Evening all
My beautiful DD will be 3 weeks old on Friday and is not gaining weight. She's gained the odd 10g and then loses 20g.
She was born by cat 3 section 14 days late after failed induction due to cervical scarring meaning I was unable to dilate...despite 3 days of contracting. She was 8lb 5.
We did skin on skin straight away and started feeding in recovery. As expected she lost a bit of weight post birth and is now down to 7lb 9.
I thought feeding was going really well but each time she's weighed she's lost. We feed 2hrly day and night and the MW wants me to pump and top up every feed. Safe to say I feel like a full time milking machine. Tongue tie has been ruled out and we are getting loads of wet and dirty nappies, all mustard colour, not green.
She's generally well and appears content, however the scales say otherwise and it's really undermining my confidence. Generally she falls asleep on the breast after 20-30 minutes and milk nearly always drips from her mouth.
On Sunday just gone I had a secondary post partum heammorhage and lost approx 500mls, on top of 650 lost in theatre. My hb was 9.7 but that's now up to 11.6. They gave me antibiotics but said unsure if infection. CRP levels in my blood results was 2 so this seems unlikely. Plus blood isn't offensive. So I haven't taken them as don't want to upset her tummy. (Metronidazole is pure evil!)
The MW thinks I'm 'compromised' and has asked my GP to prescribe domperidone to see if that helps. I didn't get the omg my millks in feeling this time. They feel slightly full but not like they did when I fed DS 7 years ago.
If the drugs don't work they're on about testing her for
Metabolic disorders.
I feel awful. Like I'm letting her down and I feel foolish because I thought it was all going well.
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Infant feeding
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Tomkat79 · 04/06/2014 21:08
Hi tomkat thanks for your reply on my thread. I thought I'd be so chilled BF DC3, in fact was laughing at myself when I found the notebook where I'd religiously documented DS1's every feed and wet nappy, but here I am recording volumes and obsessing about it. MW has just phoned and suggested I just pump and bottle feed for 24 hrs but I'm reluctant, I'm already worried about introducing bottles of EBM so early. It would be the last straw if she forgot how to latch! I am pumping 45-50ml 8 times a day (after she has fed) and her requirement is 450 ml, surely to goodness she gets the extra 100ml from 8 what appear to me to be good BFs?? I am starting to worry that there is something really wrong 
Next weigh in tomorrow, we will see what that brings....
When is the next appointment for you?
I think me and fate are gonna fall out!
I was very lucky...the same afternoon I looked and panicked at the price of a medela swing my MW team leant me a double lasinoh electric pump. It's ok, it's just so deflating to only see half an oz after 10 mins! I started on domperidone today so fingers crossed it will work.
If not it's the dreaded f word for us. Thing is, it's not that bad. Found out today that friends have just lost their little boy at 38 weeks. Kinda puts things into more perspective for me. Yes it's crap that had to have section and then a pph and low milk but have a gorgeous little baby and she'll thrive whatever.
Really hope your dd has turned a corner last 24 hrs and she gains tomoro. Have these girls no idea what the last 9 months has been like 
I just wanted to pop on and say that you're (both posters) doing a great job in bloody challenging circs. My DD was a bit early, v low birth weight (growth restricted so only 2lb 10oz at 35+1, I had pre-e and emergency c sec. Getting my milk going was so hard- DD was too wee and sleepy to feed from me until 3 weeks so I had to pump enough milk to be ahead of feeds by about 3 feeds before going home from SCBU each night.
Pointers:
Pumping yield isn't necessarily indicative of actual supply- the 'art' of expressing is tricky. Try massage techniques on your breasts, try to pump with your baby near and see if you can get someone to massage your shoulders while pumping too.
Eat foods which promote breast milk production (google galactagogues). These include oatmeal and apricots
Research shows that coconut oil can boost proteins (I can't recall exact name) in breast milk
Try Polish milk tea also
Are you starting feeds on the breast that you last fed from then switching over a few minutes in? I hope I've remembered this correctly but this can mean that the baby gets straight to the hind milk if that breast wasn't completely emptied at the last feed. I may be wrong though- all of this was a while back for me.
With weight gain, this was also an issue with DD. They eventually took a urine sample and found her to have low sodium levels which was inhibiting weight gain.
Bottles/teats: we used medala calma teats and DD didn't have any nipple confusion. These teats mustn't be used for formula top ups though as the formula clogs the valve as we discovered
Good luck both of you and try not to worry, hard as it seems at the time 
Tiktok- coconut oil (I haven't a clue what coconut milk might do) contains/boosts lauric acid levels in breast milk (not protein as I said earlier- my bad, I was testiculating ... 
) Lauric acid has huge anti-microbial properties apparently.
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