*Baby Corner*

[Staashi 371]

sorry lol i can't even use preggo brain as an excuse anymore. can i blame the pain meds?

so i asked for them to take the baby for a while so i could nap for a couple hours and now he's back and there's a pacifier in his crib

Should be just fine - it is a hospital type one...doesn't interfere with breast feeding.

[Staashi 371]

I wish I could breastfeed Enzo - I have the dreaded curse of inverted nipples. They are too soft and he will not latch on. I've been pumping, but my milk is slow to come in - only 1 1/2 ounces at a time. So, I've been using formula to feed and supplementing with my milk.

[chri'stina 190]

well with charles working i'll be doing everything. but it's not that much, diaper, feeding, i have frozen food for me and snacks. i had the idea i'd be able to do friday grocery shopping, but no, can't do, i'll skip this week. next week i want to go visit my work and do grocery.

That's good that you have frozen stuff to eat. I did not plan that well with the food, or at all. lol. But it was a different situation.

[Nessa 23]

i just froze vegetable soup, bean stew and chicken (already cooked). then i have yogurt, cereal, bread, pb, cashew nuts, snacks in general. then instead of ,y regular weekly grocery shopping, charles will go and pick up some fresh milk, vegetables, perishable food i couldnt stock. theres plenty frozen food for him to eat this weekend, fish, biscuits, eggrolls, pizza, etc, or canned stuff he can prepare something for himself like chili

[Eveline 9]

@Staashi: Have you tried nipple shields? Apparently they work when you have inverted nipples. I have never used them myself but I have heard from other moms who used them that they work well. Good luck to you.

@Nessa: Ben is a handsome little boy. Good job.

[Missbollinger 1]

Nipple shields can cause nipple confusion but if you are supplementing too then I guess it doesn't matter. FYI in th early week(s) you only produce maybe an ounce from each breast. The more baby feeds and you pump the more milk is produced. I was so tempted to supplement and glad I didn't because I have a good supply now and Henry is gaining weight very well.

[MzMo1102 0]

Congrats again Nessa - Ben is such a cutie!

[Autumnchik 6]

Staashi - I struggled terribly with breastfeeding Declan. My nipples are not inverted, but they are not as prominent as some (trust me, after going to mommy's group with mostly breastfeeding women, I have ended up seeing A LOT of nipples!) They kept me in the hospital an extra day because he wasn't feeding well. It was difficult to get him to latch. We used nipple shields and even then, it was such a challenge. I saw 3 lactation consultants during that time. One of them linked me to Dr. Jack Newman. He is a Canadian pediatrician who is a breastfeeding advocate and focuses his work on that. I wrote him an email and he responded quickly to answer questions. Here is a link to his website ....

http://drjacknewman.com/

BTW, Dr. Newman appears to be against nipple shields. For me, they did seem to help Declan to latch a little better. After I found out at 6 weeks that my milk supply was low and I began taking meds to increase it, breastfeeding was much easier (until his surgery at 2 months when he refused to nurse again ).

Also, pumping never yields as much milk as a baby would get if he was nursing, so don't use what you get from a pump as a true measure of what you are producing.

[Nessa 23]

finally i bf and then pumped half an oz of milk in 10 min. the milk in one of the breasts is coming. i'll see if the other one does the same. Ben even threw up a bit after eating, the nurse said they do that when the milk finally comes because all of tghe sudden they have all that milk and they were used to only a little bit of colostrum.

[Vi Mazzella 4]

Congrats Nessa!!!! Ben is a cutie!!!! good job . I imagine how are you feeling at the hospital, when are you going home??? is somebody going to help you there???. About the paci, honestly I don't think they are that bad (my personal opinion) we tried to give one to Sofia but she didn't like it. I'm breastfeeding everything 2-3 hours and she is a lucky girl, I have plenty of milk.

We took her for her 1st doctor's appointment on Monday and the doc told us that she is doing great. She left the hospital weighing 5.10 pound and after 13 days she weighs 6.15,excellent according to the doctor,she weighs 19.5 inches. She has her next appointment on May 1st. We are taking her for walks too, I'm glad we can get out of the house,specially for my mom. Tomorow we are leaving Sofi with her daddy and the other grandma (Sil's dad), we are going shopping, yay! I know sounds stupid that I'm so excited but we really need fresh air.

well, girls wish me luck,

Hugs

Vi

[EricC 0]

My wife is 1cm dilated and 50% effaced. Her contractions are less today.

[Autumnchik 6]

Keep us posted EricC

[Anna C. 4]

@ Stashi: Just keep pumping every three hours, it will stimulate the milk and draw out the nipples. Are you using a hospital grade pump? I would rent it and use it, it's stronger than the MEdela pump in style. I'd rent it until the supply is established and the nipples are drawn out. We rented it for about 3 weeks. It did a great job. We also used nipple shields as Jona couldn't latch on in the beginning, by week 3 we took them away. A good lactation consultant will help a lot.

@ Nessa: Congratz! I would be super mad at the nurses! I never trusted them, which is why Jona never left my sight. He was always with me, I was too scared they would try to give him eye drops, vitamin K shots (we had oral vit K!), Hep B shots, circumsize him, give him formula or pacis (all those things were specified in our birth plan and a notarized medical advanced directive to ensure it would not happen). Turns out I was prolly right with my paranoia. Jona left once with DH to supervise the nurse for the PKU test and hearing test. I hope Ben didn't get confused by the artificial nipple. Jona didn't like pacis anyways until he was about 5 months old.

Jona threw up a lot the first months, he always got too much milk, so I wouldn't worry. You can tell that milk is coming in by the huuuuugeeee boobs you'll get When Jona was a week old, in 10 minutes I pumped from each breast easily 4 ounces. I had to wean off the pump gradually (less pumping time advised by consultant, to avoid engorgement). We had so much milk in the fridge, my MIL called it the dairy farm.

We are having fun in Germany with the grandparents... The weather is really nice so far. Jona loves the forests and likes looking at the trees. The teething though is hard on him, 6 are out now and it appears that a canine is coming in as well. So many teeth in such a short time! I don't get much sleep, but worse poor little guy is in pain. It is getting better day by day now, hopefully he'll have a break from teething now.

Edited April 16, 2009 by Anna C.

[Nessa 23]

good luck, eric

@vi: charles will take the day off tomorrow and help me. glad to hear u have lots of milk and sofia is growing up great. enjoy shopping

[Nessa 23]

Ben lost 9% of his weight, which is acceptable. Now that the milk is finally come i imagine he'll start gaining again.