I think Max is bulemic!!
>> Saturday, September 12, 2009
He keeps throwing up after he eats!! Is there baby eating disorders? Did the other babies tease him, call him fat? Just because he was a term baby at 39 weeks and full size? Geez, those one-pound babies can be harsh!! (Sorry that's terrible...)
So let's talk about feeding shall we?
We are up and down. Well, Max I mean. Yesterday the docs upped him to 15 mL because he was very successful with 10mL the day before. He spit up (and by that I mean threw all of it up) nearly every time yesterday, but today we are making a little progress. 9am, not good; noon, not good; 3pm Good! just a little bit of mucous stuff, and his 6pm was perfect so far (it's 7pm now). So, it's kind of the expected trend that it takes a bit of time for him to cope with the increased amount of milk. I really would love him to have a successful night. I don't want them to up his amount if he can't handle it, but for the sake of progress it's always in the back of our minds of course.
So we continue on with his training! The miracle working occupational therapist and lactation Consultant Elaine with be working with us soon, so we can't wait to see how she may help Max. Several other CDH moms have raved to us about her. The trick so far with Max is totally taking it slowly. We have to start about 30 minutes ahead of his feeding time, and start burping him. He gets lots of air stuck down there somehow, and when you start patting him he gets very fidgety and uncomfortable until "BLARP!" and he's ready to eat! Then we stop once or twice in the 15mL (SOO small amt) to let him process it and maybe burp again. After that, another burping, and he's usually okay! So if we rush him, we pay!
I gave Maximus a bath today with our nurse Marla (awesome lady) because all that spit up catches up to a stinker. The funniest thing happened...I let my GUARD DOWN. Max was laying there, and I'm wiping out his armpits with the soapy rag when I realized I was spilling something on the floor! I quickly look down, and NO!!! HE IS PEEING ON MY LEG. Haha! OOPS! Mama's fault! Gotta cover that little cannon up! :) Hey, it's sterile, right? Oh well. It was too funny though, he almost got the mother nursing next to us. I should have known, he got very relaxed before I realized the sprinkles on my flip flops weren't soapy water. Stinker.
I'm trying to come to terms with formula feeding. Don't get me wrong, I have NO crazy stance against it, I just personally would REALLY prefer to stay with breastmilk...for many reasons. However, he is already eating 15mL, and I produce about 6-10mL every 3 hrs. And, we can't have him trying to latch on much now because it puts so much more air in his stomach that he can't do the bottle afterwards. So my supply doesn't have that opportunity to increase...if it would have anyways? I'm pretty sad about it, I really wish that part was different. I'm genuinely jealous (I admit it...not even the cute funny jealous) of all the moms breastfeeding their preemies, and the huge bottles of milk the moms turn in to the nurses for storage. UGH. I'm trying to come to peace with it. I was for a while, but now I'm sad because it's actually happening now...he's not on the tube anymore. So, once he literally eats through my supply frozen from this last 4 weeks, (should last him another 2 maybe) we have to go to formula. I just hope his tummy can handle it, since his stomach has so many troubles already. Like I said, bummer...
I don't mean to end on a grumpy note!! Max is doing amazing, and we are NOT missing that part. My little whiny gripes are NOTHING in comparison to his successes. :)
Jordan got to go to another Gator's game this afternoon, and had a blast. He really thrives from "getting out"...and I'm glad for that!
Sorry I don't have a picture! We will work on that. LOVE YOU!!
Claire
10 comments:
i am so glad that max is eating on his own! i totally understand the breastfeeding sorrow, i went through that same thing (claire couldn't drink thin liquids.) claire also had bad reflux (was on baby prevacid). here's some ideas for ya- what kind of bottle are you using? claire did much better off the little standard hospital ones and with dr. brown's bottles instead. they have a air vent that helps with gas bubbles. you can bring your own to the NICU and make them use them instead. try diff formulas. we tried soy, lacto-free, etc until finding an organic brand called Baby's Only was best for her b/c it is rice based not corn syrup based. she got TONS of gas from the corn syrup ones. also maybe try thickening the formula. we thicken claire's with a product called Simply Thick. some moms with babies that have swallow issues (which claire used to) and moms with babies with bad reflux use it. ask the therapist about it. that's all i can think of now but i hope some of those ideas help! love you guys!
