mum2hannah
05-11-2006, 23:21
Hi Pinky,
I have an 8 week old daughter who was born by ceasarean at 36 weeks gestation due to growth restriction in the womb. She was just on 5lb at birth and spent 2.5 weeks in special care being tube and bottle fed. I was never able to establish breastfeeding with her although did so with my first daughter under similar circumstances. I was expressing and feeding her EBM entirely for the first six weeks and sought face to face advice from a couple of lactation consultants at four weeks, one of which was extremely helpful and helped me get my daughter attached and feeding with a couple of minor technique alterations. Despite my greatest efforts, I was not able to reproduce this success on my own (quite probably due to the pressure I was putting myself under to "get it right" and I'm sure my frustration was passed onto my girl...). I decided at that point that I would continue to express for as long as possible and bottle feed her the EBM, occasionally trying to get her to attach. My supply started to wane quite quickly, so I started on Motilium but ended up with a blocked milk duct two days later (I am told that the Motilium and blocked duct are not necessarily related, but I suppose I was dubious given the close time frame). This was all two weeks ago and amidst the pain of trying to clear the blockage, I thought I would try to attach my daughter again. Lo and behold, I was able to and have been feeding her - only a couple of times a day, and mostly for my own satisfaction, as I know that there is hardly any volume left there now as she takes a full bottle feed afterwards. In the past week, it has got increasingly easy to attach her, but I am getting not much more than 20-30ml when I express (just did this out of interest to see how much was there). Do you think that if I were to start taking the Motilium again and try topping her up with less formula after feeds so she gets hungry sooner and therefore feeds more often from me, I could get the breastfeeding thing happening again? What sort of time frame do you think it would take? After 8 weeks of trying so hard, I have been so close to giving it all away so many times, but am compelled to keep trying with every small victory. The fact that she has got a lot bigger and stronger and seems now to "get it" when it comes to breastfeeding encourages me too. I feel bad for the ups and downs I have inflicted on my family in the face of my desire to feed her, in particular my very patient three year old., but if there is a small chance that I could get it happening without too much more disruption to family life, I am prepared to give it a crack. Apologies for the novel I have just written - talk about pouring your heart out! Looking forward to hearing from you and hope you can help :)
Sarah
I have an 8 week old daughter who was born by ceasarean at 36 weeks gestation due to growth restriction in the womb. She was just on 5lb at birth and spent 2.5 weeks in special care being tube and bottle fed. I was never able to establish breastfeeding with her although did so with my first daughter under similar circumstances. I was expressing and feeding her EBM entirely for the first six weeks and sought face to face advice from a couple of lactation consultants at four weeks, one of which was extremely helpful and helped me get my daughter attached and feeding with a couple of minor technique alterations. Despite my greatest efforts, I was not able to reproduce this success on my own (quite probably due to the pressure I was putting myself under to "get it right" and I'm sure my frustration was passed onto my girl...). I decided at that point that I would continue to express for as long as possible and bottle feed her the EBM, occasionally trying to get her to attach. My supply started to wane quite quickly, so I started on Motilium but ended up with a blocked milk duct two days later (I am told that the Motilium and blocked duct are not necessarily related, but I suppose I was dubious given the close time frame). This was all two weeks ago and amidst the pain of trying to clear the blockage, I thought I would try to attach my daughter again. Lo and behold, I was able to and have been feeding her - only a couple of times a day, and mostly for my own satisfaction, as I know that there is hardly any volume left there now as she takes a full bottle feed afterwards. In the past week, it has got increasingly easy to attach her, but I am getting not much more than 20-30ml when I express (just did this out of interest to see how much was there). Do you think that if I were to start taking the Motilium again and try topping her up with less formula after feeds so she gets hungry sooner and therefore feeds more often from me, I could get the breastfeeding thing happening again? What sort of time frame do you think it would take? After 8 weeks of trying so hard, I have been so close to giving it all away so many times, but am compelled to keep trying with every small victory. The fact that she has got a lot bigger and stronger and seems now to "get it" when it comes to breastfeeding encourages me too. I feel bad for the ups and downs I have inflicted on my family in the face of my desire to feed her, in particular my very patient three year old., but if there is a small chance that I could get it happening without too much more disruption to family life, I am prepared to give it a crack. Apologies for the novel I have just written - talk about pouring your heart out! Looking forward to hearing from you and hope you can help :)
Sarah