SaraLouise
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I thought instead of clogging up the birth announcement and breastfeeding sections with Harrisons journey I would start a journal where I can document everything! I'm not really expecting anybody to read it, but its for me to track our progress 
Here is Harrisons birth story..
http://www.pregnancyforum.co.uk/bir...s-birth-story-5th-july-2013-its-long-one.html
Our Feeding Journey...
July 6th 2013
He took his first feed at 11.20 am yesterday (his birthday) and suckled with a good latch (midwife checked) for around 10 minutes. He then had another good 8 to 10 minutes at 12.45, and a further 10 minutes at 2.20pm.
Then it all went tits up really (pun intended). He will now just not suckle atall, won't suck on breasts or a finger or even a syringe, he latches perfectly and then just lies there doing nothing. He will literally lie on the boob in this way for over 30 minutes - I tried!
So I am now have expressing into a syringe, but am trying him on the breast before & after all feeds. I got 0.1ml at 7pm (so he had gone 4 & a half hours with nothing), 0.1ml at 9pm and 0.5ml at 1am. I've spoken to midwifes and they keep telling me to preserver and that he will pick it up, but he had already!
I had to give him 15ml of formula which he also refused to suckle so ended up cup feeding, because his blood sugars started to drop.
But I've just given him 0.4ml of colostrum which is apparently the equivalent to 8ml of formula so they are happy about that.
He has a little bit of tongue tie but nothing that they would snip, but it might be another reason he is struggling a bit.
So for now its just try him on the boob then hand express and syringe feed followed by a teeny top up of cup fed formula if he needs it!
Whoever knew it would be so complex.
Specialist looked at his tt & said it wasn't worth snipping and as he has prooved he can actually feed as he did it in the beginning they don't think this is the main reason for his not suckling.
He also has a problem with his pee pee, where his foreskin is too short so the tip of the penis is protruding a bit, but obviously this isn't causing the feeding problems! I am just going to keep trying to latch, and hope that he finally gets the urge to suckle x
July 7th 2013
Bi-jingo he's got it!
He has latched & suckled twice today, once for 10 minutes & once for 13. It took me & a midwife to hold him in a position that he could, but I'm just glad he's finally getting some food! So all formula has been stopped & if feeding goes well today/tonight we should be allowed home tomorrow!
So glad I kept going!
I spoke too soon
Wouldn't even latch this evening. Managed to express 10ml to give him so he's had something, but not enough.
I'm using lanisoh after every feed/express & no soreness yet!
July 8th 2013
Thankyou ladies.
He latched again this evening & suckled for 12 minutes,, which was brilliant but my nipples were too sore to continue. I felt soo guilty as we have been just hoping & praying he would just suckle, and now he is & I can't handle it! He was clearly still hungry too with rooting & that but I couldnt bare to put him back
I expressed 26ml milk this morning & gave it to him by bottle. He already seems so much more chilled, as we didn't have the fight to get on the boob & I felt relaxed as I knew he was getting a good amount
Obviously I will keep trying him on boob from now on first, but I don't mind expressing if thats what it takes x
He just had 45ml of expressed and are being allowed home!
Looks I'm going to be an expressing mummy now x
July 9th 2013
I am trying him at the breast before every feed, he seems to be gaining interest but we can't quite get positioning right! I am going to see the breastfeeding consultant today & hopefully she can help. I also find that I can express a lot more milk if I keep him skin to skin when expressing, so we are still getting some bonding which is nice.
Oh my god!
Breastfeeding consultant came round today & suggested nipple shields. Went & got some medela ones & he has latched & fed perfectly 1st time twice in a row for 10 minutes!
Im soo glad I stuck at it for the 4 horrendous days!
I'm not going to get too excited as I know it could change but this seems really positive
He has now had 5 breastfeeds in a row with the shields!
I'm so happy x
July 17th 2013
Well, we are still going with the breastfeeding ladies, but for the last 5 days its changed a lot.
Harrison was weighed on Friday & he hadnt put on any weight. I was gutted as I really thought we were doing well!
The midwife told me that the reason he hadn't put any on (or lost any I might add) is because he was running out of steam after the foremilk & not getting to the hindmilk on feeds. I was under the impression that if he pulled himself away then he was done but this obviously wasn't the case.
So since Friday we are on a new routine that is as follows...
