Baby Jay is being fed breast milk from a bottle.
We are working on Breast Feeding, but he is having troubles with it. He latches on but refuses to suck. We have seen several lactation consultants, some have been helpful, some have just been a waste of time, it is just not working for us.
We had latched in the hospital, but then started having issues. It all started the day that they found that something was wrong with his little heart. At first we thought it was because of all the testing he was going through, so I started pumping and cup feeding. By day 4 he was completely refusing the breast and just taking cup feeds. We went to a lactation consultant and found he had lost more then 10% of his birth weight.
By day 5 he was refusing his cup feeds as well and was showing signs of dehydration, I knew something was wrong with my little boy so we headed off to our local Children's Hospital, The Hospital For Sick Kids. They started him on a IV. They were concerned about his weight and asked if I would consider giving him a bottle.
I had been avoiding the bottle since I really wanted to breast feed, but I knew at this point I had to get nutrition into my son, so we started giving him expressed breast milk in a bottle. Well he took to this like a champ, and was eating a ton!! My little boy was eating and started gaining weight right away.
It was in Sick Kids that Jay's heart defect was diagnosed (more about this in another post). We learned that he was going to need open heart surgery around 4 - 6 months so the goal was to get Jay as healthy as possible. It is possible that with his heart issues, breast feeding is just too hard for his little body.
We are still making attempts at breast feeding, but for now I am pumping and bottle feeding.
I am so tired of the look of judgment I get when we are out and people see me feeding James with a bottle. I get comments like "Oh he is bottle fed" or "not breast feeding". People seem to back off a bit when I tell them it is expressed breast milk, but still what business is it of theirs???
I am doing what I need to do to make sure that my baby is healthy and happy!!
5 comments:
People are so inappropriate and judgy! You are doing everything right to take care of your baby, and if they have a problem, screw 'em! Sorry to hear about the heart issue but good to hear it's so correctable!
Ah, geesh- it isn't ANY of their business! I hate when people judge like that. Just ignore them. You're doing awesome. I hope that baby Jay gets nice and strong while waiting for the surgery (and of course during/after surgery too).
I've been reading your blog for 6 weeks or so, but wanted to comment. My experience bfing sounds very similar to your's. My son would start sucking and then - bam - didn't want it anymore! It was so frustrating. He ended up being "tongue tied" - which I feel is the latest "of the moment" diagnosis for babies. He had his frenulum clipped 2 weeks after birth, but at that point I had been giving him a bottle and just pumping and he didn't want the breast. He was such a big eater that I had to supplement w/ formula as well. I was so disappointed and felt like a failure. I cried about it daily! My son is now 21 months, and I look back and wish I hadn't wasted so much time and energy being sad about not exclusively breastfeeding and having to pump. I pumped for 3 months and then moved onto 100% formula. It sounds like you're doing everything you possibly can for your baby, so keep your head up and don't let it get you down too much! Just try to cherish this happy time. XOXO
Thinking about you all!! I had open heart surgery when I was little too. My mom said eating would wear me out, I would take an ounce or two and fall asleep. I had difficulty gaining weight as a baby. Back then they wouldn't do open heart surgery until you were two yes old or 20 pounds. I finally hit 20 pounds at two so that is when I had my surgery. Thinking about you and sending ((HUGS))
Oh Sarah, I'm so sorry that 1) his heart needs some help and he will have to go through surgery... and 2) that breastfeeding hasn't been all it was cracked up to be. I hate that there is so much judgement out there too. It really pisses me off. SOOOO many women I know struggle with breast feeding. That seems more the norm to me than for it to go smoothly. So please don't beat yourself up and try hard not to absorb other people's criticisms. They suck
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