We had our follow-up visit with the lactation consultant today. K was up to 3690g, or 8lb, for something like a 19g/day weight gain, which was fully acceptable. We did pre and post feed weights as usual, and she even managed (without too much effort ie breast compressions) to get 42cc in, which is almost 1.5oz. Yay! Her previous best the week before was 32cc, including 4cc extra that she managed to suck in while supplementing EBM at the breast. I was so encouraged to find that she'd gotten so much, especially when I'd just finished pumping an hour before.
The lactation consultant told me that I can start relaxing a little. And even try to get rid of the supplementation by challenging her to feed on demand rather than being supplemented at every feed. And I can cut back on the pumping too, in that case. She said to only pump if I need to supplement. I can either go cold turkey or decrease the amount she gets from 30cc and let her get the rest at the breast. I think tonight I'll try cold turkey unless she's acting really hungry, because pumping at night is the most annoying.
I know that I'll continue to try to squeeze in pumping sessions though, since I don't want my supply to suffer and I need to start building up a store for when I go back to work in 1.5 months. I think that's going to be a lot harder than I thought it would be. I'm going to be jealous of DH staying at home with my by-then-more-interesting daughter!
Now we're going to have to start looking into childcare options for Sept when DH also goes back to work. Should be interesting trying to sort that one out!
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5 comments:
Great news about the weight gain AND that you were told you could relax a little!
Don't worry about not having a routine- having twins forced us to get something asap to maintain our sanity. And I've heard several times that formula fed babies sleep longer, because breastfed babies digest the breastmilk faster.
Relaxing about the BFing is probably a welcome recommendation at this point.
Start early trying to find childcare. I started about 4 months before I gave birth and could only find 2 centers here with openings (and just getting them to call me back was a challenge). I'm sure if I looked for an in home sitter I could have found more but we preferred a center.
Good job mama!!!
All of that is really good news. See, your persistence and dedication paid off! And happy 7 week birthday to baby. It goes by so quickly. Emma was 6 weeks on Saturday.
great news about all of this-- YAY!
the best news is if you can relax a bit and still have success. it sounds so positive and good, she is doing well, and buh bye night pumping! hope that is the last of That.
Thank you for doing such an amazing job documenting this part of your journey- so sorry for the struggles, but so happy for your increasing successes in the direction you want!
hope EVERYTHING gets easier.
xoxo
Kate
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