dont stress! my boy lost half a kilo in his first few days and i fed as much as possible but it took ages for my milk to come in and he has only just reached his birth weight at 3 weeks of age and this is with formula aswell!!
Thanks again girls. So much great advice and wonderful support.
Just a quick update...we saw the lac consultant yesterday and she was brilliant. Izzy had gained another 50g in two days - yay! It's a slow gain but at least she's gaining. Hopefully she will just pork it on now!
Lac consultant said my supply seems pretty good so I'll continue to take the fenugreek but I'm often pumping 90ml or more now. Yay Attachment wasn't too bad but she has shown me another method which seems to work well. The two things she did find wrong were that Izzy is a lazy feeder and we both have thrush - boohoo!!!
Izzy generally nods off well before she is finished her feed and just comfort sucks. The LC said that her lack of weight gain is most likely the cause - she is too tired to work for her food, the poor little girl! It should improve once she puts on a bit more weight as she'll have more energy. So we're feeding 10-15 mins max on each side then I offer her 50ml or more of EBM then I express for about 20 mins and save that for the next top up. It seems to be working well, just a bit exhuasting.
As for the thrush, well lets just say it's damn painful! I'm using Daktarin on my nipples and Nilstat drops for Izzy. I've posted in the breastfeeding forum to see if anyone else has some advice. I'm going to try and get into the gp tomorrow too.
I am determined, we will get there..
Last edited by Taurean; September 28th, 2009 at 10:47 PM.
Although i've been in a lot of pain with thrush and staph in my breasts, it looks like all my hard work has paid off. Isobel was weighed on Friday and she had gained 280gm in a week!!!! We are so thrilled!
We plan on continuing with our current routin for another week when we need to take the hired breast pump back then I will see how Izzy goes without the EBM top ups after every feed. I will slowly drop the EBM bottles this week so hopefully she'll learn to take more from the breast and not just expect the top up, IYKWIM.
Cross your fingers for us. I desperately want to continue breastfeeding. Let's hope little Izzy has now got the strength she needs to live off her mummy's boobs
It's sounding fantastic hun, good for you! Have faith in your body and your baby that they can do this together! Feel positive that you can start slowly dropping the comp feeds NOW . You could try doing it one at a time, or reduce the amount in each comp feed until she has none.
I will warn you that the next few days or week may feel a little hairy , you may feel unsure at times if she has had 'enough', and want to give her a comp (when you were planning not to). But if she has had a good feed at the breast, and she isn't too distressed, then give her a big cuddle, or pop her in the sling. If she seems to be looking for more say, 20 minutes later, then pop her back on the breast. Once your DD, and your breasts, realise that this is how it's going to be happening from now, things will settle down and become easier. A good way of getting around this (potentially tricky) time is to spend as much time in bed with your DD as possible, just laying around and feeding her LOTS. It will seem less stressful this way .
Of course, it may all go so well and seem easy, and I really hope that's the case for you. But if not, try not to stress, just hang on in there and know that things will get better soon - you can do this!!! You've done a wonderful job so far .
Thanks girls! I think we are getting somewhere. I will keep thinking positive (boy that is hard at times!) and hopefully our breastfeeding journey will only get better and better.
Janie - you have so much wonderful advice! Thank you so much. I only decided today that Izzy and I are having a much needed bonding/pj day so that is the plan for tomorrow. I've made no plans with anyone and will knock back any invites or visitors. We are just going to spend some quality time together in bed.
I hope my little journey is inspirational for other new mums experiencing feeding and weight issues. There has been a lot of good advice from all the girls too.
