Both my DS' were in SCN for about a week, I expressed and INSISTED that I come down and feed when I could (not always possible as we could not always touch or hold them) BUT when we could I insisted that I was called and the they were not fed formula if EBM was there... they did have to be bottle fed sometimes but you gotta try as hard as you can to establish a good breastfeeding pattern if for no other reason than to bring your milk on
DD I am sorry that you are travelling a difficult journey once again, you are a strong woman and I hope that with all of your research and preparation that you will be able to achieve a beautiful feeding relationship with your DD.
Some of the recommendations above are brilliant, expressing from 36 weeks or so is a great idea, every ml will count. With the feeding these are the things that I found worked for us. Our SCn journey was only 11 days, but we took DD home on a 40gram loss and she didn't gain weight until she was 23 days, so it was a very stressful time, but it can be done.
Inititally we were only allowed to have one BF attempt a day, DD was still recovering from extremely low BLS and was a 33 weeker so not a lot of energy. I took it as an opportunity to get some lovely skin to skin, she didn't really suck, more as played, but she was able to smell and find the BBS.
We did NGT feed with her skin to skin when we could, even place her near the breast and feeding through the tube at the same time. We only used a dummy when we were doing the NGT feeds, so that she learnt to associate sucking with getting a full tummy.
I did use a bottle a couple of times for top ups or if I couldn't get her to feed from the breast (while still in hospital as I boarded with DD), but it was after breast, so she had less energy left but had already "worked" for her milk.
We had to intorduce some formula top ups at 10 weeks as DD started losing weight and was already 1kg below the bottom of the chart, so we didn't have room to move as such. But we always offered breast before bottle, and we still managed to achieve exclusively breast feeding/ebm at about 6 1/2 months.
I expressed until 6 months before having a short break (sanity break from the pump ) and then began again for feeds while I was at work.
I am not going to say it was easy, and yes there were times I wanted to give up, but in the end it was work every second, and every drop of EBM or BF she received was worth it.
If you want to PM me I am more than happy to chat on Messenger or something like that
Sorry to hear that the road is not smooth for you, but wonderful that you're able to be prepared and are seeing a LC. DD spent 9days in NSCN, being my first bub and no warning that she was going to make an early entrance I wasn't educated or prepared. The others have given some great advice and ideas. As already mentioned, skin to skin contact is great if you can have it. Another thing my sister read was to put some EBM on a cotton bud/ball or something and put it near nose so bubs got used to the smell. We also took a dummy in and requested that bubs try to suck only when having NGT to associate sucking for a full tummy. We did have a lot of formula as my milk took about 4 days to come in. But during this time we would hand express and later express with pump inline with her feed times and gave it to her first at the next feed.
It was also suggested to me that when I express to have a photo of bubs to look at, not sure if it helped my supply or not. The NSCN had pumps there so could sit and watch bubs and pump at same time.
I'm by far an expert and you probably already know all of this, hope that everything goes as smooth as it possibly can.
Oh, I wonder if the lactaction cookies could help with your supply if you're going to express from 36wks? Just a thought.
I found your story of breastfeeding your first baby really inspirational - you did a fabulous job. It must be very stressful for you contimplating this little one's birth. He will so badly need your milk. But the good news is, you will be able to provide it for him. I think, first of all, you will want a long and honest talk with your caregivers about how important it is that your baby breastfeeds, and what support they can give you. Skin to skin, early expressing are a start. If she could remain with you for 48hours that would be fabulous. The simple question "why" is a good way to slice through what may be just unhelpful hospital convention and what is medical need.
If your baby can't feed at the breast, you might want to start hand expressing every 2-3 hours (remember you will get colostrum in the first days - just small amounts) Then by day 3 start pumping with an electric breastpump. You may like to hire one through ABA prior to your baby being born, so you know you have the right equipment on hand.
One issue with babies with a heart problem is that they have difficulty growing. They use a lot of energy. It's worth being prepared for this. Many mothers are pressured to into giving formula because of this. Your breastmilk will protect your baby from infection - and this is vital where there is a heart condition.
If you can express from 36 weeks I don't think this can do any harm. Get some 5ml syringes with caps from the hospital or chemist. This way, if he needs anything else it can be your milk
Let us know how you go - we will be thinking of you.
Thankyou all so much for your comments and suggestions.
I think that I will definatly start expressing by hand at 36 weeks. I think that it should be successful as I already have 'something' in there when I express a little by hand, it just isn't quiet so rich as colostrum is just yet.
With my DD1 I was not aware that she was going to be going straight to NICU or that she would not be able to BF so I was not prepared and did not express until 24 hours after her birth, I had more than enough colostrum and my milk came in on day 3, I had a massive oversupply so this is not really a concern of mine. I also have my breastpump and bottle ready and waiting along with alot more knowledge on expressing and supply than I did last time .
When my DD1 was in hospital we were encouraged to use a dummy when she was getting her NGT feeds, which we did, in her case it didn't help but her complications had alot to do with her mouth/jaw so a very different case.
Is there a particular dummy that is 'closer to breast' than the others? I just used the cheap cherry ones for my DD.
With my DD I used to use a cotton ball/tips to clean her lips and also to give her the taste of EBM, sounds like something I should do again.
I know that the hospital that she is being transferred to are very pro-breastfeeding so I think this will help.
I guess my aim is as much skin-to-skin as possible (especially when being NGT fed) and as long as baby is able, to offer breast at each feed before topping up with her NGT.
Do you think it will matter if initally I am not able to offer breast overnight (whilst in hospital.
They do offer a medihotel to stay in with baby before going home, you take baby in each day for weighing to ensure they are maintaining/gaining weight, I think this may help with establishing those night feeds.
I will also call ABA, those booklets sound great MR.
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) and then began again for feeds while I was at work.
I just realised I said "I'm by far an expert" so sorry, I ment I'm so far from being an expert as in I don't know much.
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