Hope to hear updates!
Just wanted to let you know... you guys rock! Keep up the good work and keep in touch!
Some updates here, one week later: we had ecstasy and agony; starting last Sat to Tue evening we kept feeding him exclusively with breast milk but we made the mistake (at least I think so) that we removed the pumping session; we tried to shot two birds with one stone: drop formula and remove the bottle.
Tue evening he was so weak, he looked almost like he faint, it was very hard to wake him up; so we introduced back the formula. His weight is now 3.65 kg, on a slowly ascendent trend and the plan is to do another "nursing holiday" when we try exclusively breastfeeding but also more often pumping. We have also a babyscale in house so we can monitor the weight.
Sounds like you have a good consultant keeping an eye on things - IBCLC is a good qualification, don't be afraid to go again and again to see them if you are still not feeling confident...
Also, as the baby's digestive tract gets moving, you can expect this 'squirmy' thing they do - that's normal for newborns - they do screw up their faces and squirm their bodies. The gassiness should also be fairly normal. Some breastfed babies poop at every meal, some go for days and days without pooping. There is very little waste with breastmilk - formula makes a lot more 'waste' (and it smells bad too!)... breastfed babies usually don't poop that much - also if bubs is on a recovery swing they are going to be taking virtually 100% of the milk (lots of water there!) into their bodies, and not leave much behind...
I would not avoid any 'special' foods - a lot of those things are 'old wives tales' - cultural beliefs....mum just needs to eat a normal healthy diet...whatever she wants to eat. Plenty of healthy fresh food, meat, veges, dairy foods, protein, carbohydrates.
You also need to make sure mum gets plenty of rest. She should be trying to nap in the daytime. Sleep helps with the milk-making - stock the fridge, organise someone to clean the house, just send mum to bed to rest...
Something the midwives should have checked for is retained placenta. By the third week the lochia flow should have almost stopped. If she still has a lot of bleeding and it's looking like fresh blood, or smells unpleasant, there could be an infection. That should be checked by your midwife.... I had that with my third child and it made the milk really slow to come in, and then when the placenta pieces came out at 3-4 weeks postpartum, my milk supply went sky-high and I ended up with a very uncomfortable baby with major milk overload (and massive engorgement too!).
I do hope things are on the way upwards !
Are you using a dummy/pacifier ? I would not recommend using one until the milk supply gets sorted out and bubs really gains lots of weight.
BF is a sensitive (sore!) topic for me and I hope I don't offend anyone by saying this...
I am pro-BF and planned to do so with my baby. He had other ideas. Had I followed the advice of well-meaning BF advisors/supporters etc and thrown away the pump and bottle, my baby would not have survived. We can all share our experiences and advice but at the end of the day your situation is unique to you and you have to judge best what to do.
I wanted to persevere with BF (as everyone advised it would work out eventually) but as BF with us was a battle of wills between me and the baby, I eventually decided it was best for both if we stopped trying (I pumped instead). It was a very difficult decision and I felt a failure to be honest for a long time after.
What I hope to try and convey, is that BF is a wonderful thing, more so if you can do it exclusively for many reasons as you know, but at the same time you have to assess what is best for the baby in the first instance and then you. If you need to support your baby with pumping or formula, don't feel bad about that.
This is a bit off topic, but I am curious: Having been away from breastfeeding circles for years, but now more involved again through younger members of my family, I am intrigued at the frequent mention of "pumping." Although there was a simple manual pump on the market when I had babies, most mothers did not have them. Milk was still "expressed though," for various reasons ( great for adding to mashed vegetables :-)
Now, it seems that many expectant mothers buy an electric pump and all the paraphenallia that goes with that.
1. Does anyone know how long ago these pumps began to be marketed?
2. Do many Mothers still hand express?
3. Are expectant mothers still encouraged to be able to express some small amounts of liquid in the weeks leading up to the birth, or is this now either not recommended , or actively discouraged for any reason.
1. Does anyone know how long ago these pumps began to be marketed?
At least since the 1970's...My mum had one in about 1982 that had a glass funnel and a rubber bulb on the end. I understand that it was very ineffective...
2. Do many Mothers still hand express?
Yes, but it's something that another mum or a nurse usually has to show a mum how to do (you can find video's online that will give the technique. The marketing companies won't tell you that hand expressing can actually be more effective than their expensive paraphernalia. Hand expressing is also free and quite adequate if you want to just put a small amount of milk away 'for emergencies'.
3. Are expectant mothers still encouraged to be able to express some small amounts of liquid in the weeks leading up to the birth, or is this now either not recommended , or actively discouraged for any reason.
It's not something that doctors will suggest, in my experience. They are too worried about causing premature labour. But for women who know they are going to have a baby born with complications, it's possible to express small amounts of colostrum. It's not 'milk' though, and the women I know who do this, the 'advice' is to store it in 5mL syringes. It's awesome for premature babies in particular.
Oh and there a lots of baby 'experts' around, who peddle all sorts of advice. The ones that are very strict on 'routines' often advise expressing the milk and giving it back to the baby in a bottle to fit the schedule. I've met plenty of mums who are desperately confused when trying to combine breast and bottle in this way.
The pumps that are used by the hospitals are pretty good...but nowhere as good as a baby at getting the milk out... with a hospital-grade double pump it's possible to express both breasts at the same time... and they certainly did this in the late 1960's - a friend of mine had twins at that time, and she was 'hooked up' to a machine - while her babies were bottle-fed in the 'nursery' - she described it to me once as feeling like a 'milking cow' - all the mums got to have their babies, and she got to be hooked up to this machine....
Thanks for all that Swiss Pea. the funnel/bulb is what I recalled as well - and also found it less effective than hand expressing. I don't want to highjack this thread, so will send you a PM with one further query.
Yeah agree. Nothing wrong with using formula at all. Don't believe anyone who tells you otherwise. If you can breast feed your baby, whoop de do, get the bunting out. If you can't and choose formula this will, in the developed world, make no difference whatsoever to your baby's upbringing.
I've never managed to do manual expressing, except for the few drops that help relieve an engorged breast.
Breast feeding really differs baby to baby. My second was born a few days ago and is feeding like a dream. My first was a real uphill struggle but we made it to 10 months. It was hard work though. You have my sympathy.
My top tips that worked with my first:
I pumped for weeks and got very very little out then suddenly one day it started to flood out, so don't give up. It is still early days to have much luck from pumping.
Also have you tried Fenugreek? It is a natural herbal supplement and it worked for me to help increase supply.
Also drink lots of water and eat lots of water based foods, eg celery. Avoid caffeine.
Try not to touch baby's head when you are feeding them, some really don't like it and will stop sucking as hard. Instead try stroking gently from their ear to their chin, under the jaw. This helped a lot with my first to encourage sucking.
I had a lot of trouble breastfeeding my second daughter (she lost more than 10% of her body weight). We were advised to do the following:
Feed no more than 15 minutes per breast (this was to save me) at least every three hours
Follow with a bottle directly after each feeding.
It really worked for us-no baby attached to me 24 hours a day and our daughter went from needing 20 mls on the first day to refusing the bottle in a couple of weeks. I hated pumping, so I didn't do that. The promise that we could rely on a bottle to fill the gap was great for me-it helped me relax. Also, our midwife suggested that I drink 1/2 of a malty beer (like Guiness) and not try to lose any weight until the feeding was set up.
After the feeding was set, we introduced the midnight bottle of formula so I could sleep (yea!) and managed to keep that going until I went to work, at 8 months.