BellyBelly Life Member - Love all your MCN friends
Jun 2004
The Festival State
3,008
Yes, "establishing" bresatfeeding when you feel you have to get certain things done/ready, for visitors - and inconsistent advice from hosp/ childnurse, can really get in the way of what you REALLY need, which is plenty of alone time with your baby. Most of my visitors didn't understand/respect breastfeeding, saw it more of an interruption of their visit.
having a wet flannel handy to rouse your bub, changing nappy halfway thru the feed, another thing we used, was to tickle the underside of baby's chin/neck, to rouse her to drink more.
i'm so glad things are going in the right direction for you, bf-ing didn't come easy to us either, but i'm very glad i persevered, many times it would have been easy to give up.
i hope you have the aba number on your fridge.
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BellyBelly Life Member - Love all your MCN friends
Jun 2004
The Festival State
3,008
how are you going Taurean?
have you gotten your bonding time?
has the staph/thrush healed up now?
how are you feeling?
hoping it's goign well for you and your lovely Isobel.
i believe your thread WILL inspire other mums going thru the same/similar thing to you. so many mums get the wind put up them, after a CYH nurse does the weighing and gets out the charts.
I'm still here and yes, still breastfeeding. It has been so tough though and I came very close to giving up last week. My lovely lac consultant saw us again on Saturday though and has given us hope again.
So what has happened? After Izzy's good weight gain, I decided (a little prematurely) to try to return to mostly breastfeeding with just a couple of top ups of EBM or formula. I thought things were going well beside two very unsettled days during that week which had us at the doctors where the diagnosed her with colic. As it turns out, she was actually just hungry - I was basically starving her again. I didn't find out until the Friday though when my LC phoned me and asked me to get Izzy weighed that day. She suspected the unsettled days were due to lack of supply and not colic. Turns out she was right. Izzy had only gained 100gm that week so we were back on the expressing mission again and almost instantly we saw a positive change in our little girl. I was so sad to be back to pumping around the clock again but glad she probably didn't have colic.
I got into the right frame of mind at first and just took it all in my stride. The thrush was still lingering altough I had taken 3 Diflucan tablets at instructed by my LC. My LC suggested I get onto Motillium to increase my supply and also get the GP to check my nipples again while I was at the doctors. The GP did suspect it was thrush and told me to start using the Daktarin cream again and continue treating Izzy with Nilstat. Bugger, more medication! At least I had the Motillium so my supply would start to increase - hopefully. That was on Monday.
By Thursday I had lost the plot. I was so depressed and my boobs were so sore. The thrush pain had gotten worse and I stopped breastfeeding Izzy and fed her EBM and formula. I just couldn't handle the thought of her little mouth around my nipples - OUCHIES! I had a big chat to my sister about switching to formula fulltime and she was so supportive and made me feel good about the decision. All the pumping, watching the clock and pain was causing me so much stress that I wasn't able to sit back and enjoy our little girl who was changing every day, every hour. I had a big cry to my mum and felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I had given myself a week to improve then I was throwing the towel in. I phoned my LC to tell her what was happening. She begged me to hang in there and booked me in to see her on Saturday.
Saturday came around and I was feeling pretty good as I had been bottle feeding Izzy for 2.5 days. My boobs had enjoyed their much needed break! Kate (my LC) visited us at midday and got straight into it. Firstly Izzy was weighed and she had put on a whopping 400gm in a week!! We were stunned! All the hard work had paid off! Next she checked us both for thrush and was certain we were clear although I was still experiencing the same pain. That had us stumped. I fed Izzy and Kate weighed her after each feed. She was finally sucking well (and attaching beautifully - yay!) and got quite a decent amount of milk from each side (the weigh in before and after each side confirmed that). We were all thrilled. Kate said to up the dose of Motillium and to do away with the pump and just BF and if necessary, top up with formula. No more clock watching either - demand feed and let her sleep - no more waking her for feeds! I was beside myself with happiness but still the pain was getting to me. Kate took another look at my nipples after the feed and spotted the culprit - the tips of my nipples were white. It dawned on her immediately - I have vasospasm in my nipples. It basically means the circulation is cut off to my nipples which causes all the pain. The symptoms are identical to thrush in the breast.
