Our appointment with the lactation consultant went really well. I left feeling reassured and encouraged that there was hope and that I was doing the best I could.
Adelaide's latch was great, she said I was doing all the right things to get my supply up (dom, fenugreek, power pumping, etc.) and Adelaide was taking in enough in a nursing session (weighed 5 minute feeding indicated 2.5oz taken in). She suggested I add blessed thistle to the regime, which I need to remember to do tomorrow and she instructed me to cut out the midnight pump. Apparently I need the sleep more than the milk. She also suggested switch nursing so that my lazy, sleepy eater got multiple let downs and a little wake-up call mid-feeding. In the end, she told me that she wasn't concerned and sent that information to my doc. She basically said she wasn't concerned and that the lack of weight gain wasn't anything breastfeeding related that she could see. It was nice to have someone telling me that I was doing OK. She was confident that we'd be able to cut out the constant pumping and eventually the supplements with a little work and the right cocktail of supply increasers.
Adelaide then went for a weight check on Wednesday and was up over 9lbs 9.5oz!! Granted, she had eaten not long before, but that was the case the two weeks previous, so this was promising news! The doctor finally gave us a reprieve and said she wasn't really concerned anymore. She still wanted to see us in two weeks (better than a week) and said since she had already sent a referral to a pediatrician, she wouldn't revoke it... but she was just acting on the side of caution. She really feels , because she checks out so well otherwise, that the babe is just small.
The switch nursing has made a huge difference in both my supply and keeping the babe actively interested in eating, and I actually notice Adelaide is not nearly as interested in the bottle supplements. We went from 2oz down to 1.5 because she was spitting some of it up, but now I'm starting to think that even that is too much. We're going to go down to 1oz and see what happens.
I've been able to pump enough to avoid formula so far, and I'm crossing my fingers and toes that, that continues. I even took a break from pumping at every feeding today. I was able to pump enough this morning (at 5am), combined with yesterdays leftovers, to have enough for the day and a little 3oz freezer stash. I'll still get up at 5am to pump for as long as she needs supplements, and will probably pump after every other feed tomorrow just to make sure my supply stays up, but it was a nice little break today. Nursing the baby is wonderful, but the power pumping is hard work.
In all, I'm happy with the way things are starting to go. Hopefully it continues and we will be able to successfully cut out the power pumping, and eventually the supplementing, and I'll be able to go back to EBF. I long for the days of being able to just sit and cuddle with my girl after she finishes eating. We're working our way back there.
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