I EP. It works best for us but there were days in the beginning that I really wanted to quit. We were in the hospital for a week when he was born and the LC helped us with the latch and feedings along with the nurses in the NICU. We would nurse for 15-20 min and then I would pump while my husband fed him a bottle of BM. We were just trying to get as many calories into the baby as we could. We kept this routine up once we got home until I couldn't take it anymore. His latch was painful for me and he would nurse for 40-60 minutes and then still be hungry when that time was over. I kept pumping after every feed and then we just decided that everyone was a lot happier and less frustrated with me pumping and him just getting the bottles I pump.
I quit my job to stay at home with him and pumping is not ideal. I have tried to go back to nursing him thinking that maybe know that he is a little older he will get faster but so far that is not the case.
Our routine is that I put the bottle in the warmer, go change his diaper and by that time the bottle is about warm enough. I set him up in the Boppy and hook up the pump and pump while he eats. It is challenging, especially when he needs to burp and my hands are otherwise occupied. It is so much easier when my husband is home or when he is napping and I pump while he sleeps.
I would say keep trying to nurse. If the two of you can get the hang of it, it is a lot easier than lugging a pump around and trying to fit in time to pump and feed.
Sounds like you are trying hard though! Good job!
Are you using a hands free bra? I highly recommend them!
I got one this week! I like it, but I need to do compressions at the end and the bra kind of gets in the way.
So what's your routine if you exclusively pump? Right now staying latch is such a ordeal. Met with the LC today was given a nipple sheild worked there came home nothing. We've been doing finger/dropper in between so not go give nipple confusion. But there are moments I don't know I can push through the magic two weeks. Baby is 5 days old Sry on phone and exhausted.
I EP. It works best for us but there were days in the beginning that I really wanted to quit. We were in the hospital for a week when he was born and the LC helped us with the latch and feedings along with the nurses in the NICU. We would nurse for 15-20 min and then I would pump while my husband fed him a bottle of BM. We were just trying to get as many calories into the baby as we could. We kept this routine up once we got home until I couldn't take it anymore. His latch was painful for me and he would nurse for 40-60 minutes and then still be hungry when that time was over. I kept pumping after every feed and then we just decided that everyone was a lot happier and less frustrated with me pumping and him just getting the bottles I pump.
I quit my job to stay at home with him and pumping is not ideal. I have tried to go back to nursing him thinking that maybe know that he is a little older he will get faster but so far that is not the case.
Our routine is that I put the bottle in the warmer, go change his diaper and by that time the bottle is about warm enough. I set him up in the Boppy and hook up the pump and pump while he eats. It is challenging, especially when he needs to burp and my hands are otherwise occupied. It is so much easier when my husband is home or when he is napping and I pump while he sleeps.
I would say keep trying to nurse. If the two of you can get the hang of it, it is a lot easier than lugging a pump around and trying to fit in time to pump and feed.
How old is your baby now? 11 weeks and a couple days
Height/weight/head circumference? 21 inches, 10 pounds 5 oz., not sure about head circumference, I know it is the 33rd percentile
How's it going with eating? Good, he seems to be gaining a little over an oz a day. He takes about 5-6 oz every 3-4 hours
How's it going with sleeping? He is getting better most nights. We had a 4 night stretch in which we got 8 hours, not in a row, but we will take it! He normally wakes up 2-3 times per night.
What milestones has baby reached so far? He is making eye contact, has rolled over a couple of times, smiles.
What kind of activities does your baby like? He likes to take baths (but not to get dried off), likes people to play with him, rattles, his play mat.
What fun things are you looking forward to? Rolling and crawling, and when he can be more interactive with us, teaching him things.
Can anyone share their experiences with babies that might have been lower on the growth curves or slowing their weight gain? How did you handle it? Can you share any advice?
My 11 week old is currently in the 8th percentile. He started out in the less than 1 percentile. He was 3 weeks early and basically since he was born we have been feeding him whenever and whatever he will eat. If he is hungry or wants to eat we feed him. He started at 4 pounds, 4 oz, went down to 4 pounds in the hospital and 11 weeks later he is 10 pounds 5 oz. The doctor is happy with his weight gain and we are hopeful that someday he will catch up with his peers, but if he doesn't that is okay too.
We took a prepared childbirth class yesterday and I am thinking of trying to go without an epidural. This is surprising because I always just assumed I would have one and never felt strongly about a natural or med-free birth. I know this is really personal but, if you didn't have one, what was your reasoning? Do you feel like you made the right/wrong decision and why?
