Crying

[PaulsMom]

Hang in there.  it will get better once your milk comes in. 

Glad you saw a LC.  I'm a bit surprised by the pumping before the feed.  I was instructed to pump for 10 or ideally 15 min after the feed and use the expressed milk as a top up after the next feed. I wont lie, it was a lot of work but totally worth it in the end as i was able to bf my ds for 13 months.  Both of my bubs were super sleepy.  I ended up doing the diaper change part way through the feed as a way to wake them up.

[CCCmom27]

Super sleepy babies here too.  Have tried breast compressions to keep the milk flowing?  Does she wake to take a bottle?  Glad you've seen the lactation consultant.

[Fiver]

Can't disagree with any of what Em posted from Jack Newman!  Fluids so inflate weight and are rarely taken into consideration.

Often it does take a little longer for the change from colostrum to milk to take place after a c/s as mentioned before because you haven't pushed a baby out.  If you're still producing colostrum, as others have said, rather than pumping switch to hand expressing.  You will most likely get more out as there is skin to skin contact that a pump doesn't give (albeit your own skin!)

For what it's worth, to have got out 10ml of colostrum is AMAZING!  I managed 2ml after my c/s with DS and was mortified until I found out that was actually plenty for him.

Another tip for feeding a sleepy baby is stroking their cheek upwards from the corner of their mouth towards the cheekbone.  This actually stimulates the suck reflex, so will get them sucking again even if they're asleep.

Also presuming (perhaps inaccurately) that you meant 2oz lost rather than 2lb  

[twogirlsmommy]

Thanks for all the advice ladies! And no I means almost 2lbs. She was born weighing 9lbs 1.6 oz and on leaving the hospital she was in the very high 7s.

[Shiv52]

That's not actually too bad for weight loss because its actually over just over 1lb weight loss given she was just 9lb and was just less than 8lb on leaving hospital.   Breastfed babies can be expected to lose up to 10% of their birth weight so at over 9lbs you'd be expecting in and around 14-15 oz of weight loss which is nearly 1lb.

So don't panic too soon. I'd persevere with waking for feeds around the clock and using all the tricks the ladies have posted. If supplementing I'd probably syringe it rather than bottle feed as it will work against the BFing if she is a sleepy feeder because the milk will just drip into her mouth rather than her having to actively suck which makes BFing even harder.

Did she why you pump before feeding?  I'd always thought you fed first then pumped otherwise baby is sucking on empty and won't be motivated to suck? 

[Fiver]

What I didn't say before is that you CAN definitely do this.  If your milk still hasn't come in, definitely hand express and as Shiv said, if you do need to supplement, syringe, cup or finger feeding are the most conducive ways for maintaining BF longer term and if you can express or get donor milk to supplement with, all the better x

[Erin M]

Just adding in some (((hugs))) and encouragement!  Jaundice made dd2 super sleepy, she was hard to feed those first few days.  It's good your latch has been looked at -- if that's working right, you should get there.  Lots of skin to skin contact like the other ladies have said will make your milk come in faster. 

[Erin M]

Breastfed babies can be expected to lose up to 10% of their birth weight so at over 9lbs you'd be expecting in and around 14-15 oz of weight loss which is nearly 1lb.

And I agree with this -- I don't remember what dd1's numbers were, but both dd2 and ds were right at that 10% mark when we left the hospital and had both surpassed their birth weight at their 2 week checks. 

[twogirlsmommy]

Thanks ladies. Our biggest concern is she is peeing crystals so she is dehydrated which is not helping the sleepiness. I'm pumping 5ml of breast milk ever 3 hours so she is getting that but she still is also gettin an ounce if formula at each feed b/c she now is not latching. We go to the ped tomorrow for a weight check and a jaundice check.  I will then have a week and a half to get this established before dh goes back to work. 

[Erin M]

DS peed crystals too in the beginning.  (((hugs)))

[Diana1981]

I remember ds1 was an excellent feeder, but ds2 struggle a bit at the beginning because he could not latch properly. He made clicking sound and the milk was all over his face. I gave birth on a monday and milk arrived saturday or sunday. It was not quick like the first time.

I have also read its very common for babies to lose up to 10% of their body weight...

[koe2moe]

5ml isnt bad!!!  Keep at it!  Vibes that she will get more hydrated and feeding!  Lots of prayers and hugs!

[twogirlsmommy]

I think the worst part of this is we are waking her to eat and she never wakes up lol. I got close to 10ml last pump but she is just such a sleepy baby that even w/ a bottle of ebm it takes her 30 min to eat.

[anna*]

Hang in there. I had to pump and feed for a few days when Stan had jaundice. It is hard work for sure but soon enough she will wake up a little.

[CCCmom27]

(((hugs))) glad you have DH there for a bit while you get somewhat settled.