After two smooth days in the hospital, the new parents and baby Jack left Medical City Dallas with confidence.
We were ready to start the new norm at home. The nurses commented that Jack was a great sleeper; even a storm can't wake him up. We were happy that he got my ability to sleep.
However, the first day at home crushed our optimism. Jack hardly slept and cried between his feedings. He kept showing hunger cues even after an hour of feeding. We quickly dropped to a desperate state. None of us were getting any sleep. I had to send Will upstairs for some sleep since there is nothing he could do. The only way to calm Jack down was to nurse him.
At the beginning, we were thinking it was the circumcision that changed our quiet sleepy angel into a screaming monster. But he didn't seem to be bothered by diaper changing much. And he became happy as soon as he got milk. I increased the nursing time, hoping he would be full some time. But after the feedings that lasted twice as long as the doctor suggested, he still showed hunger afterwards. My spirits were crushed.
Days turned into ages. Thursday was not any better and we were looking forward to our first checkup with the pediatrician on Friday. The weight check was very depressing; Jack lost 10% birth weight and was only 7lbs. He was 7lbs 12 oz at birth and 7lbs 7oz at discharge. We were doing something wrong.
The lactation consultant suggested pumping more milk after each feeding to increase the milk intake. We started to follow the advice. Rather than nurse him each side for more than 20 minutes, I started to limit the time to 10-15 minutes as she suggested and pumped the rest for him to have at that feeding.
Pumping is a really good way to know exactly how much he eats. I liked that we had a sense of control. I pumped about 1oz of milk after nursing and got a little less than 2oz if only pumping. That implied that Jack was getting less than 1oz on his own. The consultant told us that he has a really strong suck and he kept working hard, but somehow he was not getting enough milk.
We significantly increased the times we fed him and the amount of milk he consumed. I felt like that I turned into a cow, a not very productive one. My thoughts were only focused on how to create more milk.
He didn't improve on Saturday but Sunday night was the first time he slept through some of the night time feedings. Times started to look good again.
Monday was his week birthday and we went to follow up with Janis, the lactation consultant. We did the before and after weight check again after 15/15 minutes of nursing. Still it didn't tip the readings which meant that he didn't get more than ~1oz of milk. Janis gave me some herb supplements and suggested adding 0.5oz of formula milk to my 2oz of pumped milk.
Baby Jack gulped the 2.5oz milk down and slept like an angel for 3 hours until we had to wake him up for the next feeding. It seems he had a big appetite. He is a 2.5oz or 3oz baby; but his mommy is a 2oz mommy. Hopefully with the herb supplement, I will increase production soon.
Tuesday at his EarWell appointment, his weight increased to 7lbs and 5oz. We were extremely happy that he started to grow. We are going to continue to supplement my breast milk with formula milk until my milk supply catches up our baby boy's needs.
Our first parenthood challenge is seemingly under control.
We were ready to start the new norm at home. The nurses commented that Jack was a great sleeper; even a storm can't wake him up. We were happy that he got my ability to sleep.
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| Misleading Introduction |
However, the first day at home crushed our optimism. Jack hardly slept and cried between his feedings. He kept showing hunger cues even after an hour of feeding. We quickly dropped to a desperate state. None of us were getting any sleep. I had to send Will upstairs for some sleep since there is nothing he could do. The only way to calm Jack down was to nurse him. At the beginning, we were thinking it was the circumcision that changed our quiet sleepy angel into a screaming monster. But he didn't seem to be bothered by diaper changing much. And he became happy as soon as he got milk. I increased the nursing time, hoping he would be full some time. But after the feedings that lasted twice as long as the doctor suggested, he still showed hunger afterwards. My spirits were crushed.
Days turned into ages. Thursday was not any better and we were looking forward to our first checkup with the pediatrician on Friday. The weight check was very depressing; Jack lost 10% birth weight and was only 7lbs. He was 7lbs 12 oz at birth and 7lbs 7oz at discharge. We were doing something wrong.
The lactation consultant suggested pumping more milk after each feeding to increase the milk intake. We started to follow the advice. Rather than nurse him each side for more than 20 minutes, I started to limit the time to 10-15 minutes as she suggested and pumped the rest for him to have at that feeding.
Pumping is a really good way to know exactly how much he eats. I liked that we had a sense of control. I pumped about 1oz of milk after nursing and got a little less than 2oz if only pumping. That implied that Jack was getting less than 1oz on his own. The consultant told us that he has a really strong suck and he kept working hard, but somehow he was not getting enough milk.
We significantly increased the times we fed him and the amount of milk he consumed. I felt like that I turned into a cow, a not very productive one. My thoughts were only focused on how to create more milk. He didn't improve on Saturday but Sunday night was the first time he slept through some of the night time feedings. Times started to look good again.
Monday was his week birthday and we went to follow up with Janis, the lactation consultant. We did the before and after weight check again after 15/15 minutes of nursing. Still it didn't tip the readings which meant that he didn't get more than ~1oz of milk. Janis gave me some herb supplements and suggested adding 0.5oz of formula milk to my 2oz of pumped milk.
Baby Jack gulped the 2.5oz milk down and slept like an angel for 3 hours until we had to wake him up for the next feeding. It seems he had a big appetite. He is a 2.5oz or 3oz baby; but his mommy is a 2oz mommy. Hopefully with the herb supplement, I will increase production soon.
Tuesday at his EarWell appointment, his weight increased to 7lbs and 5oz. We were extremely happy that he started to grow. We are going to continue to supplement my breast milk with formula milk until my milk supply catches up our baby boy's needs.
Our first parenthood challenge is seemingly under control.
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