I didn't have one. We took a childbirth class and after that I knew that I wanted to at least attempt birth without getting one. I had gone through my pregnancy med-free and I wanted to see how far I could get without an epidural. My husband thought I was crazy, but I told him that he had to support that choice and if I wanted it I knew that it was there. I told him to remind me to ask them to tell me before it was too late to get one. Well, in the heat of the moment it was suddenly more than I thought I could take and I told them I wanted an epidural. They called the person to do it and I got back into the bed and they checked to see how far I was. It was too late to get one because of how fast everything changed. In the end I was really glad that I didn't get one. But then again, I had a tiny baby. So I don't know if I would say the same thing if I would have had an average sized baby.
We were having that happen but we did move up to size 1 and it hasn't happened again since. My son was skinny and the size 1s looked huge on him too, but they work!
The red head who got the boot is from a town I use to live in. She is saying the producers set her up to look foolish. I am not buying it, from what I hear from people back there she is pretty foolish all on her own.
Apparently she is from the town I used to live in too. Do you know her?
I hear you. My baby is 10 weeks old today and I feel like this week has been terrible for his sleeping habits. I wish he could tell us what his problems are. I don't know if it is his stomach hurting, if he is hungry, if he is just tired, if he wants to sleep on one of us, if he hates his crib, if he is too hot/cold, if he is not tired and wants to get up, if someone is eating his toes off. I just don't know what the problem is. I want to sleep train, but from what I am reading he is too young. If you figure it out let me know!
I hear you. I quit my job to stay home with this kiddo, thinking that BF would be wonderful. Well, my kid hates it most of the time and so do I. I try to nurse him sometimes but he takes forever to finish and then when he has gotten all of the easy milk out he starts screaming until he gets a bottle. So I end up breastfeeding and the pumping. Super fun! So most of the time I just pump as it saves us both frustration but I am so looking forward to the day that we are done with this!
It looks like ABC is making people who want to view episodes of their current shows to enter their tv provider's information in order to access the online episodes. We don't have cable and even if we did the 8 or so providers that are listed are not available in our area, so we can't watch ABC shows online. We could watch on HuluPlus or Amazon Instant but I would prefer a free way to watch the shows that I miss. Anyone have a way to do this?
This exact thing happened to us. The furnace repairman said that it was probably our secondary heat exchanger. On our furnace there is an override button on the inside of the control panel.
I feel you. My kid is eating upwards of 32 oz./day. I EP most of the time because he is not a fan of nursing. I am constantly struggling to keep up with him. We started formula as needed about a month ago. I am still having to tell myself that it is okay to give him what he needs. It helps him grow and he is doing well no matter what he is eating.
I feel like it is my job to produce enough for him to eat and when I can't that I am failing him. But I am not, he is growing and he is happy (most of the time) and I am doing my best.
I have tried everything to increase my supply. When we first got home from the hospital I was producing enough that I was freezing it, but I have now used all of that and long for those days to return. I have pretty much accepted that they will never come back and am just giving him as much BM as I can.
I have rented a hospital grade pump and started taking Fenugreek as well. Other things I have tried, oatmeal, lactation cookies, pumping more often, drinking water all the time, a manual pump.
Just do your best and know that as long as the baby gets fed she is okay. And that you have not failed.
Well, we fed him some more, drove around the block twice, changed him again and I reswaddled and rocked him for a while and right this second he is sleeping. Hopefully he stays that way for a while. Thank you all for the support and suggestions!
He is swaddled in his swing at the moment. My H and I have been passing him back and forth since about 4:00 p.m. Normally wearing him is my trick that calms him down no matter what, but he is just not having it tonight. He is still on BM about 90% of the time, we added gas drops to the bottle that we were just feeding him and thought maybe he could taste them or something, so we tried a fresh bottle. No go on that either. We did find a piece of hair around his toe this morning, which was a first for him and us, but I don't think that is a problem now.
My baby, 9 weeks old, will not calm down. He has a clean diaper, he is full of food and he should be tired. He has slept maybe 3 hours all day, woke up around 7:00 this morning and has been fairly good all day. Tonight though we just can't get him to go to sleep. He had is 2 month vaccines on Thursday and was sleepy and cranky after that but yesterday he seemed more like his normal self. Any ideas as to what might be wrong or what we can do to help him?