hehe I have to agree with the breast being bigger then the baby, but then I spent the entire time I breastfed completely engorged and they were probably still 2-3x's the size of Alex's head even when he was 2-3 months old and 18lbs of baby!

Erin

Moderator - First Time Moms, Parents of Preemies
Missouri State Coordinator
Mommy to Alex and Mason

I pumped with Bella and they gavage fed her breastmilk as soon as it was in.
I tried to nurse, but she was so small,and my boob was so big...(same as sharel.)
The lactation nusres told me not to sweat it, as she was utilizing her strength to grow, and that as long as she was getting my milk, we were doing well. I felt like I was giving it my all.I also felt more a part of things.
Then, when she would latch on, she would fall asleep not too far into it, but then they would gavage feed her pumped milk from the fridge.
We ultimately tried everything we could. I bottle fed breast milk,and used a supplemental nursing system (which looked quite humorous)to help her get the point, and counteract the nipple confusion.

I feel like I did my very best....BUT I still wish I tried longer.(oxymoron?)
After about 10 weeks, I gave up [:(]
Things started sloooowing down in the supply dept.,because,(according to the LC) my body wasn't getting the stimulation it needed from the pump alone.(about 50%)
After the fact, I found out about a lot of tricks that I will use this time, Mother's milk fenugreek tea, the root beer thing-(THANKS!)
And some other things.

Hang in there and don't give up!!!!!
Then you can be an inspiration to me in 3 months!!


Mama to Bella,1/02/03, born 33 and 5/7 weeks at 3 lbs,6oz.Pre-E and PIH,& HELLP.
Babygirl #2,EDD 6/24/04

My LC became my best friend and still is to this day!... I felt like a cow pumping all the time. Even though I could never breastfeed Katlyne I was pumping for her to have it. Once she started really eating more and more my milk supply was just not there. I started to drink Root Beer (which does increase your milk believe it or not!!) morning, noon and night. Finally after 3 months of pumping , I had to stop because the cow was just plain old dried up!... Good luck with BF sound like you will be an old pro before you know it!


Hugs
~T

Mommy to
Drew(13)
Ky (11)
~i~ Katlyne(12/9/02-04/02/03) and little bud (Due 09/11/04)http://www.forevernetwork.com/Archive/lifestory.cfm?Archive_ID=10971&Directory=%2FArchives%2FMountHope&CFID=1089289&CFTOKEN=79068509

Good morning!!! We had a pretty good session yesterday, the lactation specialists helped a lot. Nicholas was very good and getting the right hold but after too sucks, he would stop. He said, "Hey, give me back my bottle, where the milk flows out immediately, lol!!!"[:D]. She suggested that I try and pump for a few minutes before our next feeding. And try for a few minutes before each feeding and then give him his bottle. Eventually, we will get the hang of it. Not too bad for our first time, though!!

Thanks so much!!!

Kim

Mommy to Nicholas James
born 2/4/04 at 31 weeks (2 lbs 1 oz) due to severe pre-e and placental abruption

Julie, just you wait, OMG the excitement at filling a 34B nearly overwhelmed me[:p]. I'm going to cry like a baby once I'm done nursing Chloe and these guys shrink down to a measly A.

Catherine
Mom to Finn, Lucy (preeclampsia and HELLP) and Chloe.
Moderator HELLP Syndrome Survivors

Kim,

How did it go? I haven't had the experience yet but, know from many friends how difficult it can be with a full-termer so, I can imagine a preemie must take that much more work. I hope Nicholas had a successful feeding, please let us know how it went.

Catherine - lol... the big joke in my family was that us girls didn't need bras, just band-aids...

Julie (27)
Zachary James, 7/22/03-7/27/03, born at 26wks - severe pe

Southern California Coordinator

LOL ... we all have our "problems". I'd estimate that my boob was about 5x the size of his head. LOL

Sharel [:0]

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Sharel O'Connell
Local coordinator for Pittsburgh area
'Parents of Preemies' co-moderator
Survivor of Preeclampsia, HELLP Syndome, & preemie parenting
Future adoptive mom

Aaron (28 weeker, 5/2/02)
Kevin - DH

Very good point Sharel, I have to say that I'm not the best endowed woman in the world. When I was a teenager I was known as "ketchup cups" by my so-called friends LOL! So there wasn't huge disparity between Finn's tiny mouth and my small nipple [;)].

Let us know how it goes, Kim.

Catherine
Mom to Finn, Lucy (preeclampsia and HELLP) and Chloe.
Moderator HELLP Syndrome Survivors

Good luck, Kim.

I didn't have the same amount of success that Catherine did, but I am happy with what I could do.

One thing you might find is that the size of his mouth is very, very tiny! [:0] It was really difficult for me to work with that. ALso, I didn't have a lot of support from the nurses in the NICU, and after a while, I began to think like them: that if he's growing on expressed milk, and that's going well for me, then I'm not going to worry too much about actually nursing.

Instead, I was very successful with expressing and did so all the time he was in the hospital (6 weeks) and another month after he came home. I was working full-time, so the schedule was just too difficult to keep up for longer than that. (thaw, feed, express, freeze... every 3 hours plus an hour commute and 8-hr workday)

My advice is to take it slowly and do what ever feels right to you and works with your baby. I hope, for both your sakes, that he does great with nursing. But if he doesn't, do what you can. And feel proud that you are contributing to his health and wellbeing every way you can.[8)]

Sharel

------------------------
Sharel O'Connell
Local coordinator for Pittsburgh area
'Parents of Preemies' co-moderator
Survivor of Preeclampsia, HELLP Syndome, & preemie parenting
Future adoptive mom

Aaron (28 weeker, 5/2/02)
Kevin - DH

Good luck Kim, I think that it's going to be fine. Don't worry if it is very frustrating at the beginning. It takes a while for everyone to get the hang of it. The lactation consultant will probably be able to show you some "holds" suitable for very small babies. I say, just be game for anything LOL!

When I was first learning, my son was a 35 and some weeker and weighed by your standards a robust 4lb 15 oz, the advice I got was... when ever he opens his mouth, just stuff it in...

It subsequently worked on the other two. I didn't get to hold Lucy (also a 35 and some weeker) until she was almost a week old and we weren't able to start trying to nurse until the day before I got out of the hospital. We ended up going until she was 14 months old and only stopped because I'd discovered I was pregnant again.

So, don't worry if today isn't a howling success, there'll be loads of chances to prefect your technique. Even under the best of circumstances it's like trying to learn to ride a bike.

I'm sending lots of sneak [:X] to your little baby,

Catherine
Mom to Finn, Lucy (preeclampsia and HELLP) and Chloe.
Moderator HELLP Syndrome Survivors