starring milo, as triumph the comic insult dog
yesterday morning, as i scrubbed enough poo for ten babies off milo's behind, he tensed up, contorted, and then blew liquid poo all over me and the changing table. all i could think of was that dumb dog puppet triumph snarling, "i POOP on you!!!"
as great a time as that was, times are not good. in a week and a half, milo gained only an ounce, and hasn't gained any since friday, and the lactation consultant has determined that everything is working except for my inherent ability to produce, or rather inability, and so the supplementation has started, and it is hell.
i thought feeding milo every hour was rough, but it was NOTHING compared to the current nightmare, and let me tell you - supplementation is not a portable practice, which makes it even worse, if such a thing is possible. he went a little longer during the night, but by day he is still asking for the boobie hourly, so i'm still trying to feed just as often PLUS when i'm not feeding i'm pumping (which hurts like hell and which now makes breastfeeding hurt where it didn't before) or cleaning bottles or tubing or parts i am sure to lose or getting the next round ready or spraying shout on his clothes and mine. as i write for the first time in two weeks, he's howling, but he's going to have to howl for a few minutes.
even more frustrating is that he's not taking a bottle from me, or rather he takes it and then lets it run out of his mouth. with justin, when he's not working, he will take the bottle and only let some of it run out but he also spits up, so who knows how much he's getting. the supplementary system leaks all over kingdom come, and he will only take about half as much extra as he is supposed to be getting, which means dumping half of what i've pumped - so pointless.
i'm also taking gigantic quantities of fenugreek to try to boost my supply, which stinks like maple syrup gone funky. it is disgusting and i am sick of it but desperate enough to keep grossing out myself and everyone within sniffing range of me.
this is not how it was supposed to be.
we go back to the doctor and the lactation consultant tomorrow, if i haven't yet been committed to an institution. god help us all.
for those looking for happier thoughts, there are a few more pictures of milo out there. go help yourself to a heaping helping of cuteness.
as great a time as that was, times are not good. in a week and a half, milo gained only an ounce, and hasn't gained any since friday, and the lactation consultant has determined that everything is working except for my inherent ability to produce, or rather inability, and so the supplementation has started, and it is hell.
i thought feeding milo every hour was rough, but it was NOTHING compared to the current nightmare, and let me tell you - supplementation is not a portable practice, which makes it even worse, if such a thing is possible. he went a little longer during the night, but by day he is still asking for the boobie hourly, so i'm still trying to feed just as often PLUS when i'm not feeding i'm pumping (which hurts like hell and which now makes breastfeeding hurt where it didn't before) or cleaning bottles or tubing or parts i am sure to lose or getting the next round ready or spraying shout on his clothes and mine. as i write for the first time in two weeks, he's howling, but he's going to have to howl for a few minutes.
even more frustrating is that he's not taking a bottle from me, or rather he takes it and then lets it run out of his mouth. with justin, when he's not working, he will take the bottle and only let some of it run out but he also spits up, so who knows how much he's getting. the supplementary system leaks all over kingdom come, and he will only take about half as much extra as he is supposed to be getting, which means dumping half of what i've pumped - so pointless.
i'm also taking gigantic quantities of fenugreek to try to boost my supply, which stinks like maple syrup gone funky. it is disgusting and i am sick of it but desperate enough to keep grossing out myself and everyone within sniffing range of me.
this is not how it was supposed to be.
we go back to the doctor and the lactation consultant tomorrow, if i haven't yet been committed to an institution. god help us all.
for those looking for happier thoughts, there are a few more pictures of milo out there. go help yourself to a heaping helping of cuteness.
posted by laura at 12:35 PM
19 Comments:
Oh fuck.
You'll forgive me, but it sounds so familiar!
Did you take any antibiotics?
Have you tried cutting out dairy and giving Milo (are you giving him formula?) hypoallergenic stuff? Nutramigen?
Mimi ate and ate and ate and pooped and pooped and pooped, and hardly gained any weight and it took me 3 months to sleuth out dairy intolerance. And most babies that are intolerant to dairy are to soy too. A friend of mine caught her daughter's intolerance during the first two weeks, and after six weeks, her daughter was fine with dairy in mom's milk and regular formula.
But most importantly, hugs to you, you exhausted mom. You poop-attacking, milk-making, spit-up-fighting, baby-loving, adorable mom to the sweetest baby that is making my ovaries tingle.
If you want me to shut up with the assvice, please tell me. But I remember those tears in the LC's office and the absolute frustration of being up all night every night feeding the baby for no weight gain.
Milo is beautiful. You will get through this.
ps, baby oxiclean.
we gotta talk. i'll email you when i come up for air again.
Feel free to tell me to shut up with my assvice.
My son was doing the nursing all the freaking time and not getting anywhere, weight gain-wise and also happy baby-wise. My doctor said to give him a pacifier, I know some people are dead set against it and I was then. So I tried the pacifier until he was actually really hungry and then he would nurse for 20 minutes and by then my body was ready to provide. It took a few days to get that rhythm going but once it did he was an eating and growing machine. I don't know if anyone has suggested that to you but it might be worth a try. My doctor referred to Alex as a Snacking Baby because he was nursing so often but was never really filling up or getting hungry enough to nurse well.
Wishing you the best of luck. I know I will probably be stoned for saying this, but one thing that really helped me produce milk was having a beer. I would drink one about 4:00 in the afternoon, hey I was on maternity leave ;), and by the 6:00 feeding time I was good and ready for the boy to eat. Plus he slept really well.
Hope I didn't upset you with my assvice but it sounds like you are looking for some help so I thought I would offer what worked for me.
nestle good start is way less puke uppy than the other brands. try it. you'll just see in the bottle that it doesn't produce all that froth bubbliness. assuming he's not allergic to dairy, of course.
ok...first...breathe.