Wake up from nap, change nappy, try on the breast without shields (almost always unsuccessfully), feed from breast with shields til he pulls away (usually between 10-20minutes), give him to dad for winding whilst I express for 10-15 minutes, wake him again & give him expressed milk (usually around 50ml), then I wind him whilst dad washes all our equipment & puts it in the sterilizer. We have to do this every 2 hours!!
I'm so ridiculously tired but its work as he had put on 6oz by Tuesday.
I am starting to think that it would just be sooo much easier if he were on formula, but I have literally battled with him the last 12 days to breastfeed & it seems such a shame to give up now.
The main problem is I don't know how I'm going to manage this routine when my OH goes back to work on Monday
July 18th 2013
In going to keep it up for a few more days so I know hes got nice & fat, he's too little to take risks. But then I am going to start just putting him on the breast during the night. I don't mind during the day, but the expressing & bottle feeding & washing just takes so long at night, I am barely sleeping
As for the shields, I know, I am just trying him on boob because I'm stubborn & want him to latch himself so badly! I've stopped stressing now when he doesn't, and I always have the shield next to me to put straight on so he doesn't get too stressed, but I have this thought that one day he will just figure out what to do lol x
Well he's just been weighed and he's put on another 8oz since Tuesday! So proud of myself! He's now 6lb 10oz, which is a whole 1lb above his birth weight, which for 13 days is excellent.
She said I could start missing some expresses or express & put it in the fridge. Which would be nice especially at night time.
He has been brilliant on the boob today;
02.58am - 04.06am - 36 minutes on boob, 20ml of expressed
07.01am - 07.58am - 20 minutes on boob, 40ml of expressed
10.28am - 11.20am - 22 minutes on boob, 28ml of expressed
13.27pm - 14.15pm - 27 minutes on boob, 38ml of expressed
- all using nipple shields -
For us this is really good, usually I'm taking him off after 15minutes so maybe he's getting the hang of it!
So proud of us right now!
July 26th 2013
Feeding is still hard, we are still doing 2-3 hourly, and he is generally on boob for 20 odd minutes, and then I express about 40ml & give him that. But its working, he's putting on weight nicely.
We've changed to Dr Browns bottles for the expressed milk, so that's helping with his wind a lot, and he's having infacol before every feed.
July 30th 2013
We are getting there slowly! He's starting to drop some of the expressed feeds & just take boob (with shields) so its starting to get a bit easier. He's still not in any routine with feeds though so that's a bit hectic. Hes getting weighed later on today so we will see if its working!!
Here is Harrisons birth story..
http://www.pregnancyforum.co.uk/bir...s-birth-story-5th-july-2013-its-long-one.html
Our Feeding Journey...
July 6th 2013
He took his first feed at 11.20 am yesterday (his birthday) and suckled with a good latch (midwife checked) for around 10 minutes. He then had another good 8 to 10 minutes at 12.45, and a further 10 minutes at 2.20pm.
Then it all went tits up really (pun intended). He will now just not suckle atall, won't suck on breasts or a finger or even a syringe, he latches perfectly and then just lies there doing nothing. He will literally lie on the boob in this way for over 30 minutes - I tried!
So I am now have expressing into a syringe, but am trying him on the breast before & after all feeds. I got 0.1ml at 7pm (so he had gone 4 & a half hours with nothing), 0.1ml at 9pm and 0.5ml at 1am. I've spoken to midwifes and they keep telling me to preserver and that he will pick it up, but he had already!
I had to give him 15ml of formula which he also refused to suckle so ended up cup feeding, because his blood sugars started to drop.
But I've just given him 0.4ml of colostrum which is apparently the equivalent to 8ml of formula so they are happy about that.
He has a little bit of tongue tie but nothing that they would snip, but it might be another reason he is struggling a bit.
So for now its just try him on the boob then hand express and syringe feed followed by a teeny top up of cup fed formula if he needs it!
Whoever knew it would be so complex.
Specialist looked at his tt & said it wasn't worth snipping and as he has prooved he can actually feed as he did it in the beginning they don't think this is the main reason for his not suckling.
He also has a problem with his pee pee, where his foreskin is too short so the tip of the penis is protruding a bit, but obviously this isn't causing the feeding problems! I am just going to keep trying to latch, and hope that he finally gets the urge to suckle x
July 7th 2013
Bi-jingo he's got it!
He has latched & suckled twice today, once for 10 minutes & once for 13. It took me & a midwife to hold him in a position that he could, but I'm just glad he's finally getting some food! So all formula has been stopped & if feeding goes well today/tonight we should be allowed home tomorrow!
So glad I kept going!
