Newborn issue

[@llli*vwood7783]

Hi ladies,

I am in need of maternal bfing encouragement. My baby Alyvia Danielle made her grand appearance into this world Friday at 8:04 PM weighing 8lbs 4oz and was 21 inches long.

I thankfully got her to the breast within the hour she was born. Our first nursing session lasted about 20 minutes and boy does she have a strong suck. I don't think her latch is quite correct though because when she latches on it feels like pins and needles and it hurts. I've tried repositioning her and unlatching. Usually when I do this she gets sleepy and when I stimulate her to eat (rubbing her lip or cheek with my nipple, expressing some colostrum and putting it on her lips to become interested) Last night she fed nonstop from 2AM to 6AM. Does she have her nights and days mixed up or is that normal for a newborn?

In hospital on day 1 she had 4 wets, and at least 5 poops which were sticky green meconium

Today she has had 3 wets and 3 poops

She is down in weight to 7lbs 11oz and doc wants to see her on Tuesday for a weight check. My fear is that she will want me to supplement. So questions:

1. How do I correct the latch
2. Is she getting enough liquid
3. Milk came in day 3 with son, is it the same with every pregnancy?


Any and all help is appreciated
2. Is she getting enough liquid

[@llli*lllmeg]

congratulations and welcome. wow your baby is little! two days....ok I think everything you mention sounds entirely normal. with the exception of the latch hurting-and even that can be normal in these early days as baby learns to latch and nurse.

no do not worry about day night mix up. your baby is not mixed up, she is a brand newborn and days and nights are basically meaningless to her as they were in the womb. you want her nursing with good frequency around the clock at this point.

you tell a baby is getting enough based on poops and weigh gain-but a baby will not typically start gaining until milk becomes abundant at about day 3-5. up until then, it is normal for baby to lose and/or maintain on colostrum. the newer output thinking is that as long as baby is pooping (by about day 3) at least three times a day an 'ok' poop, (see poop chart linked below) no need to worry about wets. also watch for poops to gradually transition from the tarry merconium to very wet/moist/mustardy yellowish.

the suggestions i have at this point for latch is try laid back positioning. if that does not help, try the 'breast sandwich' technique. make sure you are bringing baby to the breast often, at least 10-12 times a day minimum, at the earliest cue, or even before she cues. A calm baby latches better. if the pain does not improve pretty quickly, try to be seen by a board certified lactation consultant.

If your doctor suggests supplementing, you have a few options. You can seek a second opinion. You can ask if you can get breastfeeding assessed by an IBCLC to see what the trouble may be-supplementing only treats the symptom, not the cause, of the problem. You can give babies poop and feeding history and ask for more time. You can also make sure any weight checks are being done accurately, are repeated for accuracy check, and that gain is measured from the lowest known weight NOT from birth weight. Please note that the fact that your baby will most likely be weighed on two different scales (hospital scale to doctor scale) already calls the accuracy of any gain or loss measured into question. If, after discussing the situation with your doctor, you feel supplementing is warranted, you can supplement in a breastfeeding supportive way while you get help wiht breastfeeding.

There is no need, typically, for a breastfed baby to receive supplements. That does not mean they are not suggested very often, they are, often unnecessarily. But babies are not born hungry and thirsty. Quite the opposite. Again, it is NORMAL for a baby to lose weight the first few days. Up to 7-10% of birth weight could be considered normal depending on the situation,. Some babies even lose more than that and it’s OK. As far as we know, your baby lost about 7%. But maybe she lost a little more than that and THEN started gaining. This could make it look like she lost more or is only maintaining when actually she is gaining.

