I am breastfeeding dd who is 3 weaks old. It has not been easy. She was jaundiced and extremely sleepy and difficult to feed for the first two weeks. She reached her birthweight by 2 weeks. But since then she has not put on any weight. She is still somewhat difficult to feed, and often falls asleep after 5 minutes or so. I then change her nappy/wind her/ switch her to the other side, etc to get her to continue. She feeds for around 45 minutes, sometimes for an hour, but not all of that is good active feeding. She spends some of that time just sucking but not swallowing. I have tried compressions but that is difficult because I have also developed mastits and I worry that compressions are making me more susceptible to blocked ducts.
Yesterday was a particularly bad day, I was up with her until 4 am with her screaming, and refusing to feed, she kept it up for 4 to five hours, and finally fell asleep after around a 10 minute feed. She didn't wake up this morning, and I had to wake her at 7.30, and she has just gone to sleep. She fed quite well for 20 or 30 minutes, but in this time she should have had two feeds. I am worried about her not feeding very well, and about my supply dwindling. I woke up this morning and my breasts were not engorged. She is also refusing the left breast totally, and only wants to feed from the right.
Should I express from the left side to safeguard supply?
How do I store the milk, should I sterilize?
Would it be ok to give her a bottle of ebm now? Will she get nipple confusion?
I am worried about her lack of weight gain. The health visitor has said that she will weigh her again next week, and then we will try to do something about it and that she is confident that dd will have gained weight by then. I am not as confident as the health visitor, because I know she is not feeding very well.