Last week we went to the pediatrician for Emma's check up and shots, and found that she still hasn't gained much weight. She was 9lbs4oz, only one ounce more than her birth weight....at almost 7 weeks! Yipes! We did go in Monday for yet another meeting with the lactation nurse, and she was up 2 more ounces, but still, not so great in the gaining department. Babies are generally back to birth weight by two weeks, often before that, and gaining an half to a full ounce a day. Definitely not happening, here! Looking at all the babies I encounter, in my moms group, on the street, pictures in blogs, etc, all I can think is yeesh, those babies are chubby compared to my string bean. And Lonnie and I were definitely not skinny babies. She did drop quite a bit early on...about 15% of her weight by day 4 (usually its 5-7%), so she has had a lot to come back from. We had some early supply issues -- my milk wasn't coming in fast enough, she was dehydrated, etc, etc, so we supplemented a bit for two weeks, while I pumped & herbed it up, and by week three she'd gained back to 8lbs 14oz, not quite birth weight but definitely on the right track. We were off the formula after that, and I thought things were going well. She did feel bigger....but it turns out it was almost all height. She is in the 97th percentile for that, having gained an inch and a half since birth. The ped was concerned, but supportive of breastfeeding and said since everything else looks good (and she was big to begin with), we can wait and see for another month. It could be my supply, some issue with her digesting/metabolizing, or just that this is the way she is. It is freaky, freaky, freaky, however, to spend most of my time each day feeding her, and not to have the rolls of baby fat to show for it. If she continues on this trend, she will be off "the charts" soon. I had actually felt my milk supply was pretty good up until this point, but since then I'm realizing its not. In the past week, I've noticed she is sucking more, is frustrated at the breast, sometimes whining and crying, and popping on and off a lot. Two nights ago I was so exhausted, after feeding all day long so Lonnie took her for an hour while I took a nap and she sucked down 3 ounces of formula, and then was a chipper smiley baby after that. Later that night, she was frantic again when she woke and would not stay on the breast, so I tearfully resorted to formula and when she was finished she had the hugest smile on her face. Egads. My child likes formula better than me! (though, she did still need a few sucks to get to sleep, ha, at least I'm good for something)! So, its back to the routine, with a fancy new breast pump and supplementing with herbs (fenugreek & blessed thistle, plus mothers milk tea). There are the big guns, the pharmaceuticals, one thats legal with crappy side effects, and one thats not that you have to get from Canada. Not quite ready to make that step, but I am thinking about it. Hopefully I won't need to. It could be that she's going through a growth spurt, frustrated that there's not enough, and building it up by feeding so often. In my obsessive researching, I've found that people who've had infertility problems may have supply issues and just not be able to make enough milk. Damn infertility biting me in the ass again! It was hard to come to the realization that this breastfeeding thing just may not work for us, but now that I've admitted it I am much less worried, actually. Whatever will happen will happen. Lonnie thinks she has enough IQ points to spare a few, ha ha, and I have to agree. Formula is not the devil, though that new ad campaign might want us to think that. Its not all gloom and doom, in any case, and the past two days, after meeting with the nurse and chatting with the LLL leader, I'm actually feeling pretty good. Most of the time she feeds fine, and her latch for the most part is better. We are off the shields, though the nurse recommended using them whenever she fusses and seems not to be doing well. I am pumping a fair amount, not huge but thats to be expected, so she is getting those extra bits as well. And in all other respects she seems fine, and getting more and more cute each day...
