James the Jaundiced

The tremendously good news is that James is here and is now two weeks old plus one day and is actually breastfeeding. He has had no formula, and until yesterday had not had any bottles.

The distressing news for the parent of a newborn is that he is still jaundiced (although not getting worse) and as of yesterday, his two-week birthday, had not regained enough weight to reach his birth weight. Yesterday he weighed in at 8 lb 5 oz.  At birth he was 8 lb 11 oz.  When released from the hospital on July 29 he weighed in at 7 lb. 13 oz., his low number.

So yesterday afternoon he got his heel poked again and milked for a tiny blood sample which revealed the continuing jaundice number (although he still looks fake tan to me).  His poor little heel was just finally healing from the thousands of pokes he got in the hospital.  He wailed during the test, peed on the exam table and leaked through his onesie.  And crappy mom that I am I did not have a change of clothes in the diaper bag for him. (duh).  So I stuffed an extra diaper into his wet outfit so to protect his skin from the wet area, and we went on our way.

My instructions are to pump after he feeds at the breast, and then feed him whatever I get.  Now, I am such a newbie at breastfeeding, but I am a queen of pumping.  Here is something I know how to do!  So I've been pumping and am somewhat reassured that my supply looks adequate so far, in spite of the fact that I am still using a nipple shield.

First time I pumped after feeding I got a total of 1.5 oz.   The next few pumpings I got barely a quarter oz.  total.  But the overnight pump got quite a bit more (too sleep deprived over here to remember how much) and the morning pumping yielded 2. 5 oz -- after the boy fed!  One pump session since then yielded about 1.5 oz.  These are pretty good yields for a post-feed pump session.  And I believe infants this age drink only a few oz per feed.

Meanwhile I've decided to make an effort to include (I forget the word for foods that help increase milk supply, and too tired to look it up) in my diet. So far non-alcoholic beer and oatmeal.  Funny how now I am craving produce and oats whereas while pregnant I craved protein.

Friday we are headed back to the pedi for a weight check. 

Comments

[Aurelia]

The more time he spends on the breast or near it skin to skin, even if he isn't awake, the more milk you will make, and interestingly enough the less jaundice he will have. I'm glad you are on your way and able to breastfeed, since really, once you get the hang of it, it can be a lot easier than the two step of pumping and then feeding.

I'm betting his bilirubin level will drop soon. A little sunshine and weight gain and he'll be trucking along!

[maggie]

Galactagogue is what you want. Like fenugreek.

http://www.kellymom.com/herbal/milksupply/herbal_galactagogue.html

I hope the nursing gets better, along with the weight and the jaundice.

[Eva]

I hope the nipple shield isn't bothering you too much. It drove me nuts!

Hope this spate of pumping doesn't last long. Glad your supply is good and he's latching happily.

The oatmeal works best if it's real stuff (like steel cut) and eating regularly (1-2 times a day). There are also teas. And Motherlove makes great tinctures if you want to go that route. And heck I have tons of Domperidone left over if you want some but you don't sound like you need the big guns.

I'm so sorry about the jaundice. We had to deal with that, too, and I kept thinking everything would be calm and we could get used to things once that was over.