Triumph the dog...hilarious.
Now for the assvice portion of this comment. Not really assvice...just some possibilities that worked for us.
Did the lactation consultant talk to you about foremilk and hindmilk? That was our problem with weight gain in the beginning. Sam would nurse for the easy stuff for the first five minutes and then give up, so he wasn't getting the fatty hindmilk. We had to work to keep him on the boob longer at each sitting.
Pumping shouldn't hurt. Your LC should be able to address this issue. If you don't have a clogged duct or other infection, then there is something wrong with the fit of your pump. Perhaps the level of suction you are using? the size of the horns?
For supply...try non-alcoholic beer and oatmeal. Not together (because...ewww...that would be gross). But those two things worked like a charm for us.
How old is he now? It really sounds like a growth spurt. And I can't remember when those happen...four weeks...six weeks? something like that.
Instead of a bottle, try a cup. I know it sounds nutty, but it worked for Sam (I about kissed the nurse in the hospital that told me this). A little medicine cup worked for us. Or a spoon.
For the spit up...take a spoonful and dump it on your counter. It looks like far more than it really is, so don't freak out too much about that...unless it is at every feeding. Then you need to talk to your pediatrician about it. (learned that one the hard way too...geez...I made a lot of mistakes with sam...it's a wonder he survived...oh...that's probably not funny, is it? sorry bout that)
You will figure it out, I am sure. Hang in there mama. {{{hugs}}}
(((((((hugs))))))))
Sounds like these people know more than i do so i will not contribute any assvice. I am very impressed though that you are going through all of this -- i would probably have given up and had him totally on formula by now if it were me.
And yes, Milo is just beautiful!
I'm sorry you are having such a hard time. I had a difficult time in the beginning, too. We actually supplemented with formula in a little medicine cup and it worked wonderfully (a little messy) for us.
I agree with Catherine about the hindmilk.
Rayne wouldn't take a bottle from me either, but she would take it from my husband. I read and my Doctor told me that babies can smell the mother's milk and that's what they are looking for. I actaully had to leave the room before she would take a bottle from dh.
Good luck and keep your chin up!
You know what? Catherine is totally right about everything. A tablespoon looks like a lot, but isn't. Mimi was spitting up (projectile vomiting, wretching) a ton more than that. It was when I finally dumped out a couple tablespoons that I realized Mimi really had a problem because it WAS more than that.
And the foremilk/hindmilk thing too. It all takes time to figure out. Listen to Catherine. I was so grateful when she responded to my bfing posts. :)
Hope the feeding issues resolve quickly and Milo chunks up ASAP!
Okay, so the poop thing made me laugh. Been there.
On the breastfeeding... It shouldn't hurt. To pump, to feed, none of it. I learned that the hard way after gnashing my teeth for a month or more. I hope the LC can help you guys out. But remember, you need to do whatever you need to do for your baby's health and your own sanity. If you have to quit, then don't beat yourself up over it.
You're the only person I know who can honestly say she gave it a real shot. I did it for a year and had pretty good luck, but always bordered on not having enough to keep up.
I've watched a lot of women give up at the first sign of trouble and you're a real trooper. Being a mom ain't easy.
Hugs.
oh, with the assvice, yeah, go ahead, say shut up if you want. No worries...
More assvice! Try a cup, a spoon, and a feeding tube on your finger (we did the finger tube for a couple of weeks and it worked well). Keep on truckin' it will come.
I like the growth spurt idea, 6 weeks is the magic number.
Suck, Milo, suck! Grow, Milo, grow!
Pumping shouldn't really hurt. Have you tried larger pump parts? I ordered the extra large horns because the regular ones were pinching the hell out of my nipples. The pain stopped after I switched. You might want to try that.
I hope things get better soon.
I had to laugh when I saw the title and read the story about the projectile pooping. Sorry.
You are not the first woman this has happened to (the lactation business - and the pooping, too, but that's behind us now. Get it? BEHIND us? Ha ha. Seriously, though, my mom was an underachiever, and I was a lot smaller than Milo. She felt awful - still talks about it - but he will turn out fine. That or making bad rear jokes.
Off to watch 'Spinal Tap' now. I could I leave that behind?
I'm so sorry that it's been so difficult. You are doing great and working so hard to keep that beautiful little boy fed and happy. All other posters have given great tips, I'll just give my support and good thoughts.
Eh, you know I know nothing about this stuff yet, but I do feel for you. And I know you'll work it out.
And Milo is one cute baby. I love the picture of him & justin half asleep.
I am catching up from my absence, and YEAH! You had your little boy! Woo-hoo! This is great news!!
On the breastfeeding front, I sucked royally at that and my milk skipped out on me really damn early. I wish I had good advice there.
Congrats!
Yeah. I'm not going to give you any advice. I think it's weird that something that's supposed to be so natural is so freaking hard! I know it's important to you, so I hope you figure it out. Okay...I lied...I will throw in a few pieces of advice. You can buy the larger pump parts. The ones I initially got were too small for my boobies. It still hurt anyway, but by that time it might have been the sleep deprivation. Bottles...what kind of bottle are you using? If you're using the small nipple kind, you might have better luck with an avent or wide top playtex...they are more "nipple like" (although I don't know like whose nipple...mine are nowhere near that cute and perky). Gideon also seemed to have problems with dairy and did that barfing thing...it seemed like he was always hungry because he was yakking up half of what I was producing (which wasn't that much). But the pumping is an evil thing too, because then it's feed, pump, clean and do the thing all over again. I'm sorry. It sucks. I hope it gets better soon.
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