I spoke too soon
Wouldn't even latch this evening. Managed to express 10ml to give him so he's had something, but not enough.
I'm using lanisoh after every feed/express & no soreness yet!
July 8th 2013
Thankyou ladies.
He latched again this evening & suckled for 12 minutes,, which was brilliant but my nipples were too sore to continue. I felt soo guilty as we have been just hoping & praying he would just suckle, and now he is & I can't handle it! He was clearly still hungry too with rooting & that but I couldnt bare to put him back
I expressed 26ml milk this morning & gave it to him by bottle. He already seems so much more chilled, as we didn't have the fight to get on the boob & I felt relaxed as I knew he was getting a good amount
Obviously I will keep trying him on boob from now on first, but I don't mind expressing if thats what it takes x
He just had 45ml of expressed and are being allowed home!
Looks I'm going to be an expressing mummy now x
July 9th 2013
I am trying him at the breast before every feed, he seems to be gaining interest but we can't quite get positioning right! I am going to see the breastfeeding consultant today & hopefully she can help. I also find that I can express a lot more milk if I keep him skin to skin when expressing, so we are still getting some bonding which is nice.
Oh my god!
Breastfeeding consultant came round today & suggested nipple shields. Went & got some medela ones & he has latched & fed perfectly 1st time twice in a row for 10 minutes!
Im soo glad I stuck at it for the 4 horrendous days!
I'm not going to get too excited as I know it could change but this seems really positive
He has now had 5 breastfeeds in a row with the shields!
I'm so happy x
July 17th 2013
Well, we are still going with the breastfeeding ladies, but for the last 5 days its changed a lot.
Harrison was weighed on Friday & he hadnt put on any weight. I was gutted as I really thought we were doing well!
The midwife told me that the reason he hadn't put any on (or lost any I might add) is because he was running out of steam after the foremilk & not getting to the hindmilk on feeds. I was under the impression that if he pulled himself away then he was done but this obviously wasn't the case.
So since Friday we are on a new routine that is as follows...
Wake up from nap, change nappy, try on the breast without shields (almost always unsuccessfully), feed from breast with shields til he pulls away (usually between 10-20minutes), give him to dad for winding whilst I express for 10-15 minutes, wake him again & give him expressed milk (usually around 50ml), then I wind him whilst dad washes all our equipment & puts it in the sterilizer. We have to do this every 2 hours!!
I'm so ridiculously tired but its work as he had put on 6oz by Tuesday.
I am starting to think that it would just be sooo much easier if he were on formula, but I have literally battled with him the last 12 days to breastfeed & it seems such a shame to give up now.
The main problem is I don't know how I'm going to manage this routine when my OH goes back to work on Monday
July 18th 2013
In going to keep it up for a few more days so I know hes got nice & fat, he's too little to take risks. But then I am going to start just putting him on the breast during the night. I don't mind during the day, but the expressing & bottle feeding & washing just takes so long at night, I am barely sleeping
As for the shields, I know, I am just trying him on boob because I'm stubborn & want him to latch himself so badly! I've stopped stressing now when he doesn't, and I always have the shield next to me to put straight on so he doesn't get too stressed, but I have this thought that one day he will just figure out what to do lol x
Well he's just been weighed and he's put on another 8oz since Tuesday! So proud of myself! He's now 6lb 10oz, which is a whole 1lb above his birth weight, which for 13 days is excellent.
She said I could start missing some expresses or express & put it in the fridge. Which would be nice especially at night time.
He has been brilliant on the boob today;
02.58am - 04.06am - 36 minutes on boob, 20ml of expressed
07.01am - 07.58am - 20 minutes on boob, 40ml of expressed
10.28am - 11.20am - 22 minutes on boob, 28ml of expressed
13.27pm - 14.15pm - 27 minutes on boob, 38ml of expressed
- all using nipple shields -
For us this is really good, usually I'm taking him off after 15minutes so maybe he's getting the hang of it!
So proud of us right now!
July 26th 2013
Feeding is still hard, we are still doing 2-3 hourly, and he is generally on boob for 20 odd minutes, and then I express about 40ml & give him that. But its working, he's putting on weight nicely.
We've changed to Dr Browns bottles for the expressed milk, so that's helping with his wind a lot, and he's having infacol before every feed.
July 30th 2013
We are getting there slowly! He's starting to drop some of the expressed feeds & just take boob (with shields) so its starting to get a bit easier. He's still not in any routine with feeds though so that's a bit hectic. Hes getting weighed later on today so we will see if its working!!
