A nursing update

"So, How's it going?"
I get this question a lot but it's usually not pertaining to breastfeeding specifically. Usually people want to know how having a newborn is going. Frankly, were it not for all the trouble we've had with breastfeeding, having a newborn would be much more of a cakewalk! I mean seriously, the kid would sleep through the night if I let him (we really don't know that for sure since we wake him up to feed him - not because he's underweight but because I have to "protect" what milk supply I have. More on that later) Yes, he's incredibly fussy in the evenings, but thems small beans compared to our feeding issues.

So where are we now... let me see, it's been a while since I last wrote about this. Well, in the very beginning Levi was taking about 30 cc's from me at one full feeding. That's about one ounce. A baby his age needs about 2.5oz every 2-3 hours. So, we began supplimenting him with breastmilk from a friend of mine, and formula from the pediatrician. I think that's where we left off. Oh, and I was pumping a gazillion times a day. blech!

I went to my midwife for a completely unrelated (birth related actually) reason and she percribed to me a drug called "reglan", also called "metaclopromide". It's used for stomach sickness but it also works as a "galactagog" (milk booster) but can have some yucky side effects. Praise the Lord, I didn't suffer any of them and while the drug didn't have a HUGE effect on me, it did work somewhat. I can now feed Levi almost three ounces at a feeding (roughly 84 cc's during a good long feeding, 3 oz is 90 cc's)

So, how do I know he' s getting that much? Well, I broke down and rented a scale. This scale actually.


A couple times a day I weigh him before and after eating to see how much he's had. My record so far is 84cc's. After I feed him I generally offer him a bottle of formula - although I'm trying to offer him less and less. You see, the more formula he takes the less hungry he is. Why would I want him to be hungry? well, now that his suck has improved (drastically) his suckling exerts demand on my body; hypothetically anyhow. The more he sucks the more I make.

His suck still isn't perfect - he still can't get much out of the playtex ventair (gotta suck pretty hard on those to get anything out) - but PRAISE GOD for an improvement. The real goal in all of this is to feed Levi, keep him happy and growing, and use whatever means we have to to get to that end. Bottle, breast, formula, anything that will feed his little body. And at almost ten pounds it seems to be working. I mean, just look at how well he's beginning to fit into his puffy butt diapers
Thank you for all you prayers. Please don't stop! We've got a long road ahead of us and mommy is getting tired. Tired of what? tired of filling bottles with small amounts - guessing how much formula he'll take. Trying not to over feed or underfeed (lots of fussiness or lots of spit up result) and managing my feelings over all of this.

Well, there's your update. I got a crier on my hands, wish me luck!
- Melissa

UPDATE: So, I'm in the habbit of writing my blog entry one day ahead so I can just post it in the morning. Aparently that isn't a good idea because so much can happen in a day. Yesterday Marsha (my wonderful doula) came by and taught me a good msany things. This morning I was able to pump 2.25 ounces. Yes, ounces. Truly, more than I've ever pumped. We are off to a great start to our weekend, a GREAT start! Did i mention we had a happy boy all day yesterday?