And the Saga Continues

I just wanted to let ya'll know that I have not forgotten about this blog. I've been wanting to post for a while, but I feel like I have nothing to talk about. It seems like all I do these days is breastfeed Sophia. So that's what I'm going to talk about.

In my last post I said that things were finally getting better, but now I realize I may have been a bit hasty with those words. I had a doctor's appointment this past Tuesday, and when my doctor weighed Sophia, we discovered that, in one week, she hadn't gained any weight. At all.

My doctor was already concerned because Sophia's weight gain has been so slow (about half an ounce per day, or around three ounces per week). The preferred gain would be around one ounce per day (or at least five to six ounces per week). At six weeks old, her ideal weight right now should be 8 lbs 11 oz. Her current weight? 7 lbs 6 oz.

So my doctor told me it was time to pull out the big guns. She wrote me a prescription for Domperidone, a drug to increase my milk supply. One capsule, four times a day, for six weeks. Cost? $90.

She told me I had to buy a double electric breast pump. Cost? $300. (I would like to thank my friend Kat for getting us a big fat Target gift card. It helped pay for this ridiculously expensive pump.)

She had me go for a consultation to get me set up with an SNS (Supplemental Nursing System). I was going to explain it, but it's basically an alternative to the bottle, to avoid nipple confusion. It's also incredible frustrating, and I don't think I'm going to use it.

We think the reason that Sophia isn't gaining properly is twofold: she doesn't nurse with gusto, so she's not getting all my milk. Since breastfeeding is all about demand and supply, if she's not demanding it, then I'm not supplying it. So we need to get her to a place where she eats with vigor, and me to a place where I have lots to offer.

So: my new breastfeeding routine is to feed Sophia on both sides for as long as she'll go. Then I have to pump on both sides for 1o minutes, and then give her whatever I pump. No storing it in the freezer. I already had a small stash built up that I had pumped over the course of a few weeks, but my midwife told me to give that to her as well. She needs to take in everything that I've got.

I also have to keep getting Sophia weighed every week, and calling my doctor with those numbers. And I'm going to have yet another consultation with a Lactation Consultant so that they can observe a feeding, weigh Sophia before and after, see how much I pump, and then make suggestions from there.

And I still have to keep track of her diapers.

*BIG SIGH* So we're not out of the woods yet. But I'm praying like crazy that this new routine works. This whole ordeal is mentally and emotionally draining, and I feel like I can't enjoy motherhood while this is hanging over my head.

Your continued prayers would also be appreciated.