I got dd to latch after a week of pumping and syringe feeding. I sobbed. It was like night and day from then on.
Those early gulps are the best sound in the world! My DD struggled in the beginning and we were spending 90 minutes nursing every 2-3 hours. Take care of yourself! It does get easier and you're doing a great job!
Ditto PPs about this bringing back vivid memories. OMG. I remember unpacking my pump / boiling water for the parts at 2 am a few days PP IN TEARS because I couldn't get DD to latch properly (oh, the pain). We went to an LC the next morning-she was an absolute godsend.