one more thing, if the doctors start discussing meds to help with the reflux. DO NOT let them put max on a med called reglan. it has serious neurological side effects and there are even class action lawsuits against the med. for some reason, many NICU doctors try that med early on b/c it helps move the milk out of baby's tummy faster. but it is horrible stuff, i can tell you more just in cased they start pushing that med on you. okay, that's all!
aww...poor Max. Wondering if he's starving. Doc put both of our kids on Good Start b/c he said it's not as rich as other formulas. It has as much as nutrients as others and it's light. Usually babies that are sensitive to formulas, this is a good formula to start with. Also, every case is different. I know whatcha mean about nursing. I drank tons of water, took herbal tea, ate sushi, still hardly produce anything milk :-( Hang in there, hopefully, things will change around once Max able to take in more and able to latch. It's all about Demand vs Supply.
Love you guys,
dai
Poor Max, nobody likes to throw up! Hope he has a good day today. I still can't believe how far he has come in the last few weeks!!
Claire,
Don't beat yourself up about the breast milk...I was the SAME WAY! I beat myself up and it did me no good! I pumped faithfully for 11 weeks with almost no progress. I, too, would get jealous of the "milk mommies" with their 3 to 6 bottles from ONE pump! I couldn't even fill a colostrum bottle (those were 30 mls.) I would only get 5 to 15 mls total each pump. Jaime was a preemie on top of the CDH, he was born in April and had his first formula at the end of June. :-( I must admit, he did just fine, but still. I've tried pumping at home (you know in a less stressful environment) still no success. :-( I did have a breast reduction, but I know other mom's who did great after theirs. It's frustrating, but don't beat yourself up...the fact that you're trying is AWESOME! When I couldn't meet Jaime's supply anymore, they mixed my milk with formula...perhaps that's an option for Max?
I can't comment on the feeding thing because Jaime didn't have the bad reflux since he was a right-CDH'er and his stomach was never displaced-his reflux is minimal..just a few "blahhh's" a week.
Take care...don't worry about the milkin' thing!
Sheryl
Hi there, I came upon your blog from a friend of ours who has a CDH baby and read your recent post. Congrats to Max for doing so well!! I am sure that you have tried everything to increase your milk supply, but just in case you haven't tried this.. Fenugreek. It is an herbal supplement that you can get at health food stores and even GNC. You take two a day and at least for me, it increased my supply quite a bit. I still take one a day to help keep mine up. One side note, your sweat will smell like maple syrup! : ) Hope this helps. My OB also wrote me a script for Reglan to double my milk supply before I returned to work, but I didn't fill it, since the Fenugreek was so helpful and with no harmful side effects.
Claire
so sorry about the BFding. Do not worry about feeding, it will all sort itself out. Mike was 10.9 lbs at birth but had to have his stomach pumped at birth.. he THREW up everything that went into him for a few months....EVERYTHING. Drs. said his stomach was probably irritated from the early abuse. I was only able to BF (sorry if it's TMI)for 3 months then we did the search for the perfect formula - perfect mix. You know Mike now - he's big ol' teenage boy. It will work out! Maxie-man is such an strong boy. Really it will work out.
Thinking about you all
Melissa
P.S. Mike sitting here doing homework "Says Hi" and "Max is looking SICK" ( teenage for FABULOUS!)
Hi Claire,
Poor little guy.. after all he has been through this is another hurdle for him but he will overcome it because he is a champ!
I know what u are feeling in terms of breastfeeding. It was so hard for me to produce milk for Gabi! But keep in mind you are under a lot of stress and I'm sure not taking care of yourself as good as you should. These all play a role... Just keep with it.. maybe the LC can tell you about domperidone(sp?). The LC(Diane Spatz) at CHOP recommended it and helped me tremendously. Gabi is on breast milk only now even though I have to pump it because she did not like my boob!! lol Anyway good luck!
You are all in my thoughts and prayers!!!
HUGS
Joanna(gabriela-monteiro.com) LCDH
Hope the feeding has gone better since your last post....ya'll have come so far...I know God will give you peace about the feeding hurdle. Hope to see ya'll this week!!
sorry i havent commented lately, im SOOOO proud of Max! he is doing amazingly well, and i know that comes from all the love you are showing him!! im so proud of you all!! God Bless!!!!
Zach's momma
Dotty
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