6 week old and weight issues!

[Seashore88]

Not exactly sure what im expecting from this - maybe it’s to vent but others experiences are welcome!

my little boy is 6 weeks tomorrow and had a bit of a rough pregnancy with him. He was diagnosed with a right sided aortic arch (a normal variant) but a ring has been made around this food/wind pipe because of this. He also has a small hole in his heart which should hopefully close on its own.
I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and extra fluid which resolved, and had metformin.

weights:
birth - 3330g
day 5 - 3280g (MW scales)
day 14 - 3500g (MW scales)
day 28 - 3400g (HV scales)
day 31 - 3995g (hospital scales)
day 33 - 3420g (hospital scales
day 35 - 3450g (HV scales) and again in hospital, 3415g
day 37 - 3475g (hospital scales)
day 41 - 3450g (HV scales)

Weve had a v rough week last week.. he’s been exclusively breastfed (feel confident having fed his 2 older sisters for 2 years each) since birth, but due to weight loss on day 28 his heart scan was brought forward to ensure it was causing no issues and was started on x2 high calorie top ups per day. We were then sent to a specialist hospital for more tests/scans (even had a general anaesthetic for one of them 😩) and they couldn’t find anything wrong, other than he has a slight chin recession and his tongue is slightly further back in his mouth which may be making him work harder to breathe and burn more calories so we were discharged. He gained 60g in 48 hours while we were there.

the HV has been today and according to her scales he’s maintained from when she came last week so has now dropped to 0.4th centile from 25th at birth.

honestly feel so drained and exhausted, I don’t think I’ve cried so much over the last week.

he’s always had a good nappy output, 7-8 wet nappies and 3/4 dirty (yellow) ones per day. He is quite a windy baby, big burps after a feed but doesn’t struggle with them and pumps a lot!

think I’ve spotted the first half a smile and acts like a normal baby would.

honestly I just don’t know where to go from here. I know im producing enough, he also has a bottle of expressed milk from dad if I’m in the bath or whatever over the last couple of days too - around 50mls which when breastfeeding so often is very normal.

no idea where to go from here but these centiles and the HV has me stressed to bits, so fed up of him being poked and prodded too!

Was he born at full term? I had a baby that lost weight/struggled to gain even though I was confident in his health and breastfeeding otherwise.
I had (probable) undiagnosed GD and extra waters, and after much handwringing and panicking, it was concluded that he was essentially born at an overinflated weight and had to 'catch-down' the percentiles.
I appreciated that it wasn't the norm and that they had to check things out, but my goodness, the way some of the HCPs spoke to me was so condescending!

He was, should’ve said that! He was born at 39+2

The extra fluid had resolved just before his birth so not sure if it would/could still make a difference?

ive been quizzed off every HCP while in hospital re feeding to the point where I felt like giving up because it must be me failing him. Feel completely emotionally drained, I just don’t understand why he lost after an initial gain then seems to be gaining very slowly or maintaining?? I don’t think the multiple different scales will be helping though.

he does feel a bit heavier to me but not sure if that’s my tired arms 😂

Reminds me a bit of DD.
She wouldn't gain weight reliably and by 5 weeks old wasn't even back to birth weight.
She was below the 0.1 centile.

God, it was incredibly stressful, and you've got my sympathy.

She struggled to nurse, but didn't have a tongue tie and the lactation consultant though it was an issue with her being quite small (6lbs at birth) and me having large nipples.

We ended up doing formula top ups but I still pumped and breastfed. It was 50/50 formula and breast milk. She gained really quickly and we went back to fully breastfeeding about 6 weeks later. At that point, she was bigger and stronger and far more efficient at the breast.

It’s so unbelievably draining isn’t it? Just makes no sense to me. My husband said I’ve cried more in the last week than the 15 years we’ve been together 😬 think it’s taking its toll on him and I’m getting on his nerves now, asking if he thinks his cheeks look chubbier etc!

did you find it easy going back to fully breastfeeding after 50/50?

Looking back, I was like a shell of me. It's just so worrying, and I felt wholly responsible for her wellbeing.

Absolutely, no issues returning to breastfeeding once she was able for it. I did have to pump regularly though (about every 4 hours) while doing the mixed feeding.

@Seashore88 Hi there - sorry, I know this was almost 11months ago. I hope your son is doing well? Hate to make you relive a stressful time, but any advice you have would be greatly appreciated as I’m experiencing similar with my first.

My boy struggled to feed and we were readmitted to hospital for jaundice and loss of too much weight.
We were put on a feeding plan when I could try him on the breast, try him with expressed and then a top up with formula.

We were on hospital for a few days then I kept this up on release. I eventually weaned him to be solely on the breast and carries on breastfeeding for 2 years!

If I were you, I'd introduce formula to top up feeding sessions until he is consistently putting on weight. Make sure to always try on breast first

Thanks so much for responding. Can I ask how long it took to get back to just breastfeeding?

@JustAnotherPermanentlyExhaustedPigeon have you read How might I increase my baby’s weight gain? And are you getting some RL BFing support?

Dd didn’t gain weight but it was low supply with me. Personally I would just do a quick ten minute breastfeed so he doesn’t tire himself up and then top him up with formula after every feed. Your supply might be ok but he might be struggling to get it out or maybe the breast milk isn’t calorific enough. You’ll end up with PND if you carry on like this.

The original post is from January.

Oops!

Don’t worry I do it all of the time. Someone revived a thread from about 2002 a couple of weeks ago and was trying to give the OP advice on the baby…