Search Results for 'breast feeding'

[Anonymous]

Blythe,

I only ask because Jedd was very seaty acted as if eating was hard “work” and his lseeping patterns were eratic and when he did sleep he was VERY hard to wake up and keep awake at times. He also had intermittne times where he would scream on ends of course.

Anyways, for us it was a heart condition that was not caught via U/S at my OB/GYNs office OR by my birth hospital.

I had other markers during preg. for it as well and NO one caught it. I had gest. diabetes for the last trimester and my umbilical cord was a 2 vessel cord. The 2 vessel cord was the BEST sign that I was carrying a baby with a heart defect specifically the one Jedd actually had.

A 2 vessel cord means that inside the umbilical cord there are only 2 vessels, 1 vein and 1 artery. Ther are suposed to be 2 arteries and 1 vein. (*it may be the other way around) No matter it’s called a 2 vessel card. The inside of the cord is supposed to look like Mickey Mouse with the 3 blood vessels MINE was missing one.

Without you knowing this ALL U/S tech’s check for this during a reg. scanning…..who would have known.. right…LOL :0)

Anyways, Jedd’s heart defect was not caught until he was 40 days old by his ped. She sent us to a Cardio. becaus enot being trained she thought it was a murmur. Whihc all heart defects are….she did however think his would be innocent due to the fact that is was heard in the front and the back.

However the hol ein Jedd’s heart was just soooo HUGE that you could hear it on both sides…:0(

After all was said and done you could actually “feel” the pulse of the shunt with you fingers when you palced them on his chest, like I said his hole was extremely large. I used to teach and one of my parnts of a student was actually VERY surprised they let us care for Jedd at HOME before his surgery. She worked in a NICU at a local birthing hospital and they had a little girl there with a smaller hole that was NOT allowed to go home until her repair.

Jedd had a VSD. Basically a hole in the right ventricle. His was unusually large. It was repaired with a patch at 6 months old. Until then he required tube feeds to keep him alive. He was too weak to eat. And then when we did feed him with the pump via the tube he refluxed it ALL back up in terrible pain all day and all night long. He was on overnight feeds so that is why he vomitted ALL night long as well…it was horrible.

As far as the sweating Jedd didn’t ever get the chance to wrok up a good sweat as he litterally stopped eating within a coupl eof mins. We resorted to sryinge feedig nhim even before we knew what was wrong with him. I literally had a bottl ein his mouth 24/7.

Nursing for us was just how you described. It was horrid. I was trying to pump and was literally either trying to breastfed or pumping ALL the time with out stoppign and was not sleeping at all EVER!!!!! We ended up going to formula because I was literally going insane. I SOOO wish I had been able to breastfed. It would hae been soo much better for Jedd’s extrmely sensitive belly, but it was not meant to be.

I said that all to say this, just ask about it. It would be worth it. I kept track of Jedd’s intake and on a good day he would only take aobut 12-14 oz. in a 24 hour period.

I have had Dr and nurses tell me that by being soo dilligent in what Jedd was actually eating I actually hleped to sve his life. They were amazed that I was a first time Mom. I KNEW something was wrong.

Anyways, Don’t want to scare you, not in th eleast, but that story just sounded SOOOO much like me and my Jedd at taht age.

Let me know.

[Anonymous]

Jessica,
She sweats on occasion, but I wouldn’t say it is “regular.” Some days she sleeps all day, others not at all. When she sleeps she usually sleeps deeply, and can be hard to wake. Non-sleepy days, there’s nothing you can do to keep her down. Sleeping patterns are still very inconsistent.

[Anonymous]

I give Evan a hypoallegenic probiotic. (Ther biotic Infant Formula). I mix with pumped bm (if I have some in the fridge) but usually just w/ water. I mix 1/4tsp of the probiotic w/ 5mL (or less) of water & syringe it up.

I was on a probiotic as well but it was not hypo. Next time I order Evan’s hypo probiotic I will try to find one to order for myself as well.

As for the enzymes… I was taking them myself (CompleteGest digestive enzymes) but didn’t feel like they were making a difference so when I ran out I didn’t order any more. I might give them to him when we start solids around 6-7mths old.

[Anonymous]

Hi–i’ve been reading all of the posts about probiotics and enzymes. i want to start giving them to finn– I’m breastfeeding; is it enough for me to take them, or should we both take them?
if i should give them directly to him, what is the best way to do that? when he was a couple of weeks old i was giving him probiotics mixed with a bit of breastmilk in a syringe…but it took so long to get all of the powder down. I also tried it in a pumped bottle, but it would get stuck and clog the nipple…
what do other bfing moms do?

[Anonymous]

Is she tired and sweaty all the time??? Or, does she sweat alot when you get her to finally eat like eating is a workout for her to do???? Basically, doe seating in and of itself tire he rout completly??? Do you have a hard time waking her up to feed??? Will she sleep for long periods of time and not wake to eat????