Finally we had some answers and a relaxed plan going forward. There is medication for vasospasm which I'm going to get this week. The pain in horrible so I'm wrapped to know I can take something to fix it.
So that is where we are at. We are breastfeeding and topping up where necessary with formula but my supply is definitely increasing (I have shot Izzy with breast milk several times now and I was leaking AFTER a feed this evening!) so things are a lot more relaxed. I'm so pleased! We just need the other tablets and we should be on the road to recovery. Yerhar!
I'll be sure to let you all know how we go with the other meds. Fingers crossed they work!
Thanks again for your support girls. It has helped us so much
Last edited by Taurean; October 19th, 2009 at 11:20 PM.
Well done darl. You and Izzy both deserve the biggest pat on the back for hanging in there. What an awesome weight gain. So glad to hear that you and your LC have sorted out the pain. Sounds like everything is on the improve and youa nd Izzy will now go on and have a fantastic breatfeeding relationship. CONGRATULATIONS!!! You worked through the hard yards and now you both get to reap the rewards.
hun. You sure have had a rough start! I really admire your determination though - you are doing such a fantastic job hun. I'm really glad that your supply is doing so much better now, and that you know what's causing your pain. Hopefully the meds will help. Warmth, before and after a feed, can help also, so might be worth a try. All the best hun! You have done such a fantastic job to get this far, I hope it's easier from here on in.
Not sure if anyone is interested but thought I'd give another update as I'm so happy because we are finally breastfeeding PAIN FREE!!!
It all came together about a week ago, just after DD turned 7 weeks old. The Nefedipine for the vasospasm kicked in as did the Motillium for my supply so I now have plenty of milk and my nipples no longer hurt. DD is attaching beautifully now (most of the time, anyway) and starting to feed a little faster. I don't mind if she takes a while though as I now know the more she sucks, the more milk I make
DD has been very unsettled during the day since about week 5 and I thought it was supply issues but we are pretty sure it's silent reflux and she started on Zoton for it yesterday. Amazingly, she slept for just over 9 hours straight last night but maybe it was just a coincidence. She has been really hard to settle all day again today so I'm glad we've also booked a day-stay at Ngala, the early parenting service here in Perth. Hopefully we'll learn some valuable tricks and be able to get our little girl to sleep more often during the day.
So, it does seem like our breast feeding issue are pretty much a thing of the past and now we just need to get the reflux and settling issues sorted and we'll be one very happy little family. I'm proof that you can get past all the breastfeeding issues with determination and support
PS: Izzy has had a couple of gains of 300gms in a week now! She was 4.3kg last week - 8 weeks old. That was just over a 300g gain in 9 days. Woohoo!
Last edited by Taurean; November 10th, 2009 at 07:32 PM.
OMG, what enormous weight gains!!!! I'm tipping that you won't be needing that Motilium for long . Well done to you both, you must be soooo pleased that you persisted Taurean
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Attachment wasn't too bad but she has shown me another method which seems to work well. The two things she did find wrong were that Izzy is a lazy feeder and we both have thrush - boohoo!!!
, you may feel unsure at times if she has had 'enough', and want to give her a comp (when you were planning not to). But if she has had a good feed at the breast, and she isn't too distressed, then give her a big cuddle, or pop her in the sling. If she seems to be looking for more say, 20 minutes later, then pop her back on the breast. Once your DD, and your breasts, realise that this is how it's going to be happening from now, things will settle down and become easier. A good way of getting around this (potentially tricky) time is to spend as much time in bed with your DD as possible, just laying around and feeding her LOTS. It will seem less stressful this way 
.
hun. You sure have had a rough start! I really admire your determination though - you are doing such a fantastic job hun. I'm really glad that your supply is doing so much better now, and that you know what's causing your pain. Hopefully the meds will help. Warmth, before and after a feed, can help also, so might be worth a try. All the best hun! You have done such a fantastic job to get this far, I hope it's easier from here on in.
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