Delay to starting due to sick baby

[*Liz*]

Hiya. DS was born and immediately had breathing issues so went to NICU. I've decided too see if I can make and milk for him, but only used the pump for the first time 15 hours after birth  . I know better than that really, but he was poorly yk?

Obviously after my surgery it may not work  .

I'm getting nothing yet. About 3 drops of colostrum on one side only.

Obviously I need to keep pumping, but any other experiences with trying to establish a delayed supply with a pump welcome  .

[C&B&E]

Massive hugs Liz. 

Can you hire a hospital grade pump (or have you got access to one since your little sweetheart is in NICU?).  They are SO much better than normal handheld ones. 

Are you getting any support through the hospital or NCT? xxx

[*Liz*]

Yes, there is a hospital grade electric on the unit and they have lent my one to take home as well  .

I did quite a bit of pumping with Jacob as he was slow to start feeding, but I was still getting to hold him and put him to the breast I guess  .

[C&B&E]

 ...yes, it must be so hard to not be with him, on every level. 

Ev had such a bad tongue tie that part of my nipple came off (tmi  ) and so I wasn't able to feed her for several days, as I was bleeding a fair bit on the other side too.  So I had to pump exclusively, and she had to have some formula for 3-4 days as they were worried about her blood sugar  .  But it is possible to get your supply going.  Fenugreek helped me too.  And lots of skin to skin when you get him back 

[weaver]

Yes to lots of skin to skin, and fenugreek.  Oats apparently also good for production.

Are you allowed to take him out of his cot in NICU to feed?  I'd ask and see if you can. You may get different answers depending on who you ask.  It does pay to be bolshie sometimes if you think he's up to it.  (I speak from experience, LO2 was in NICU (for no good reason, I might add) and I had to fight to BF her.) Even a few minutes of him having a go will help.  Plus a snuggle would be lovey.

Hot baths may help get things going too, if you can have one and then try to pump?  Just try to keep pumping as you can.

[creations]

OK these may be old wives tales but...
Looking at a photograph of him if you can't be with him and record him crying and play it whilst you pump.

I hand pumped the colostrum so it didn't get lost in the pump tube as there's so little of it, my breast feeding support lady advised this for the first several days, and catch it in a cup or syringe. I wonder if you can freeze colostrum in a syringe to give him??

[weaver]

^^^ Good point.

The one thing they did do right was to syringe feed the colostrum. Colostrum is incredibly hard to express - it takes AGES, Liz, honestly - but do try to handexpress it and catch it in a teaspoon or directly in the syringe.  If you're anything like me, it will come literally drop by drop, each drop forming up slowly on its own etc.  But every drop is solid gold so it's worth it

[CCCmom27]

No advice but wanted to add some (((hugs))) and say I was able to nurse H right away but had to pump starting on day 2 bc he was jaundiced and I got a very small amount as well. So even with nursing right away it was difficult to get much.

[jessmum46]

Realistically with breathing difficulties he won't be allowed to attempt to breastfeed in NICU until he is better. However they may be able to get you some skin to skin (kangaroo care) which could help, as would pumping at the bedside.  The syringe idea is definitely a good one (yes you can freeze it - they can even give you some tiny 1-2ml ones).  Try not to worry too much, it is still very early days and he was prem, it can take a while for your supply to kick in and many mums manage to establish some supply even delaying 24/48h to get going.  Keep pumping regularly including at least once overnight and fingers crossed you will see some results soon.  Big well done to you for giving it a go xxx

[*Liz*]

He's def too poorly to try to feed currently. Hoping for a cuddle this afternoon  .

I guess it's hard because we don't know if it's just that my breasts are too broken  .

[weaver]

You're a superstar to even contemplate it, Liz.  All you've been through before and in the run up to his birth, you really are amazing

Lots of strengthening vibes for your wee boy and hoping you get your snuggle

[Fiver]

In my totally non-medical opinion I reckon if you're getting ANYTHING out at all (3 drops, 1 drop...), your breasts aren't broken.  Hand expressing colostrum really is the way to go as there's so little of it to start with.  Also you're getting a bit of skin to skin contact there too, even if it's just your own skin!

If you ask for small syringes, make sure you've got the right ones!  I ended up getting some from a MW friend that I filled with colostrum antenatally and ended up not being able to use because they had some sort of coating that wasn't going to be safe (or something like that!)

When I was doing that, my BFC friend advised to do 10 minutes on each side, by doing 4 minutes on each, 3 minutes each, 2 minutes etc so you don't get too uncomfortable, but hopefully things will get going.  If I were you, I'd be trying to do that probably every 3 hours at a minimum, but obviously you have other things that you'll be wanting to do as well (like having cuddles, if you can), so just take it as easy as you can.

It's horrible having a LO in NICU.  Is he on CPAP at the moment?

[newkidontheblock]

This video might be of some help to you

http://newborns.stanford.edu/Breastfeeding/HandExpression.html

Hope your baby is doing better. *hugs*

[clazzat]

I tried hand expressing when m was in SCBU as they suggested that I should, but I didn't get very far and didn't have a chance to feed her until she was about 3 days old, I think. Even then, I was only allowed to feed her after she had had a tube feed ('cos obviously the best way to establish breast-feeding is to start with a baby who isn't hungry... ). However, when she was brought back to me and I was allowed to feed her she managed it just fine - I fed her for 14 months in total without any issues, so a rocky start definitely doesn't mean that you won't be able to do it at all.

They did suggest that I express while looking at a photo of her as well - apparently it does help - although it didn't really work for me.

[*Ali*]

Cadan didn't manage to latch on for 24hrs after birth (perhaps because I had a c-section or because I just didn't know what I was doing) and I was told to hand express the colostrum straight into a syringe to feed him. As pps have said the colostrum is so little that it is completely expected to only get 1ml or something like that which would just be lost in the pump.

Well done for making a go of BFing.