After yo answer I’ll tell you why, I don’t want to scare you with my/Jedd’s story but your sounds familiar to maine as far as BF goes.

[Anonymous]

I’m sorry, I meant to say I’d be renting a scale, not a pump. I already have a pump and am pumping as much as possible, but on occasion I may need to use formula. I just hate to spend a fortune on different types of formula when I have a ton in my pantry. I know, I may not have a choice.

I am still using a shield and the LC said that I will need to continue with it until her latch can be corrected, or my nipples will be torn up. Ugh! I feel like a cow. I’m nursing, then giving a bottle of bm, then pumping. Repeat, repeat…

Oh, and no, we’re not using a pacifier, she refuses it.

Right now I am still consuming dairy. I was eliminating one thing at a time and the reflux was much better last week with the elimination of peanut butter. I haven’t tried eliminating anything else yet.
lilsprstr2008-09-14 21:39:26

[Anonymous]

Shelby, I heard that once you go to chiropractor, your body will likely need to go the them for the rest of your life??
I wanted to try it at the first place but people around me said that, so it scare the hell of out me though.

Actually I had an easy delivery, no vacuum or anything, and no meds too.
So every time when we went to new doctor (change doctor so many times, before we find the right one…the first doctor is the stupidest doctor in the world) they always has if there’s any complication at birth etc.

She’s not really constipation per se, but I exclusively pumping, so some days when she’s getting more formula, her stool firmer but when she’s getting more breastmilk, her stool is good.
She’s got average 50/50 though.

I asked the doctor about PPI Prevacid, but he asked me to finish Zantac first.
She’s not showing that she’s in pain (no screaming), but she just doing the feeding strike (when on bad day), maybe drinking 5-10 oz, drinking less, spit up more, coughing like something stuck in her throat.

But in good days, she drinks 25-30oz, could got spit up free for a week and no coughing at all.

Is prevacid will help all of this?

ChloeMommy2008-09-14 21:21:40

[Anonymous]

Oh, I’m so sorry you are having so much difficulty.

One thing I can think of is to maybe try some Fenugreek (3pills 3x/day) + Blessed Thistle (3pills 3x/day) to try & increase your supply more so that possibly you can nurse & pump?!

Also keep in mind that your supply should increase naturally if you are pumping after each feeding to stimulate supply…even if nothing is coming out (or very little) you’re still stimulating & within a wk (or less hopefully) your supply should react accordingly.

I’m a bit surprised the LC is having you pump in order to see how much Averi is getting since usually pumping is not a good indicator of supply… it certainly isn’t in my case & every dr. & LC I’ve heard talk about it agrees. But maybe I’m wrong in this particular case.

Is the LC willing to work on Averi’s latch w/ you? That would seem key to me… Is she still using the nipple shield? Are you using a paci that might comprimise her latch?

I agree w/ Laura w/ trying to feed & pump simultaneously. One of my friends was able to do this successfully. It’s challenging but do-able.

I don’t know if you are doing any avoiding (milk or soy or other) in your diet but if you are (& even if you aren’t probably) then the Similac Advance is probably going to be rough on your dd.

Hang in there…

erinntx2008-09-14 21:11:34

[hellbennt]

I’m not sure what to say! can a SLP help with latch? I have no clue!

as for the similac advance if you’re not eating any milk proteins then I would think the similac would not be the formula of choice?

can you feed from one breast & pump (at the same time) from the other?

I wish I had more for you! I sent out messages to get you some help!

[Anonymous]

I’m wondering if anyone can offer any suggestions for me.

FWIW, I successfully bfed both my other children.

Averi and I had some major bfing hurdles shortly after birth. She refused to nurse for the first week or so despite every effort on my part. When my milk came in I started pumping right away to keep up my milk supply. Finally I saw an LC and we were able to get her latched with the assistance of a nipple shield. We had other issues after that I think mostly due to problems with reflux.

In the last week or so I’ve been feeling as though she is not getting enough milk, whether it be due to her latch or due to my production. She will cry after being nursed for an hour plus. From time to time I have given her a bottle after being nursed and she takes it ravenously. She also was weighed at her 2 mo well check and weighed only 9 lbs 8 oz. Her birth weight was 7 lbs 6 oz.

Yesterday I went to the hospital where I delivered to see an LC. She spent over an hour with me and observed a full feeding. She said her latch was really poor and that it was a wonder she was getting as much milk as she is. She confirmed that I have plenty of milk and that I’m doing my part. After the feeding I told her that many times after nursing that Averi cries and acts hungry. She said she didn’t think Averi was hungry, but asked if she could give her a bottle to see what she’d do with it. I agreed and Averi downed the bottle in about 2 minutes. The LC was shocked and said that until we can determine how much milk Averi is consuming that I should supplement with BM or formula. Tomorrow I will be renting a scale to measure how much breast milk she’s actually consuming.

