Admittedly I am a bit behind on my blog posts. Thus, there may be one or two coming today depending on how much time I have before the peanut starts screaming for more food. Speaking of food, let's start with that...
Feed Me Seymour!
No, I'm not going to write about the delicious tiramisu my sister brought over a week or so ago, albeit it was divine. Thanks, Auntie Laura! I'm also not going to go into details about my love and longing for some iced Starbucks right about now, even if it is decaf. I'll save those musings for another day. What I would like to document on this family blog is our current challenges of finding the perfect sustenance for little Norah's discerning palate.
It's been a long hard road over the last few weeks since being discharged from the hospital. We have been struggling with the social messaging of "Breast is Best" and the fact that Mama's milk is insufficient. Due to any number of reasons, most likely the extreme edema/swelling I had post long-labor followed by surgery, I did not get any milk whatsoever until well into Day 9 after Norah was born. The peanut was starving and before we even left the hospital she had lost more than the acceptable percentage of body weight. They allow up to 10% loss within the first week and she was down by more than 13% when we were discharged at 3 days old. We have had no choice but to supplement her diet with formula.
We have been working with the Post-Partum/Breastfeeding Center at Evergreen and they have been great. We've been to see lactation consultants 6 times in the last two weeks and have tried tube and syringe feedings, deep tissue massage, pumping, tea, herbal supplements, medication for the edema and now we are trying a new medication to increase prolactin, the hormone that promotes milk production. We have also been referred to Occupational Therapists at Seattle Children's for evaluation of Norah's latch and tongue. We do not think she is tongue-tied but she may need some tongue training to help with proper milk transfer.
The feeding process has been incredibly frustrating. What seemed like a relatively easy pregnancy has now turned into a very difficult first few weeks with the newborn. When we were doing tube and syringe feedings our whole process of meal time was taking close to 2 hours and then Norah would be hungry again 15-30 minutes later. This was very taxing on Mama and Dada because it meant no rest for the weary. We have since switched to a bottle for premies and that seems to reduce the time for the process down to about 1 hour and 15 minutes but it is still a lot to handle. It's helpful when David isn't working that he can do the bottle and burping while Mama pumps but it's still a lot. We are hopeful with the new medication, more time for swelling to reduce and the upcoming evaluations that we will get to a full supply of breastmilk and be able to wean little one back off the formula. However, if it doesn't work out at least we will know that we tried absolutely everything possible!
Growing Strong
Breast may be best but not starving the baby is better! Luckily, peanut is perfectly healthy and growing strong. She was born at 7lbs, got down to 6.2 and at our last appointment on June 14th she was up to a big 'ol 7.8! When she was born so small we had to buy a few more newborn sized outfits because all of the 0-3 month clothes were swimming on her. She is slowly starting to outgrow a few of her sleepers and the puffy cheeks she had at birth are back in full force. Whether it's breastmilk or formula we are happy that she is healthy and growing and changing every day.
Capture the Peanut
Many pictures are coming soon including pro photos taken in the hospital by Evergreen's contracted Bella Baby Photography. We also had our official newborn shoot at 12 days old with Photography by Karensa. We will be posting these shots in the coming days/weeks once we get them from the photographers. However, Mama had a chance to do a makeshift photo session of our own at 1 week old and here are some of those shots. Additionally, for the fam, a few albums of these and shots from the hospital have been added to SmugMug. Enjoy!
With Grandma's Hand-Knitted Blanket and Hats
.JPG)
Feed Me Seymour!
No, I'm not going to write about the delicious tiramisu my sister brought over a week or so ago, albeit it was divine. Thanks, Auntie Laura! I'm also not going to go into details about my love and longing for some iced Starbucks right about now, even if it is decaf. I'll save those musings for another day. What I would like to document on this family blog is our current challenges of finding the perfect sustenance for little Norah's discerning palate.
It's been a long hard road over the last few weeks since being discharged from the hospital. We have been struggling with the social messaging of "Breast is Best" and the fact that Mama's milk is insufficient. Due to any number of reasons, most likely the extreme edema/swelling I had post long-labor followed by surgery, I did not get any milk whatsoever until well into Day 9 after Norah was born. The peanut was starving and before we even left the hospital she had lost more than the acceptable percentage of body weight. They allow up to 10% loss within the first week and she was down by more than 13% when we were discharged at 3 days old. We have had no choice but to supplement her diet with formula.
We have been working with the Post-Partum/Breastfeeding Center at Evergreen and they have been great. We've been to see lactation consultants 6 times in the last two weeks and have tried tube and syringe feedings, deep tissue massage, pumping, tea, herbal supplements, medication for the edema and now we are trying a new medication to increase prolactin, the hormone that promotes milk production. We have also been referred to Occupational Therapists at Seattle Children's for evaluation of Norah's latch and tongue. We do not think she is tongue-tied but she may need some tongue training to help with proper milk transfer.
The feeding process has been incredibly frustrating. What seemed like a relatively easy pregnancy has now turned into a very difficult first few weeks with the newborn. When we were doing tube and syringe feedings our whole process of meal time was taking close to 2 hours and then Norah would be hungry again 15-30 minutes later. This was very taxing on Mama and Dada because it meant no rest for the weary. We have since switched to a bottle for premies and that seems to reduce the time for the process down to about 1 hour and 15 minutes but it is still a lot to handle. It's helpful when David isn't working that he can do the bottle and burping while Mama pumps but it's still a lot. We are hopeful with the new medication, more time for swelling to reduce and the upcoming evaluations that we will get to a full supply of breastmilk and be able to wean little one back off the formula. However, if it doesn't work out at least we will know that we tried absolutely everything possible!
Growing Strong
Breast may be best but not starving the baby is better! Luckily, peanut is perfectly healthy and growing strong. She was born at 7lbs, got down to 6.2 and at our last appointment on June 14th she was up to a big 'ol 7.8! When she was born so small we had to buy a few more newborn sized outfits because all of the 0-3 month clothes were swimming on her. She is slowly starting to outgrow a few of her sleepers and the puffy cheeks she had at birth are back in full force. Whether it's breastmilk or formula we are happy that she is healthy and growing and changing every day.
Capture the Peanut
Many pictures are coming soon including pro photos taken in the hospital by Evergreen's contracted Bella Baby Photography. We also had our official newborn shoot at 12 days old with Photography by Karensa. We will be posting these shots in the coming days/weeks once we get them from the photographers. However, Mama had a chance to do a makeshift photo session of our own at 1 week old and here are some of those shots. Additionally, for the fam, a few albums of these and shots from the hospital have been added to SmugMug. Enjoy!
With Grandma's Hand-Knitted Blanket and Hats
Tiny Hands
Our Favorite Shot of Norah and Dada at Home
.JPG)
Oh man, you guys are troopers - so glad you have a good support team over there! My old roommate just went thru this with her little one - she had a 'lazy latch' and so Kirsten spent the first months in a constant rotation of feeding / pumping / cleaning equipment...no fun. She said the sounds that the pump makes started sounding like voices just telling her to 'give it up, give it up, give it up'...but she stuck with it :) In addition to the breastfeeding support, they worked with a PT, and it really helped...and also Margot was really strong and active far earlier because of all the PT support :)
ReplyDeleteAnd anyways, plenty of us were formula fed (me included!) and survived just fine :)
ps - those little pants (or baby legs?) she has on in the photo w/ Grandma's handknitted blanket are so fun! Love them!