breastfeeding newborn - questions

[EmmaBemma]

hello. i have a beautiful week old baby girl who is feeding round the clock. she spent her first two and a bit days of life in special care whilst i erxpressed colostrum onto a spoon. we got started with bf in scbu and then she transferred onto a ward with me. we came home yesterday.

my concern is that she's not satisfied by my milk. i know many mothers worry about this but i do have good reason - i had a breast reduction in 2004. bf is possible after reduction but likely will have supply issues eventually - though differs in individual cases. for best chance of success, need lots skin to skin and latching on in early days which obv was disrupted for us. last night/this morning, no joke, she fed constantly for 4 hours and we've just had another hour this morning. is this normal?

latch is apparently fine, she isn't struggling at breast, she is having wet and dirty nappies (browny yellow)

i am so desperate for this to work, having ff my first daughter after the reduction from birth and always regretting it since. but i am buggered!

Congratulations on your baby girl

I have to admit 4 hours doesn't sound normal, no, sorry.
That said, if she's having wet and dirty nappies and you have no other concerns then that's the test!

Is your MW still visiting?

I don't know anything about breast reductions and would suggest talking to a trained breast feeding counsellor about your worries.

BUT

just to say the feeding pattern sounds just like my DD in the first few days/weeks, so it's not necessarily a sign of a problem.

It could well be normal, given your situation.

What makes you believes she's not satisfied?

How many poos does she have in a day? (Poos count if they're bigger than a 50p piece.)

And are your nipples hurting, or damaged at all?

I've known mothers who breastfed well after reductions, as long as the reduction was done in a way that was careful about the milk ducts, it shouldn't pose a problem.

thank you! mw will visit today for first time.

the four hour-a-thon: she would feed for 10-20 mins, fall asleep, i would put her in basket, she would wake, root about, feed again, repeat. we eventually both fell asleep in bed with her suckling still!

oh THAT is normal!!

nqc: right nipple a bit sore, think latch could probably be better so nipple gets further into mouth, though i can hear her swallowing.

poos: maybe 3-4 (yesterday)

just the constant feeding concerns me - that and the fact i had a reduction, so am hyper-alert for problems.

thanks for replies, i appreciate it!

thank you loopymumsy - def sounds like the latter. this is all v reassuring - i can cope with the tiredness if no accompanying nagging worry something is wrong.

that's good to know! they weighed her on discharge from hospital (on day 6) yesterday and she had indeed lost weight - she was 3400 at birth (7 lb 8) and was down to 3250, so 150 grams. they didn't seem bothered but i was, because i didn't know about the 10% thing. so it seems she was within limits, phew. they did top up my meagre colostrum expressings with formula via her NG tube in special care, though that was only for a day (she was on nil-by-mouth the first day, poor mite).

Have you figured out how to feed lying down? This will help with the marathon cluster feedings in the early days

It does all sound normal so far, although I understand why you are alert for problems. Congratulations on your DD!

congratulations! Just want to say that my ds was a constant cluster feeder as a newborn. While i'm no expert, esp re reduction, your description does sound very familiar to me! Good on you for getting bf up and running under such tricky circumstances!