Pediatrician Visit. 5-24-12

We actually made it to the pediatrician visit on time for our 8:30 appointment, but the pediatrician was held up at the hospital. It was time for Boop’s 4 Month Well-Child Visit. And, she was a well child J First, were measurements. Weight: 15.5 lbs., Height: 29.5 inches. Her legs are still bowed a bit. So, what do those measures mean? She’s at the 50^th %ile for height, which is average. Good. And weight? Well, my little chunk is at THE 90^th %ile!! A rough explanation of that means that only about 10% of babies her age are heavier than her. Or to put it another way: if you took 100 4 month old babies, only about 10 of them would weigh more than my precious pot belly.

Boop's 1st cereal was a big hit! She tried to 'help' me.

Everything seemed fine on her exam. All was normal. I asked her about cereal, and she was fine writing me a script for Boop to have a bowl of rice cereal at daycare each day. That takes a little pressure off me, and she will hopefully sleep a bit better. It will be interesting to try and feed her, though. As to the evening crying spells, the pediatrician thought it might be teething, but it’s hard to know. She said it was okay to give Tylenol if she responded to that. I asked about breastfeeding and meds. She said 3 were fine; so that was good news. And then the worst part, the shots. She did fine though. I left her sleeping in her crib at daycare, wondering if I would need to go back to give her more Tylenol. 

Milk Mafia? 3-11-12

My friend, M, had suggested I get hooked in with the local La Leche League, as they had been a good resource for her. I had heard that they could be a bit anti-pacifiers, anti-bottles, and even a bit hard on moms who work outside the home. It made me a bit hesitant about going. There’s no getting around it: Boop has to use a bottle.

One of the new moms was producing too much milk, and other mothers were identifying with that problem.  Later, I said that I didn’t produce enough and asked for help. No one really had that problem, but they pulled out their book and asked if I had tried: pumping? Yes. Dual pumping? Yes. Pumping through the 2nd let down? I don’t know. <Turned out I had.> What kind do you have? Madela. Have you tried a supplemental nursing system? Yes.  Switching? Yes. Oatmeal. Yes. Warm compresses? No. They went through several things. I pretty much had tried them all. Shoot. They were flummoxed.

It was a large group, and one of the leaders commented on their good turn out. They were friendly enough and invited me to join them for lunch in the next town. Only one person seemed a tad judgmental, but maybe she was just having a bad day. My inclination was not to go to lunch, but I decided it would be good for us. So we sat out in the rain and Boop did alright. I’ve gotten used to eating with one hand, and we had a nice visit. One of the ladies was from my hometown. Although work will make the daytime meetings difficult, I may be able to manage the evening ones.   

Lil’ Miss Muffet. 1-29-12

Bottle feeding is taking its toll. I miss just being able to have instant food for my little Boop. She misses it, too, I know. I haven’t had enough time to pump like I want to. When I do pump, I find that I’m able to produce a fair bit. I was so happy that after pumping I had enough for a 2 oz feeding. I put it in a bottle, and she started to take it. She would suck and cry, suck and cry. I couldn’t figure out what was going on. I kept looking at the ounces, but it didn’t look like any was being removed. Then, I checked the nipple. It didn’t look like anything was coming out.

So, we switched nipples. I sat down with her to have the bottle, and she went after it. After she had an ounce, I put her face above my shoulder to burp her. Mind you, a few days ago, Mom had told me that I should put something on my shoulder in case she spat up. I had done it for a while, but she had never had any problem. You can guess what happened next. Yep, she lost most of those 2 ounces. There were curds all over me and her. I’m sure there are still some in my hair. Boop is my little yogurt factory, apparently. It could have smelled much, much worse.

Bib or blanket? Too bad I didn't have this on when she was making yogurt!

Other than that, she’s been sleeping a fair bit. I hope that’s more newborn sleeping pattern, rather than the jaundice. So far, my friend, G, and my neighbor, K, have stopped by. Boop hardly moved a muscle. I just hope that the jaundice isn’t getting worse. We will have another check tomorrow to see if she’s gained weight and probably about the status of her jaundice. It’s supposed to start snowing soon; I hope the roads are decent to go to the pediatrician.

More Moo. 1-27-12

The rigors of feedings for little Boop make getting anything else done pretty difficult. I’m supposed to feed her 10-12 times a day and every 2 hours. That seems a bit challenging, but let’s break that down. Boop takes a good 30 minutes to nurse. We’re doing switch feedings, going from one side to the other, waking her between each switch. Sometimes I switch 3-4 times. So, that leaves almost 1.5 hours. Then, I need to give her supplemental formula, including mixing it and using a syringe to feed her. They didn’t have any supplemental nursing systems in town; so I had to order one online. Hopefully, I’ll get it within the week. The formula takes about a half hour to put together and give, leaving less than 1 hour between feedings. Then, little Boop has been having tummy trouble, which is very noticeable after the formula feedings. So, I try to comfort her. Sometimes we don’t get the formula feeding. Then, there are the diaper changes. The meconium ones are very difficult to clean up. On top of this, I’m supposed to be pumping to boost my supply. The lactation specialist wants me to ‘power pump’ to boost prolactin levels. 5 min. pumping, 10-15 min. rest, 5 min. pumping, 10-15 min. rest. This has been the most challenging to incorporate. Sleep? Good question.

Going home after seeing the lactation specialist

As it turns out, I probably have a congenital problem that makes it difficult to nurse. Some women with this problem aren’t able to nurse at all; so the fact that I’m getting anything is wonderful. Of course, it doesn’t feel so wonderful when your baby is crying because she’s hungry and has to work very hard to get anything. Right after delivery, I asked to see a lactation specialist. Of course, that was never really followed up on—or the multiple other requests I made, but when Boop’s weight kept dropping, the pediatric NP responded to my request—the day before discharge. We would have done so much better if I had seen the lactation specialist within the 1^st 3 days, but there is still time. The lactation specialist is wonderful and was noticeably disappointed that she didn’t see me sooner. Folks have been very helpful in ideas about increasing lactation. The pediatrician mentioned Reglan, a GERD medicine, but unfortunately, it increases the risk of depression. Others have suggested staying well hydrated, decreasing stress, and eating ice cream. Some herbal remedies include fenugreek, milk thistle—and pre-made combos like lactation tea and Milkmakers cookies. I ordered some of the cookies, and my friend, M, is sending me some tea. Fingers crossed!