Feeling...discouraged and disapointed

[@llli*faceofshadows]

My last few posts have been regarding weight gain. The last few weigh ins I've been so sure he's gained a good amount only to be slightly shocked and disappointed. He has lots of wet diapers and lots of poop. development is on track.

Here is his weight history.
BW 9lbs 1oz
Discharged 8lbs 14oz
week 1 9lbs 4oz
week 4 10lbs 11oz
week 8 12lbs 9oz
week 14 13lbs 9oz June 6
week 18 14lbs July 5
week 21 14lbs 8oz July 24
week 22 Specialist said he was 14 1/2lbs, completely different scale and it wasn't a digital one. July 30

When I brought him in to the health nurse I see at week 21 she compared the numbers from our week 18 visit and said they like to see babies gain a minimum of 12g a day and he just made it at 12.3. When I said that to the specialist today she said it's more like they want to see them gain about 20. I have another appointment with the health nurse next week to get another weight check done.

Around week 14 is when I started trying to incorporate more nursing. And since week 18 I've been alternating between pumping and nursing. My supply has also been going up and down. He seems to finish a bottle within 10minutes. But he'll nurse about 20-45 minutes. I also feel like I am never relieved anymore, even if I pump. Could he have a bad suck? What am I doing wrong? I spent all day today just pumping and giving him bottles, he took in 33oz. Now should I do a day of nursing/pumping and compare? Or am I worrying for nothing?


I'm not sure if this is any help but I'll give a little health history on him since birth. At birth they thought he had a sacral dimple. He went for an ultrasound and they found a cyst on his spine. This is what the specialist was for. He got taken for another ultrasound last month and the results came back that the cyst is gone. Also 2 weeks after his 2 month shots he developed eczema. it's constantly flaring up and going away and flaring up. We are getting sent to a dermatologist at children's hospital and a dietician at another hospital. The specialist today had said that they typically see a slow weight gain in babies with medical issues, whether it is skin or whatever, something to do with their body concentrating on repairing rather then growing, or something like that. She said that maybe that is why he isn't gaining weight as fast. I'm just agitated and frustrated! I don't want to supplement, of course I would if I have too, but I'm dreading to hear those words.

[@llli*esthervegan]

Dear Faceof shadows,
Breastfeeding can feel like a rewarding journey when we ease up on ourselves. Infants who are being fed breastmilk through a bottle still benefit from being offered the breast to suckle. And if your lo stays latched and suckles for 25 minutes he is getting your milk. Some moms first bottle feed 2 ounces of pumped milk and then offer the breast. 2 ounces of pumped milk is enough to satiate hunger, and if your LO nurses afterwards he will stimulate your supply to produce more milk without burning up his calories struggling to be fed.
33ounces per day of pumped milk is a full days worth of milk.
Your baby should gain with that amount of milk.
if your doctors feel that he works too hard and burns too many calories trying to nurse effectively then expressing milk into a bottle is a wonderful way to keep your LO healthy and thriving.

[@llli*mommal]

Aside from the excema, does baby seem happy and healthy? Is he meeting his developmental milestones at a normal pace? Is he nursing at least 8-10 times a day? When he poops, is it a mustardy yellow color, or is the poop frequently or consistently green?

[@llli*faceofshadows]

He does nurse/bottle feed 8-10 times a day, some days he'll only feed 7 times. The majority of the time he seems quite happy and content, but like all babies he has his off days. When he nurses about half the time he comes of content. His before bed nursing he always falls asleep and stays asleep for the night. He is hitting his milestones. He got discharged from physio the other day, the lady there was very happy with his progress and what he was/is doing. His poops are mustard yellow and quite explosive at times, lol. Besides his weight gains and eczema he's doing great.

I did straight pumping for my DD's first year, so if I need to do it again this time then so be it. Maybe I will go in and have him weighed before and after a feed and just do nursathons until then. I'll end up driving myself crazy, and I really don't want to spend my times obssessing over what he does or does not gain. But a 1lb in 7 weeks just doesn't seem right.

[@llli*faceofshadows]

Forgot to add that he sometimes puts up quite a fuss when he's latched. He'll have a few sucks, pop off start fussing, latch. Sometimes this happend for the whole feed, and sometimes it's just for 5 minutes.

[@llli*mommal]

Was your first baby also fairly petite?

[@llli*faceofshadows]

Yes. She was 6lbs 15oz at birth. All her gains were steady. She doubled her weight by 4 months, yet we're waiting for him to double his.

[@llli*djs.mom]

That weight gain looks good to me. Until the very last one. I wouldn't worry yet. Anything from .5oz a day to 2oz a day is within the normal range. Your child is definitely gaining. And has had no stalls. So I wouldn't worry yet.

[@llli*faceofshadows]

He had another weight gain today. Gained 2 oz in 2 weeks, so now we are down to 3gms a day! I'm very puzzled. The lady I see sent me home with some charts. SO now I have to chart how much I pump, the amount I get, how many bottles he gets and how often he nurses. I wrote down everything from today and so far he has had 36oz in bottles, but only nursed once for 10 minutes. We go back in one week and do another weight gain. At what point do they have you start supplementing?

[@llli*maddieb]

If your baby ate 36 ounces from bottles, where did that come from? Is that what you pump in a day?

When you say baby "only nursed 10 minutes-" Is that bacause baby refused to nurse?
36 ounces is high normal for daily intake. A baby who is getting 36 ounces a day from a bottle is not likely to be very interested in nursing, as baby is full.

Also a baby who is getting that much daily or anything near that shoud be gaining normally. Have other health issues been considered, tested for?