Every time I've weighed Ian before and after nursing him, the scale has always shown that he's consumed either 1/2 ounce or 1 ounce. This morning it showed an increase of TWO ounces! YAY! I pumped after nursing him, and I pumped out 2 more ounces in 10 minutes. So there were at least four ounces available for him. I'd say my milk supply has increased. Also, he weighed in at 6lb 3.5oz today, which is an increase of 1 ounce from yesterday's weight and 2.5 ounces since Sunday morning. As encouraging as these results may be, he's still not gaining enough per week. Diane (at the larger hospital) said he should gain at least 4 ounces a week, and Kelly (at the smaller hospital) said he should be gaining 5-7 ounces a week. He'd have to gain 1.5 ounces today to reach the 4 ounce a week goal. I thought that by giving myself 2 weeks until Ian's next appointment it would take away the stress, but no matter how much he gains between now and Feb 1st, I doubt they'll be happy with his weight. Decisions, decisions, decisions....
There were two special dates this week in our family. January 20th was Ian's due date (Wed), and the 21st was my sister, Yvonne's, 35th birthday. I hope she had a very special day!!! Today Ian turned 6 weeks old.
3 comments:
Yah! Two ounces are enough at one feed so you are on the right track.
Considering the monumental physical changes you've undergone since the beginning of the week, and how much Ian got this morning, you should not look behind you at how things have previously gone, but look ahead to how they're going to go from now on. Let's say Ian starts gaining what you think he should be (and he will!), even if his pediatrician is not happy with his weight at his appointment, if he's started to show a consistent weight gain, they can't argue with that. Start a new week as of yesterday, and see how the next seven days go.
I agree with Jenn. Start the week with yesterday. The pediatrician must recognize that the retained placenta meant that you didn't have enough prolactin UNTIL now, so that is a factor in evaluating the overall breastfeeding progress till now. Things should go up from here! I doubt it's supposed to be an INSTANT effect of increased milk when they remove the placental fragments. Your body underwent a lot of stress and is now recovering and presumably now benefitting from the increased hormone for milk production. Today's weighing is a good sign, and I would start fresh, like Jenn suggested, with yesterday as a starting point for tracking his progress.
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