Hi, my DS was born in Monday afternoon weighing 9lb 12oz. He was with me for about 12 hours, all was going well, then had to be admitted to SCBU for inhalation of meconium initially then septicemia. I'm a second time mum who fed my dd for a year so was expecting my milk to come in around day 2 or 3, but I'm not yet experiencing engorgment. For the first two days he was sleepy and feeding every three hours. I managed to avoid top ups as his blood sugar levels were fine, lots of wet and dirty nappies. On Wednesday night the neonatal nurse wanted to go to demand feeding and said as he was so big he should be able to go 4 hours. DS had other plans and wanted to feed every 1.5 to 2 hours. Blood sugars were all still fine though, wet dirty nappies etc. Lots of pressure was put on about topping up with formula though as he "should" be having 66 ml every three hours.
I spoke to a midwife on the maternity unit as I was concerned about my milk and she suggest the stress of ds being in SCBU and being separated was delaying things and I should start expressing to help things. I could only get a couple of ml off in the morning but by the end of the day I was getting 10-15 straight after a feed and 25 a couple of hours after feeding him. That big (for me!) express then affected the next feed though I think as he woke within an hour to feed again. They also gave him a couple of formula top ups during the day and he went back to three hourly feeds.
I then got kicked out of Maternity due to a bed shortage but fortunately SCBU said I could sleep in their family room as I was bf. Even more special they said DS could stay with me. He did really well last night and did stretches of 3 and 2 hours, but he did have 35ml of expressed bm as well as feeds. I'm not worried about the frequency of feeding as he is trying to drive my supply but I am worried that I am still not engorged on day 5. He had a feeding frenzy this morning and fed non stop for about 2 hours. Every time I put him down the cues would start again, and I know he's frustrated because he wants more milk, but quite frankly my boobs are sore! No significant damage just some blood blisters and bruising, nothing more than I had first time I bf. He has a powerful suck, and pulls his head after about ten minutes of feeding making his latch more shallow and then when I take him off he's frustrated and it all starts again! He is feeding so much though I'm struggling to express any decent amounts in between feeds.
Should I persist with expressing and if so when is the optimum time to do so, or shall I let him drive supply solely? Also what do I do about the tugging? It's so annoying and sore! I keep a hand on his back to try and keep him close but he is determined to shallow latch. Sorry this is so long but I wanted to get as much information down as possible.