First Pediatrician Visit

Before we left the hospital, one of the nurses said she thought Aidyn looked a little jaundiced and that they'd probably want to keep him an extra day. If so, I could "room in" with him, but I wouldn't be considered a patient anymore. Ugh!!!
Luckily, when the pediatrician came through, he said no. He told us that Aidyn did look a little jaundiced but nothing to serious...but he did want to see us the next day to keep an eye on him.

Aidyn did well that night. Once we got home from the hospital my milk came in and so I was able to drop the formula and give him 30mL of pumped milk at each feeding. He drank it down and then would go back to sleep. We truley have been SO LUCKY! Everyone has told us, "Stop now while you're ahead. The next one definately won't be this good." Ben would get up to feed him so I could pump and return to bed. This was tiring since we were both up every 3hrs, but helpful as well bc I only had to worry about pumping. We both finished at the same time (feeding Aidyn and pumping) and could return to bed - AND, most importantly, Aidyn in HIS bed in HIS bedroom.

Thursday morning came VERY early. We fed Aidyn and left the house at 7:30am. Our appt was at 8am. We were totally exhausted! We met with dr first. Aidyn was born 7lbs 1oz. When we left the hospital he was 6lbs 10oz. At the dr on Thursday he was 6lbs 9oz. The dr said he still looked jaundiced and said he hadn't even had to clip a tongue a second time, a little more, but that he thought it might be necessary. We were also meeting with the lactation specialist at the dr and so he wanted her to check before making a decision. She didn't find that it needed to be done.

After trying several "techniques" of nursing and "substitute" nursing, the lactation specialist suggest switching to a bottle, just for now. She explained that we could put the pumped milk in a bottle and feed him that way. She said we don't want to stress him out by thinking eating time is hard, uncomfortable, and unsatisfactory. She assured us that once we got the jaundice cleared up and him where he needed to be, we would work on breastfeeding again. She suggest trying during his 2-3wks bc that would be when he hit a growth spurt and would be anxious to eat. She also suggested increasing his intake from 30mL to 60mL.

I felt MUCH better after talking with her, until she said that. I was just able to get enough milk pumped to not have to use formula (not that formula is bad) and now she's telling us to double?!? Well, wouldn't you know the minute we got home and I pumped...60+ mL. I was thrilled! We spent the day/night giving him 60mL and had to return to the dr AGAIN on Friday for a follow-up to check his jaundice. Our appt Friday was at 10am and that was much better. We were able to sleep a little more, feed him at 9am, and head that way.

We met with the lactation specialist first. She thought he looked better and was pleased with his progress. She said he should be hitting his first growth spurt during his 7th-10th days (Feb.2-Feb.5). She said 60mL was good but if he seems to want more, give it to him. She also said during this growth spurt, he may want 70mL-100mL.

We (Ben, myself, and the lactation specialist) decided he had a small case of jaundice that only intensified due to my lack of supply of milk and the nurses not letting me supplement all those hours! She said had he been hydrated, it wouldn't have been so bad. Also, doublling his intake to 60mL also helped. He apparently was starved.

In the 24 hrs since the dr on Thursday, he had gained 4oz!!! Most babies gain about 1oz a day...he gained 4oz! We were so excited! The dr said his color was looking much better also. Phew! The dr checked his tongue once more, his circumsicion, and then we went home. Well...we went through Chic-fil-a for breakfast (yum!) and then headed home. :)

Since Friday we have been putting about 70-80mL in all his bottles, just to see how much he'll eat before getting full and stopping. On 3 occasions since Friday morning he has eatin 100mL!!! He is such a little pig! Since I have been pumping more than enough, really you have no idea, ha...today we started putting closer to 80-100mL in each bottle. He hasn't eaten the larger bottles, but most of it.

We got back to the dr NEXT WEDNESDAY for his 2wk visit. He'll actually be 2wks and 2days old. I can't wait to see how much he's gained after all of his eating! I'm hoping they tell us to back down from 3hrs to every 4hrs if we can. This may mean more per feeding, but it would def leave us with more sleep between. :)