HELP ME! I am in tears and just want this to work but it's not

On Dec. 30 I had one full term baby. She nursed great from the second she was born. She weighed 8 lbs 13 oz at birth and 24 hours later she weighed 8 lbs 10 oz. Ever since Jan 4 she has weighed 8 lbs 0 oz. She has stayed right at 8 lbs even since January 4. Pediatrician wants me to nurse a feed and then supplement a feed and keep alternating. I have a crappy used pump. I pump every 3 hours or so and get about 2 oz out of each side. I never get more than 2 oz out of each side. I spoke to Lacatation today. They told me it sounds like she is not effective at pulling the milk out of my breast because she wants to nurse every 2 to 3 hours for 30 minutes on each side. Any ideas, thoughts or tips? Thanks! I am very concerned about her weight.

 

Have you tried messaging your breast as she nurses? I did this when the boys were NB and it helped bring my milk down and they didn't have to work as hard at first to nurse.

 

So she's nursing every 2 or 3 hours for an hour total? I agree that breast compression should help- I also think maybe an SNS might be beneficial- just to get her some either EBM or formula while she's stimulating your breast. Does your hospital have any resources for nursing? Mine had a club where you could bring your baby for a before and after weight check and get tips from an LC.

:hug:

 

Breast massage does work. That is my suggestion as well. Congratulations.

 

You can also take a warm shower right before nursing, or put a warm facecloth or towel on your breast, both will stimulate letdown. Or even try pumping for just a few mins to get the milk flowing before nursing. I think if you want to supplement, you shouldnt' skip a feeding to do it, you should do it after you nurse her. Nurse for 15-20 mins each side, then supplement with a small amount of formula. An SNS would be even better if you can get one. :hug:

 

Has she been checked very carefully for tongue tie?
There are various types and degrees of tongue tie--not all of them are obvious.
http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/bfhelp-tonguetie.html

 

Spencer wasn't gaining weight and was nursing like you've described so I met with a LC who watched me nurse him. She also had him suck on her finger and felt in his mouth. He apparently has a very high arch to the roof of his mouth, so he was having trouble getting good suction. It made it a lot more work for him. He also wasn't getting his tongue quite in the right place because of it. So she showed me how to have him suck on my finger and kind of massage his tongue to push it farther out like it should be, then pop him on to nurse. That helped some. Plus I did a lot of the breast massage like I was kind of expressing it into his mouth. That really helped because then he just got it without working so much. Eventually he started to put on weight and then he got stronger and everything worked out ok by like 6-7 weeks, I think. Now he's 2 1/2 and just coming to the point of weaning... he nurses about once every 2-3 days. And he's a moose. Not fat at all, just BIG. He weighs more than Sabrina (who's six, but tiny for her age) and is as tall as Sydney was at 4 (and she's always been average height).

But if you could actually meet with a LC and have her watch you nurse (I know, it can be a little uncomfortable if you're shy at all) that might be the best thing to pinpoint a strategy for making things work in the best way possible. Our insurance didn't cover it, but some do. And I think the local WIC offices often have someone. They did when I had Sage and we were not figuring it out quite, either. With Sage all it took was switching her over to football hold and suddenly she latched on and never looked back. But I don't know that I would have figured that out on my own.

 

I was also going to mention tongue-tie. It took 5 weeks of stress, pain, and general misery before my singleton was diagnosed with it. After it was clipped, life was so good! I was also thinking pumping until your milk lets down... that way, the milk is ready and available to her when she latches. One other option to try is a new pump. You may have reservations about this, but I have bought 2 used Medela Pump In Style breast pumps off Craigslist for $70 each that were nearly brand new, one for my twins then one for my singleton after the twins wore my first pump out. Of course, I bought brand new tubing and bottles. And, a lactation consultant can help if there is latching trouble and can diagnose tongue-tie. An in-person visit to a lactation consultant is difinitely the place to start!! I am so sorry you are going through this!! Best wishes!

 

It may be worth your while to rent a pump from the hospital. The hospital pumps just have more oomph. I had a lot of difficulty with production at first and I noticed a HUGE difference between the hospital pump (Medela Symphony I believe) and my personal pump (Medela Pump in Style). I would nurse by babies every 2 - 3 hours, then sit attached to that darn pump for 30 more minutes after our 30 minute nursing session. It sucked for a while. I felt like a cow and even named my pump Bessie. We also supplemented at first until my production picked up, then we were able to BF exclusively.

I would also second the recommendation to consult an LC. I opposed this vehemently at first because I was so shy. I didn't want to be manhandled by someone I didn't know. I finally decided that BFing was more important to me than modesty. My LC found that my babies needed some assistance latching, and she fitted me with a nipple shield, which we eventually weaned off. But for her help, I would have given up a lot earlier. I'll be honest, she got very hands on and it took me two meetings to get confortable with her pawing me, but eventually it all worked out.

Good luck.