Baby had her first check up today.
Let me tell you, if you live in Beaumont and are looking for a stellar pediatrician, Dr. Kayani is your woman.
Carolyn started out the appointment in good fashion by shooting poo all over the entire examining table. I can't say that I blame her or was even a little sorry for the nurse because at the time, the nurse was trying to get a rectal temperature...if I were a baby and had no other weapons, I would have pooped on her, too.
I felt pretty good throughout the entire question and answer period except when the nurse asked me at least four times if there was any mental retardation in our family.
Ummm...exactly what are you getting at, there, nurse?
Then came the part I'd been looking forward to - the weight. Because, you know, I wanted to see how great my breast milk is at adding the pounds. We all know I'm always trying to measure my motherly awesomeness in finite terms.
I'm not going to lie when I say that my ego was a little crushed when I found out I have no birthing hips. I consoled myself on that one by reminding myself that even though I'm not a world class birther, I am pretty good at incubating. Well, if you count "good" as someone who's sick for nine months of pregnancy. Crap. Maybe I'm not good at any of it...
Anyway, they weighed her up only to find that not only has she not gained any weight over the past eleven days, she's actually lost four ounces.
Wait.
From what I understand, she was supposed to have gained an ounce a day. According to my outstanding math skills, that's eleven ounces. She should weigh nearly 8.5 pounds.
Beside, look at her parents! If anything, she should be gaining weight like a corn fed beef steer. We like to eat in our family - and the pounds aren't shy about distributing themselves to our ever-enlarging guts. It is against nature to have a weight loser in the family!
Plus, she's doing everything she's supposed to do - eating regularly every 2-3 hours, nursing for 35 minutes at a time, wetting the right amount of diapers, and don't even get me started on the number of *dirty diapers* she's making...
Now what?
One word for you: supplementation.
Dr. Kayani loaded us up with free formula samples and instructions to "feed that baby" because she's "obviously hungry" and following up with "we will wait for a while to see - maybe your milk just hasn't come in yet".
Hasn't come in yet?? Am I not past the point where I should have sufficient milk for my child?
Sigh.
I guess my breast milk isn't going to be a point of pride after all.
*Isn't my life exciting?*
7 comments:
Oh, I LOVE Dr. Kayani. She's the absolute greatest. And, I love the nurse and the sweet southern red-head receptionist! :) But, I will give you a tip. Dr. Kayani is super strict with newborns. She was on me like white on rice about Gabi's weight, especially since she was so tiny and had some trouble gaining in the beginning. Oh, and Dr. Kayani hated that we had Ellie in the house before Gabi was 6 months. Lol. Stick it out and you'll be fine. And, Dr. K gets better and better as she gets to know you. Now, she's like an old friend.
I am quite please with my cream, oh I mean breast milk. My 4 monther is tiping the scales at 20lbs! I call her my little Michelin baby.
:]
My 2 month old is 12lbs...but we are supplementers!!! So, have no fear..it'll help your little! :)
Plus, it's not as "degrading" as it may sound. My milk didn't come in for nearly a week so Marlee was on bottle right quick!
Then, I went back to work after 3 weeks...I pump once a day and only get about 5oz...which is certainly not enough for her the next day..so she gets a little bit of formula to well...supplement!
Don't fret...you're the best mom not matter what the silly numbers say!
Erin, most babies loose a little weight. She's ok. Your milk regulates to what the baby eats so supplimenting is tricky. If you have to, you have to, but give it another week or so, she'll start gaining, everything back and then some ;). It's ok. You are good at this mothering stuff. She's here isn't she? She's fine. You delivered her safe and sound, and your keeping her that way, so good job mama. I think you've done an A+ job so far.
Of course your milk production sucks--you had a c-section. I supplemented both my babies due to jaundice. They both turned out fine. Carolyn will love sucking down that formula and she won't cry as much. :) She'll be gaining weight in no time! Good luck lady...call me if you need a pick-me-up. :)
ps-I swear in my first months of having Payson that I called Tamar an average of 23 times a day since she was the NICU RN in the family and she knows a ton. You've got to have people to turn to, right? :)
Erin it will all work out! Having gone thru this recently myself I totally understand where you are coming from. You can check out my blog for more specific details but I have ended up switching over to formula because I just couldn't make enough milk for Jillian, she was draining both sides every feeding and it started to get very taxing because then she would just cry in hunger. We started supplementing and it was good but I was trying to over due myself to "get the production going". I was nursing, pumping, and supplementing and I cracked. We switched to formula and she is doing great, it took me a while to accept the fact that I just wasn't cutting it.
By the way, she is absolutely beautiful! :)
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE call your local La Leche Leader (www.llli.org or call Heather 347-1245). Don't give up. You're body was designed for this.
I definitely believe every woman should do what's best for her and her child and ONLY you can know what that thing is. Just please, make informed choices. Lots of people don't know the ARA and DHA they put in formula is made from fermented mushrooms and algae and THEN processed with hexane, a known neurotoxin.
Just do some research, get a hospital grade pump (yes, there is a difference) and good luck to you!
Post a Comment