Very best of luck. Your post brought back some anxious memories for me.
I too had my daughter (in Asia) via planned section at 35/36 weeks due to breech and preeclampsia. She was quite small ? just over 5 lbs ? although naturally small as I am small. But definitely a bit on the little side due to preeclampsia. Anyway. Because she was early I hadn?t really read up on the feeding side ? I was busy working and a bit in denial. Plus there were no ante-natal classes and I was in a bit of an isolated bubble. In some ways I was a blank canvas, which can be good, but in other ways it wasn?t good.
Looking back, it was bad that they kept taking her away from me and only bringing her to me every three hours (she needed time under lights for jaundice, but not all the time) but I knew no better. Paed who was present for the birth and expressed no concern about her size ? just about her clicky hip and slight head misshape from being against my ribs. But now I know that I needed to feed constantly really.
As it was my milk did come in within 48 hours. That said, the paed said that although you have to watch the weight fall of babies, they don?t HAVE to have milk in 48 hours and you can ride it out in some cases until it does come in. But that?s not my place to say as I?m not a HCP, I?m only reporting what my paed said to reassure me.
She was just so sleepy. It was a constant struggle to get her to suckle for more than 2-3 minutes. I could hardly open her slightly prem, tiny mouth. I had large but flattish nipples. I remember being in a blind panic those days trying to wake her, setting my alarm for every 2 hours in the night (once I forgot and she slept for 10 hours and I remember hating myself then). Holding her under the aircon unit, tickling, everything. You name it. But she must have got enough to tied her over as she came out of her sleepy jaundice state in about 2 weeks and really took to it sucking for what seemed like hours. I think the panic and concern completely blotted out the sleeplessness and nipple pain.
I tried expressing to augment my supply but I couldn?t really express. Besides she fed so frequently ? that there was no build up to easily express off and the pump never set off a let down to get more.
It was a shock when I took her for a weigh in the next week (so 10 days after birth) she?d lost 12-15 percent of her birth weight. But the paed wasn?t alarmed, said it was normal and said I could ?if I wanted, though? top her up with formula, or express in between feeds and syringe feed that.
This ? along with comments from strangers at how small my daughter was ?lah? ? started a long anxiety about her weight that took about a year to subside! But by this stage I?d spent hours on Kellymom and hired a private lactation consultant (who said I was doing fine) so knew that the key to successful feeding was constant access to the breast. So I babymooned for weeks and didn?t top up.
At about 3-4 months I felt I?d really crossed a barrier. She was putting on weight. Well within her line but not much over (I guess some HCPs and mothers would have liked more and may have been tempted to top up). The paed was very pleased with her progress. My daughter never exhibited any signs of not getting enough (she?s just a tiddler, still is) and her development was very advanced. This ultimately reassured me. I also had the freedom to feed all the time as she was my first child. It would be harder with a toddler around.
I continued to feed frequently. By around 14 months she was still feeding very frequently ? like some newborns. And co-sleeping and slung everywhere. By around 19 months I cut down the daytime feeds and by 22 months stopped feeding to sleep (what this all did to my sleep I won?t go into here!). I still feed her once a day most days (early mornings, so I get a sneaky lie-in until, erm, 7am) and I?m now 2 months pregnant (one side effect of all this demand feeding was no periods until she was 22 months old). She?s now 2 years and three months.
I sympathise with your concerns. Those early days seem so epoch shattering that every feed is a drama ? especially when they don?t just take to the breast like they are supposed to in books and videos. But if your baby is jaundiced and sleepy , please try to remember that it won?t be for long, as long as your try and wake her often and offer the breast as often she will get colostrum and some milk and you?ll probably be able to ride our those first shaky days. Your sleep and nerves, however, will probably suffer!
Good luck with the birth and you can do it. If a neophyte like me can, you can.