Madeline Update

Just wanted to give a quick update. She is now on room air. She was taken off the c pap ealier today and then put on a nasal canula. Late this afternoon she came off it. She is doing good. While she was on the c pap she was not fed orally. She had an iv, and she still does. We are trying to give her 7 cc's per feeding. I am pumping and getting very little, but it has been less than 36 hours since birth. With the twins it took about until day 3. They are letting me try to breastfeed her. She doesn't have much interest in any form of eating really. The last two feeding times she has latched on and sucked once or twice but then would go back to sleep. I work with her for a while then give her the bottle. (colostrum plus formula). She loves to suck a paci and before I left this last feeding she was sucking up a storm on my finger. It seems like she likes to suck so now we are hoping it will click. I do have a question for those who had to give a bottle in nursery but then went on to breastfeed. How do you transition? We had the same issue with our dd and couldn't ever get her to breastfeed after giving her so many bottles. Both the twins had terrible stomach issues from formula and my son is still on meds for reflux. Any tricks to get her moving? Thanks for sharing ideas.

 

Glad your girl is doing better.
I was pressured into giving the girls bottles while still in the hospital and they did ok bfing after we got home. What we did was let them try to nurse as much as they seemed willing to and then top of a couple of their feedlings with a bottle. As my milk came in the bottles weren't as interesting to them and things worked out well.
It's great you're working on bfing. It will get easier as time goes by. :hug99: :hug99:

 

I had the same issues with pumping...even after my milk started to come in. I would pump and pump and only eek out a few ounces. The boys were so much more effective at emptying the breast so I just kept offering it to them. Obviously now you want her to get some nutrition to get up her strength, but once your milk comes in, see how she does. If you feel that she is getting enough from nursing, I would try to do that as much as you can and if possible, stop the bottle altogether...at least until she is profecient at nursing.

One of my boys was tube fed until about day 7. They wouldn't even let me nurse him. Day 8 was the first time I offered the breast and he just loved it. Interestingly, my twin who was breast (plus supplement) fed from day one had more trouble at first. Some feedings were a nightmare and we would all end up in tears and some worked very well. Also as they got closer to their due date, they got better at breastfeeding.

Best of luck to you.

Amy

 

Sounds like she is doing well!

To answer some of your bf questions, you might want to take a look in the Breastfeeding Forum. There's a great group of women in there that can help you out!!

 

Congrats again for your little girl! My milk didn't come in until day 5 when my twins were born. Babies are born with such tiny stomachs! They do not need much! The colustrum you are giving them, no matter how small the amount is great for them. It is formulated just for their needs, very rich in nutrition!
Tricks to keeping her awake are a wet washcloth, blowing on her, stripping her... most newborns tend to fall asleep trying to nurse! It is normal! Just keep it up (trying) and be persistant!
When they bottle feed, don't make it the most comfortable thing in the world. Hold them more upright. It will take a bit more persistance and stubborness to get her away from the bottle I found and get back to he breast. My dd was barely supplimented and she loved the bottle! HTH! The link for the breastfeeding forum is in my sig! There are many people there to support you! :hug99:

 

No advice on the b/f, but I hope she catches on soon! Glad to hear she is doing well!

 

QUOTE(twinzmom2b @ Jan 5 2008, 01:13 PM) [snapback]558783[/snapback]
No advice on the b/f, but I hope she catches on soon! Glad to hear she is doing well!

Ditto!

 

That is such goodness about Madeline!! WOOOHOO!
AS for the BF. It took 5 days before my milk came in. Dont get discouraged! Its normal when babies are born early to have our milk come in later than most people. It took me almost 8 weeks to get Irelynd off the bottle and onto just breast. Shae was never interested, she was to stubborn and wanted to eat and not work for it so I only got her to BF maybe a handful of times. Your doing great just getting her to suck for a little bit. Its a good start!!! Like Jackie said a babies tummy is so small, the size of a small marble, at birth that all they really need is our colustrum. Practice bf the beginning of every feeding I always changed their diapers first, that always woke them right up. If she only nurses for a minute then offer the bottle. These are just the things that I did to get my girls off the bottle and bf. Just keep up the good work your doing, you have an amazing start already!!

 

I'm so haapy to hear Madeline is doing so well! As for the b/f. My boys were given bottles in the NICU too and they did let me try to b/f, which was frustrating, I had the same issues pumping...but once we got home they caught on to nursing and nursed until they were 18 mos old! So hang in there, keep putting her to breast and continue to pump to get your supply going, they say the best time to pump is in the AM before you b/f. Remember she will get more than the pump even if it seems there is nothing left. You can do it, don't be afraid to supplement with the bottle for now and then wean her from it as she gets better at nursing...I think the boys were still getting one bottle at 3 mos, and as I said nursed until 18 mos.; and they used a paci up to 9 mos (so much for "nipple confusion!")So keep up the good work and Good luck!!!

 

If she likes to suck on your finger, maybe try to syringe feed her. My twins were born at 37 weeks and we had to teach them to suck for their food. I pumped and put the EBM in the syringe. Attached to the syringe was a small tube that I would tape to my finger. Everytime they sucked on my finger, I would push a small amount of EBM out of the syringe, rewarding them and teaching them that sucking ment goodness. It worked great, I was able to BF for 17 months, it did kind of back-fire though because they learned to like the breast so much, they never took bottles.

Best of luck to you!!!