My Little Poppyseed: 19 Days old

GOOD GRIEF

That's what I have to say. 

We have spent almost 1/2 of Libby's life so far in the hospital.

Not exactly what we had planned. 

Not exactly my idea of spending time with my baby. 

So just to catch everyone up.

Libby was born at 8 pounds 7 ounces.

(I am beginning to wonder if the scale wasn't off at the hospital)

We went Tuesday the 16th for our two week check up. 

Libby weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces.

GOOD GRIEF

Up to this point I had been only breastfeeding Libby.

She latched on great.

Sucked great.

Ate great.

OR SO I THOUGHT

She always seemed satisfied. 

She slept when she was supposed to. 

All seemed so normal. 

My pediatrician was not happy that she had lost almost 20% of her birthweight. 

10% is normal to lose, but not 20%.

So she wanted me to supplement formula.

That's what we were doing.

I would breastfeed first and then give Libby the formula. 

I had started off by giving her only 1 ounce at a time. 

We went back to the Dr's office on Friday just to weigh her. 

She had gained 3 ounces. 

We thought that was good. 

Dr. did not feel that was enough and recommended bringing her to the Methodist Children's Hospital in San Antonio.

She said to go to the emergency room and tell them we needed to be admitted for 

FAILURE TO THRIVE

WHAT??

My baby does not look sick. 

She was gaining weight. 

FAILURE TO THRIVE seems so harsh.

Needless to say we followed the doctors orders and went to the ER. 

We got in right away and they started running tests.

When we got in to a room I fed Libby.

She latched on just fine.

They took a urine sample from her by inserting a tiny little catheter. 

They took her temp and blood pressure.

They needed to draw blood and that took FOREVER!

They couldn't find a vein, b/c hers were so tiny. 

They had to get it out of her head.

My poor baby. She was a trooper though. She cried more when she had to have xrays done than she did for the blood draw. 

The ER doctor we saw was extremely positive and assured us that all would be fine. 

She did not think that this would be anything but a matter of getting her to gain weight. 

All the preliminary tests came back normal including the xrays and they did not hear anything in her heart.

So FINALLY after about 7-8 hours in the ER they took us to our room.

They weighed her and she was 

3.24 kg = 7 pounds 2 ounces

I was instructed by the Pediatrician to nurse her every 3 hours and then feed her formula, just like we had been doing at home. She checked her over and said the same thing as the ER doctor. 

She said that Libby did not look sick, and that babies who had lost as much weight as she did typically look worse than Libby.

She was joking as well about the scale not being accurate at birth!

Here is what she looked like on the day we brought her home.

I guess the thing that is the most heartbreaking to me is that she has not latched on since Friday night to breast feed. She just gets frustrated and cries. I know I need to think about what is best for Libby and that right now is getting her to gain weight. 

I am just really sad.

 

I am still pumping and attempting to breastfeed before every bottle feeding.

WE ARE NOT GIVING UP

She takes the bottle right away every time. 

I am still feeding her as much of the expressed breast milk as I can, but I am just not producing much and not enough to feed her only breast milk at every feeding. 

So I am asking you to please pray that I would start producing more milk with every pumping cycle. I am also taking an herbal supplement to help produce more and trying to eat foods that help you produce more. I am drinking at least 120 ounces of water every day.

Please pray that Libby would re-latch once we get home and back in our own environment. She was doing so good (even though she obviously wasn't getting enough) at home. 

Please pray that I would not be stressed or get frustrated because I know that doesn't help.

Please pray that my hormones would get back to normal so I don't cry every time I talk about this or think about it. 

Today they weighed her and she was

3.36 kg = 7 pounds 6 ounces

We are making progress and will go home sometime tomorrow. 

She is seeing some doctor in the morning to test her "suck" and see if that has something to do with my milk production. They have to do more xrays and I will let you know the details at that point. I am not EXACTLY sure on what they are looking for. 

I am just ready to go home. I miss my Hadleigh and Isaac!