My baby will be 3 weeks old on weds, was born at home, 9lb 5oz, traumatic fast delivery (first baby, 4hour labour) - shoulder dystocia, near hemorrhage for me, rescue breaths for him, ending in a 4th degree tear for me and an admission to hospital.
Before he was born I said I wanted to breast feed but wouldnt be gutted if I couldnt for whatever reason. It turns out that actually its becoming the be all and end all for me, its not going well and im desperate for it to work. So far, this is whats happened:
Meconium passed at delivery, loads of it, good clear out. Next poo not until he was 4 days old, brown in colour, no meconium. He was also weighed at 4 days old and had lost 9.6% of birthweight. At this point my milk was only just coming in, which according to the midwife is common after a difficult delivery.
Was weighed again 2 days later and had a small gain, taking him up to a 9.4% loss. Still no more poos. Since then, has only pooed 4 times total since birth (longest gap between movements being 9 days) and weight gain is steady but slow (sometimes 50g in a couple of days, sometimes 10g, has never lost or stayed static). We were readmitted to hospital on day 9 and got checked, drs said nothing wrong, no blockages or anything. Baby was diagnosed with tongue tie which we had snipped last tues. Since then he has gained 120g, which again, although steady, isnt a massive amount. He is still 200g from being back at birth weight.
Am getting plenty of wet nappies, no poos (big one on sat and fully expecting not to see another for the rest of the week) I think the issue now is bad latching habits, I dont think he opens his mouth wide enough and when he does get on properly he still manages to 'slide back' so to speak so I dont think he's getting as much as he could. In himself he is a very contented baby, wakes for feeds, sleeps in 3 hour blocks, is alert when awake, doesnt look at all unhealthy.
Im not actually sure where im going with this, I could cry every time he gets weighed and it isnt a big gain, im trying so hard to succeed at this but just keep getting told latch looks good. I dont think it can be good if he isnt gaining faster! Its such hard work for such small gains, I feel like im starving him with my inability to feed him properly and my bloody mindedness about not wanting to give formula. Im pumping to increase supply (also soul destroying as getting hardly anything off and he wont take a bottle anyway, although I understand about it not being an indicator of supply)
What can I do to make this right? I so so want to succeed and feed my baby myself but I cant help feeling im doing him a disservice trying to carry on
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Infant feeding
Please please help me get through this issue with breastfeeding!
mangofizz · 21/04/2014 15:29
Do try to get somebody/everybody to look at the latch, even a seemingly perfect latch could be improved with positioning. Are you sitting somewhere comfortable to feed? Drink plenty of water during feeds, I always have a bottle of water to hand, and some snacks. Are you taking bf vitamins? I notice a difference if I forget for a few days!
If you don't think your baby is latched on right you should take them off and try again. My DS never opened his mouth wide enough at that edge. I've been told many different ways to help, touching his nose with the nipple never worked here. I had a midwife who waited for a yawn and slammed him on me 
one that did work was rolling the breast into his mouth. Putting the nipple on/near his nose and rolling down without leaving his face. Also try holding your breast so that it is more oval than round to help him latch on. Seeing someone in person is very helpful, they might tell you to hold baby higher up or more to the side. The position you hold them is important in the early days. At 9m my DS just sorts himself out 
It does get easier once you get into the swing of things!
Glad you're feeling a little more positive tonight mango
You mentioned that you feel cack handed....you might find biological nurturing useful-just google it plus Dr Suzanne Colson. In short it's laid back breastfeeding-feeding semi reclined which stimulates the baby's innate feeding instincts and you don't need to worry about a 'correct hold'. Just get comfortable, skin to skin ideally and enjoy!
Would like to say I felt completely awkward feeding on my right side. I still do a bit. If I'm holding baby and not feeding it's always on my left so having to hold him on the right felt unnatural!
Any formula you give would be reducing your supply, you said yourself you know amount expressed has no relevance to what you have in there, but if the milk isn't removed it will reduce. You can fix it later but I'm not sure it's really necessary to be messing around with your supply when it's trying to become established.
When he falls asleep on the boob do you remove him or let him keep sucking? Those sleepy sucks still gets him milk and increases the demand. You can try to rouse him a bit when he does this, tickle/rub behind his ear or blow on his face. Or you can open up his clothes to make him a bit less comfortable
I have to disagree with pp who said to feed from both sides. Have you looked into how your milk is made and what it consists of? I read loads of crap websites when I was pregnant. Your milk has two stages- foremilk and hindmilk. Foremilk is clear-ish (less creamy looking) and sugary. This is what quenches babys thirst. Hindmilk is creamy and fatty and what will help baby put on weight. If you change sides too early baby will be filling up on foremilk from both sides and getting very little hindmilk. As baby is so young I'm sure you feel a big difference between full and empty. Even when you feel empty there is still some milk there, milk is continuously being made.
I don't think poos are a problem (unless some of your health professionals are concerned). Bf babies don't have a normal poo range, it's as unique as your milk!
I don't think I've misunderstood, perhaps failed to explain myself. I'm only speaking from experience regarding using both sides for one, it never worked for me unless baby asked for it. And it made him ill.
I remember at the start everybody telling me to do different things and not knowing who to believe, you do your own research and find something that works for you and baby.
The problem with saying op must feed from both sides is that she may end up not allowing baby to finish on the first side by trying to ensure he gets the second side. I sometimes offered the second side when it looked like DS was finished with the first.
Op, whatever system you use (both side per feed or alternate) your milk will regulate to a norm eventually.
On another note, when you express does your milk separate? Maybe it doesn't get a chance if it's used straight away
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