We took Knox to the doctor on Monday because for a couple days, he had been drawing up after eating and crying. It seemed like gas to me, so I was giving him Mylicon drops. It worked sometimes, but not every time. The doctor said it seems like reflux. Damn! The good news is that since I am breast feeding, we don’t have to jump right to taking Zantac. I can try changing my diet first to see if that helps. Luckily, it seems to have worked! It makes perfect sense- in the hospital and in our first week at home, my diet consisted of deli sandwiches (making up for lost time!) and lots of fruit, so it was pretty mild. Then, over the weekend, I partook in some… er, fried things. Okay, lots of fried things. Poor Knox, his belly wasn’t quite ready for all of that!
I guess this keeps me honest in my diet. I would be tempted to eat more unhealthily, but now that I know it affects Knox, I won’t be doing that!
Oh, and my big boy is up to 8 pounds! That’s over a pound gained in about two weeks! Woo hoo!
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Thats great that hes up to 8 pounds sucks that he has reflux and really sucks on the fried food
the things you will do for your baby….. Im glad its getting better how you liking the diapers.
Good job nursing mama! How did you get started nursing? I know there were some obstacles, but did you pump every couple hours? Or was he able to nurse a little bit? How did it work at home? Did he have latching problems?
nlvaden,I wanted to answer your question about nursing. In the hospital, once they found out I was planning on breastfeeding, the lactation consultant brought me a pump. She told me to pump both breasts simultaneously every two hours. I started getting colostrum right away. I took that to the NICU and they gave it to Knox by swabbing his mouth with it.
Since Knox was in the NICU, he wasn't allowed to eat right away (he was on IV fluids), but the pump helped get things moving. On the third day, I started to feel something happening, and by the fourth day, my milk was fully in. The pumping got things started up, for sure. Once he started nursing on that fourth day (good timing with the milk coming in!), he latched on pretty quickly. He was a lazy eater and waking him up to eat was half the problem. We got pretty good at nursing in the hospital, since I fed him every three hours and had the help of lactation consultants whenever I needed them.
Once I got home, he was even lazier with his eating, which led to a decline in milk supply, but through pumping after each feeding to empty each side and more stimulating of Knox to keep him awake, the supply increased, and now we're doing good. It took a while to get acclimated, but things are easier, now!