Further reading: laid back positioning: http://www.llli.org/docs/00000000000...astfeeding.pdf

Diaper log: http://www.llli.org/docs/00000000000...diaper_log.pdf

Breastfeeding your newborn-what to expect in the early weeks: http://kellymom.com/bf/normal/newborn-nursing/

Baby’s second night http://kellymom.com/ages/newborn/bf-.../second-night/

[@llli*bfwmomof3]

Hi mama, congratulations on your new baby! And on breastfeeding her! I just wanted to encourage you to stick with it - as you may remember from your son, breastfeeding is really an around-the-clock job in the first couple weeks. Don't worry about days and nights just yet, but remember that your baby WILL start settling into a more normal routine eventually - this doesn't go on forever but it's baby's way of getting what she needs right now, which at this point is milk, milk and more milk!
Also, to answer question #3, I've always read/been told that milk tends to come in earlier with each subsequent baby. That has been my experience.

[@llli*vwood7783]

Thanks for the replies ladies. Meg, I read up on the link about the second night and that fit Alyvia to a T! Last night went much better. I actually fell asleep in the recliner with her after one of her nursing sessions, I'd say she had probably 4-5 over night. I got some much needed sleep and I noticed she started swallowing loudly after every 3 sucks or so! SUCCESS!!! My milk is finally (it's only been just 3 days) coming in! Being at home is SO MUCH more comfortable than in the hospital. She's such a good baby! Now does the milk come in progressively, or is it going to slam me with engorgement like it did with DS? Maybe it's different with each one. I am ok with it happening progressively rather than all at once but glad its coming in none the less Thanks again ladies.

[@llli*bfwmomof3]

That's great that your milk has come in! Once that happens if you keep up the good nursing work Alyvia should definitely start gaining. Do you feel like her latch is getting better? Has the pain gone away?
In terms of the engorgement, I've also read that engorgement tends not to be as bad with subsequent babies, and again that has been my experience. Not to say that there was no engorgement, but definitely not as extreme as the first time. I hope that will be the case for you as well.

[@llli*vwood7783]

the pain goes away when the milk lets down.

[@llli*bfwmomof3]

Sounds like baby's latch is good, then. The "pins and needles" feeling could actually be the letting down. That usually gets better with time.

[@llli*lllmeg]

Now does the milk come in progressively, or is it going to slam me with engorgement like it did with DS?

This is hard to say, certainly it IS progressive, always, because your body has been making milk since your second trimester and it has been gradually increasing in volume since birth. (Yes, colostrum IS milk!) I know it often does not feel like that but that is how it works. However, when mom starts having very abundant milk at about day 3 or so, it certainly CAN feel like mom is being 'slammed' with milk production.

You will lessen the chances of engorgement if you keep baby nursing very very frequently. Also if you had IV fluids during delivery, (as you did if you had an epidural) this can create edema in the breasts that can mimic engorgement but is actually fluid build up-you may also have swollen feet as well from this. The fluid gets peed out over a few days. True rock hard engorgement from milk compacting in the breasts is actually somewhat unusual, mostly what moms think of as engorgement is the edema plus normal early days fullness from increased production. But either way, keeping the milk flowing out of your breasts and into baby is the best cure.

[@llli*vwood7783]

Her weight check on Tuesday said that she was down to 7lbs 6oz (different scale than the hospital) but the doctor told me not to supplement, because my milk was coming in and there would be no reason to do so. We go back tomorrow to see how she is doing. By the looks of her wet/poop diapers I'd say she's doing very well. We are cloth diapering her and I put the load of dipes in the wash this morninig and counted them while folding. 12 dipes total. 2 of which were poo dipes. She's had 2 poo dipes already this morning as well. At what point does the poo become yellow and seedy? Hers is green and seedy. This may or not be a legitimate question because maybe we bf moms spend too much time stressing on the color of bm poo?

[@llli*lllmeg]

All honest questions are legitimate. And I think all parents of babies obsess about poop!

Green is some baby's normal. If you were using disposables I would say it might be that, as yellow breastmilk poops may quickly turn green as moisture is leached from them by the super absorbent diaper. Green is also a typical transitional color, from the blackish merconium to the yellow. Green may indicate certain issues but on its own with no other 'symptoms' is nothing to worry about. At this point its the amount that is most important, and the amount sounds good. You are at day 6 or 7? I would guess its transitional and the classic yellow/mustardy color will be coming along soon.