We went for the weight check last week. Julia weighed 12.8 1/2.
WTF! OMG! What happened?! How is that possible?!
Her doctor wants me to pump and feed her 5-6 oz. in a bottle for all her feedings until the next weight check in a week. Of course, I'm devastated as usual. I hate weight check and Jai forgot and didn't get off work so I had to go alone. Usually I'm a confident, self-assured person, but the weight thing is my albatross. ANNOYING!
After some conversations with Jai, my mom, her friend, Lois (she breastfed her 3 kids), the LLL leader in my local group, and examining our daily feeding & diaper notes (I still keep them mainly because of my sleep-deprived memory loss), we determined the culprit. I have been pumping in the early a.m. because of leaking and also wanting to store milk for the future. However, I wasn't emptying the breasts so they were thinking they didn't need to make as much milk.
I created MORE of a problem!
The irony is that once I stepped back from the 6 month visit and thought about her weight, I realized it was fine. It's Julia, she gains weight in her way. I am grateful for the weight check appt. because we might not have know the impact of the pumping. However, I was getting really and literally tired of waking at 3-4-5am to pump 1-2 hours before Julia woke. I stopped and now I sleep 7-8 hours again and it's much better for everyone.
I decided that I wasn't going to pump her 6 feedings. That's not breastfeeding. I understand the doctor's reasoning. She wants to be able to measure what Julia is drinking and see if she gains weight in a week. You cannot do that with breastfeeding. However, I didn't want to go in that direction, even for a short amount of time. We know Julia will gain weight if we give her milk in a bottle - been there, done that. She's a champ with a bottle, too!
We bought a baby scale. You can rent one for $29/week at A Mother's Place. We got one at Target for $60. We go for well child visits every 3 months from 6, 9, 12, 15, 18 months, on and on. I will go crazier if I have to guess what she weighs in those 3 months. Also instead of measuring what's in a bottle, I can weigh Julia before and after her feedings and see how much she eats. She eats more in the morning (8 ounces) [which is what she wasn't getting for 2 weeks] and less in the evening (3-4 ounces).
AMAZING! I wish I had bought a baby scale 4 months ago. I suspect it would have saved me a ton of heartache and worry. It is worth EVERY dollar - might be best purchase yet. That and the diaper service. : )
Julia weighed 12.13 1/2 yesterday. I plan to weigh her once a week to make sure she continues to gain. We called her doctor to give them an update and cancel the weight check appt. They must love us - we are the rebel parents, doing it our way. However, Julia is healthy. That is what is important.
2 weeks ago