The only formula we have in the house is the Similac Advanced that we got as a sample form the hospital, so we used a bit of it yesterday. Well, last night and this morning she had a few bad reflux episodes again, and it was the first time in over a week.

I’m so frustrated. I don’t make enough milk to bf and supplement with bm at every feed, but it seems like the formula is making the reflux worse. I really don’t want to spend money on different formulas to try, as it’s so expensive and I have plenty of the Similac Advance on hand. Any suggestions. I’m so frustrated. I swear I spend 75% of my day bfing or pumping and I’m exhausted.

lilsprstr2008-09-14 21:30:24

[Anonymous]

finn is 4 months old and has been on prevacid for 2 1/2 weeks… he started at 7.5 mg solutab 2x day. I upped it to 7.5 in the am and 15mg in the pm 4 days ago. there has been no improvement. In fact, it has gotten worse. He doesn’t sleep much at all now and only will sleep on my chest at night–writhing in pain. I start him out in the amby bed and he’ll sleep for about 2 hours and then he moves in with me.
I give him mylanta cherry supreme in the night to help…but it doesn’t seem to do much.
I just don’t understand how/why it would be getting worse with the meds!? Perhaps he is sensitive to the aspartame?
I’ve been dairy/soy free for a few weeks now. I’m starting TED today.
tomorrow i’m going to ask the dr. for the capsules so I can give them with caracream. he is breastfed and screams so much while waiting for the medicine/feeding with the solutabs.
he has bad gas and has bowel movements only every third day or so. however, his stools are yellow and only sometimes mucousy.
i just don’t understand all of this and I am completely exhausted.
any advice?

[Anonymous]

Our GI specialist put it best-all babies reflux-it’s the degree of acid in the throat that determines whether it needs to be controlled by meds or not. Think about it-have you ever seen a baby who didn’t spit up?

However, if your ped is telling you that they are worried about him aspirating, you may have an issue unrelated to the ‘flux. Our daughter has an immature muscle in her throat that makes her a silent aspirator…basically liquid gets into her windpipe without her coughing it up or showing any signs of distress. We found this out by doing the swallow study. It’s a completely harmless test (other than the horror of seeing what barium does to a poop-peeeeuuuuwww!) and you can see EXACTLY what is going on in your child’s throat. I can say from the other side of this issue that it is a fixable issue. We have been thickening our EBM (expressed breast milk) for about a month, and I can tell that her muscles have improved-I’ve been able to sneak in a few breast feedings and she has not had a choking episode in a month-woohoo!

These ladies give the absolute best advice on meds, talking to your dr, and procedures. They were a Godsend to me when our ‘flux was uncontrolled. My only additional advice is get as ugly as you need to with your doctor to get the best possible care for your child. Now is not the time to be passive with your doctor. Information was what got me to find a new pediatrician, a GI specialist, and the right meds for what ails us. Our DD is starting to inch up in weight, tolerating longer car rides, and is generally a much happier kid now! Good luck and hugs!!

[Anonymous]

Are there specific ones you need to know? I think we use so many we don’t realize it. LOL

here are some starters…

GER- Gastroesphegal reflux

MSPI- Milk/Soy Protein Intolerance

MFPI- Multiple Food Protein Intolerance

BF- breastfed/breastfeeding

FF- formula fed/formula feeding

DD- dear daughter

DS- dear son

LO- little one

hopefully that helps some!!! I think you can look some more up somehwere on this site, but someone more ‘technical’ will have to help you out with that. LOL

[Anonymous]

Unless your breastfeeding let her sleep. If your breastfeeding however you do need to wake your baby to make sure they are building up your supply.

[Anonymous]

I think the other ladies have said it all. I think the only thing I would add is this, stick to the breastfeeding. Breastmilk is the absolute best thing for a reflux baby. I had two boys and gave up bf my oldest due to dr. telling me to supplement and him deciding the bottle was easier. With my younger son I was told by the gi doc. that his problems were probably due to food allergies and to stop bf and try a formula. Thankfully I was determined this time around to bf and did try TED. We learned that my son could not have dairy or beef and his reflux was SOOOOOOO much better than my older sons. I have no dought that the bf had a huge part to play in that. Your doing a great job and I can’t wait to hear how things are going.

Oh, my oldest son also had the constipation issues and after drs. prescribing many different meds for it we decided to try a chiropractor. It was amazing! After going to her he had a bm the next day and then the next time it was the same day and then after awhile he started going ever day. Eventually we didn’t have to go as much, but if he got constipated again we took him in and she would adjust him and he would go that day. The constipation can really make the reflux worse. For my oldest it had nothing to do with my diet or his formula, but everything to do with his spine. After that experience we took my youngest when he was about a week old. Thankfully he was in good shape. My oldest had been pulled out with a vaccum and that really jacked up his spine. Just thought I’d add that.

Justice’smom2008-09-14 09:24:15