Making Progress

We've really had some challenges in the breastfeeding department, and I was close to the point where I was ready to give up on trying. By the time I fed Emily, got her to sleep, pumped and ran to the kitchen for something to eat or drink, it was time to start the whole routine over. She was consistently eating every two hours, and I was pumping every 3-4 hours to keep up with her feedings. I was exhausted and frustrated, but really wanted her to have breastmilk instead of formula, so we were sticking with it.

Yesterday, I finally decided to make an appointment with a lactation consultant at Northside. We met with one in the hospital and she was terrific, but I wasn't having the same challenges then that I am now. Luckily, they had a cancellation for this morning at 9:00 AM, and I took it. I was a little worried about getting organized enough to leave the house in rush hour traffic and make it by 9:00, but Mick was a huge help, and we pulled it off (we were even early!).

The consultant we met with was awesome. She weighed Emily before we started (by the way, our little piglet is up to 8 lbs, 6.5 oz) and then after we finished to see how much milk she was taking in. It took us a while, but she had about 2.5 oz total (to put it in perspective, she normally eats 3 oz at a typical feeding), and never really got frustrated. I was elated when we left, and came home with a plan to try breastfeeding for two of her feedings today and tomorrow, and then increase to three. We came home this afternoon and she breastfed for a solid 30 minutes, and seemed so content and happy when we were done. It was such a relief to know that it's not too late for us to catch on to this!

The consultant also gave us some other resources--there's a Mom & Me Breastfeeding Support Group that meets every other Tuesday, so we'll go to that next week (Mick said it sounded like AA for Breastfeeding). She has us scheduled for an appointment to check Emily's tongue--she said her frenulum is really tight and that she might be considered tongue-tied. This would explain some of her breastfeeding challenges, as well as her difficulty with holding onto a pacifier. That appointment is next week--it's an easy fix if they decide she needs anything fixed. In the meantime, we have some exercises to do before each feeding to get her to stretch her tongue.

All in all, it was a great day and we're making progress!