Hi
So, my DD2 was born 6 wks prem and is now 3 wks 5 days old. we were in SCBU in hospital for 16 days during which time I worked very hard to establish BFing which was hindered by the fact that I have flat nipples. I've been using nipple shields successfully since my milk came in. I was unable to BF my DD1 due to neck issues that were undetected until she was 6 wks old and I was really keen to BF this time for a number of reasons - financial as formula is so expensive, convenience as bottles are such a pain when trying to go anywhere or do anything!
Anyway, we've been home for around 1.5 weeks. I am struggling on a number of levels including finding a good position to feed her but the main issues are as follows:
I'm struggling a bit and it's probably mostly in my head and exaccerbated by lack of sleep but this is what is happening:
1. During the day she has generally been feeding well, doing around 30-40 mins worth of feeding and had been falling asleep and resting well between feeds for a couple of hours. This has changed today, not very much rest and some feeds have been short (max 15 mins) or have been a total of 40 mins of feeding time but spread out over 1.5-2 hrs. Very little rest in between and even when she is asleep she is very wriggly and crying out.
2. Last night she started really doing the short feeds again, often only doing 5-6 mins before zonking out. As soon as I tried to put her down (either next to me or in her carrycot) she would wake and start rooting around again. She would only really sleep in snatches and as long as she was being held by DH or I. I actually ended up falling asleep propped up with her on my chest at one point as she just wouldn't settle at all. As soon as I lay her down next to me she started rooting around. I guess she probably went anywhere between 1.5 hrs and 2.5 hrs between feeds but her feeds were spread out over 1 - 2 hr periods. I have been keeping a note on my iphone note thing and copy a section as an example:
Saturday eve
20:18-20:35 (L) 17 mins
20:46-21:03 (L) 17 mins
21:11-21:16on and off (R)
21:26-21:36 (R) 10 mins
22:30-22:42 (R) 12 mins
23:25-23:32 (L) 7 mins
23:59-00:06 (L) 7 mins
Sun 03.06.12
Wet
00:19-00:26 (L) 7 mins
02:18-02:28 (R) 10 mins max,
04:25-04:40 (R) but v on and off
04:42-04:49 (L), same, on and off
04:57-5:08 (L) 11 mins
05:20-05:25 (L)
Wet
08:00-08:20 (L) 20 mins
08:31-08:42 (R) - not sure she's getting anything from it? No milk in shield.
08:44-???
3. So, what are my main concerns?
i) She is not resting, for example, she has been awake on & off between 3.45pm - 8.45pm. Being prem and still so young, she should really be getting lots of rest shouldn't she?
ii) By using the nipple shield am I stopping her being able to get enough milk? I wonder whether she is getting worn out feeding through it and so keeps falling asleep on the boob only to wake and still be hungry. I am trying to not use the shields but cannot always get her latched on without it. .
iii) Excessive wind - this has def become a problem again. She is constantly possetting, sometimes what looks like new milk, other times quite curdled/digested milk. This seems to be exacerbated by being put down or moved. She cries out, drawing up her legs, arching her back and straining. She is doing wet nappies throughout the day and around 2 dirty nappies in a 24 hr period.
4. I feel so very lacking in confidence in my ability to feed her and keep her satiated. I worry that she is always hungry and unable to rest because she is not getting enough. I am aware that this is probably all in my head and that I am stressing myself out needlessly but I think lack of sleep is not allowing me to be very rational. I feel like the only contact I have with her is to feed her as she won't rest on me, almost always rooting around when on me. I am getting stupidly tearful and very negative about everything which isn't a good place to be.
Just to clarify, she had gained a further 60g when weighed yesterday so I know that she is doing ok in that regard. I guess I need to know whether this is quite normal feeding behaviour for a prem baby and whether she will settle down as time goes on. We haven't started doing the BW stuff yet as technically she should still be inside for a few more weeks and I wanted to just focus on feeding and sleep, neither of which seem to be going very well at the moment!
Ok, I've rambled on for too long, all advice gratefully received.
Shanaz