-Beyond The Quote
We were able to meet with my lactation consultant, Denise, today and it was such a relief!!! Q was indeed latching on incorrectly and we were not only able to fix it but able to find ways to get her to drink more even when she was asleep. With the help of a lactation consultant in Virginia I was able to start getting her to latch on over the weekend without all the pain but she still hadn't been drinking as much as she needed and she definitely wasn't efficient at it. We were able to get it all corrected today and it was really a burden lifted. So many times over the past few nights I have just wanted to quit and switch to formula but today really rejuvenated me!
Not all was great though, the first thing the Denise did was to have me strip her down to the diaper and put her on the scale - she weighed 7lbs 11oz. Only up 3oz. since her doctor's appointment on August 5th. Three ounces in 10 days is never good! We took her off the scale and I nursed her, she latched on and promptly fell asleep. We did some breast compressions to make sure that I continued to let-down (for everyone who isn't breastfeeding savvy, the "let-down" refers to when the milk begins to rapidly flow from the milk glands to the milk ducts and then into baby's mouth) in order to keep her interested. We detached her and did used some skin-to-skin techniques to wake her up and make her want to nurse more. After she finished the right side we weighed her again, she was up almost 1½oz! We then put her on the left breast and continued the breast compressions once she started to slow down her sucking or pause. After she seemed to be done we weighed her again, she was up another ½oz bringing her up to 7lbs 13oz! We put her to the right breast again and after weighing her she was just shy of 7lbs 14oz. I was elated that she had drank that much and apparently so was she because she slept in excess of 3 hours and I even had to attempt to wake her in order to feed her before putting her to bed.
After weighing her the final time we used the pump and were able to pump out another ounce or so which we were able to use as she showed me how to use a syringe and feeding catheter in order to supplement formula without using a bottle. It was giving her a bottle that initially caused her to begin latching on incorrectly so I want to avoid that if at all possible, for at least a few more weeks.
As for where we stand now: Denise called our pediatrician's office and spoke to another doctor in the practice (Dr. B is out on vacation until Wednesday). He recommended that I continue to nurse but after she finishes nursing to supplement with a little formula and keep track of how many ounces of formula she drinks. I'm not sure if I'll actually do this or not. I feel that if I do supplement and she puts on a few more ounces by then, then we'll have no way of knowing whether it was the formula or the breast milk that caused her to add the ounces. Dr. B is pretty good when it comes to trusting a mother's instinct so I think he'll be more than understanding towards whichever I decide to do. We have an appointment on Wednesday afternoon with Dr. B so hopefully we'll know more and have a little better direction by then.
As for me and my milk supply, I am going to call my OB, Dr. L, tomorrow and ask for a prescription for Reglan. It's typically used to treat heartburn but there is something in it which causes nursing mothers to produce an abundance of milk! I took one cycle of it while nursing Y when I experienced a drastic decrease in milk when Y was around 3 months old and I never had another issue after that. The cause of concern is that Reglan has a side effect of causing depression and suicidal thoughts which is made worse for those who have a history of depression. Whereas I don't have either currently, nor do I have a history or either I'm not so sure Dr. L would be willing to write a prescription for it before having my postpartum appointment which isn't until September 7th. In the event that he doesn't want to give me a prescription yet then I'll use other herbal supplements which are known to aid in increasing milk supply until after my postpartum appointment.
So that's where things stand as of right now but I'll keep you posted after Q's appointment on Wednesday.
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