I am writing this from my hospital room. My daughter initiated her own entrance to this world at 35 weeks and 4 days ... eventually born on 35 weeks 5 days. She is absolutely beautiful and my eyes
well up with tears when I think of what we went through for her to make it to the outside world.
The chloreostasis did not harm her, thank God!!! She did develop elevated bilirubin levels but it is being attributed to what many infants get, jauntice. She is under the bili bed in the nursery right now.
The other SIGNIFIGANT issue is that we have to help her to learn how to suck to be fed - nursing is difficult. I am using donor milk because my own milk is not in yet and I did not want her to cry and suffer. Besides that, she was born healthy and a VERY happy girl!!!
I’m so thrilled for you. Breastfeeding is tough - hang in there! If you need a shoulder to cry on (sleep on), you can count on me. I’m five months into it and had a lot of problems getting started.
Writing from HOME!!! 6 days in the hospital, but we are both home now. She is now able to take milk from the breast, although she prefers it from the bottle so I am pumping and giving it to her that way for her nutritional needs. She left the hospital weighing 7 lbs 3 oz. She was born 7 lbs 12 oz. She was treated as preemie because she came out at 35 weeks 5 days.
Taking care of diabetes while in hospital was interesting. It began with me not being able to take my own shots. I was very stressed out. Then it involved how to calculate my insulin - I was not a carb counter so the whole concept of carb ratios was foreign to me. I met with a couple of specialists who helped to develop my plan. My ratio is 10 carbs for 1 unit of fast acting insulin. They did not carry Novo Log so I was using Humolog. In the end, my blood sugars during my hospital stay were better than home! I learned a lot from them and will try to continue to count carbs.
Is there a machine you can buy that you can plug in what you ate and the machine will let you know how many carbs total?
You can use http://www.calorieking.com to get fairly accurate results - adjustable for serving sizes, too. There are also electronic nutritional scales that can calculate carbs based on the item and weight. For fast food joints, I find that Dotti’s Weight Loss Zone is my go-to.
no kidding!!! Every 2 hours to pump … every 3 hours to eat … yesterday we took the pump in the car with us to head to the doctors and I pumped in the back seat, where I have an electric outlet in my Jeep. I feel like everything revolves around pumping breast milk. Do you pump that often or is that just in the beginning???
So you just nurse on demand? I think I am getting to that point, too. Now I feel bad when I pump because she starts rooting after that and I have to give her a bottle because I am afraid that my milk is all in the bottle!
Yes, I nurse on demand, which is usually every 2 hours still (almost like clockwork) at 5 months old. She’ll usually sneak one feeding a day in after 1 hour, which surprises me. And during the night she goes a lot longer. Asleep by 8:30p, up again around 1am, 3:30am, and 6am.
I’ve been told that pumping will not affect your supply negatively. As soon as she goes back on the breast, she should be effective enough of a nurser to stimulate more production. BabyBL nurses with a silicone nipple shield because of a poor latch, but the kid can get about 5-6 ounces per feeding regardless.
Nursing on demand is better for you supply-wise, especially if you had a rough start and had to supplement or use a lot of pumping. Have you heard of the website http://www.kellymom.com/? It’s a wonderful resource suggested by my lactation nurse. I also attend La Leche League meetings at a local hospital. It’s great to know other nursing moms. It’s so much harder than I ever thought it would be! Feel free to message me privately, too.
