We're down 2 ounces. Bummer. Zachary will now be supplemented after each breastfeeding session with 2 ounces of fortified (with EnfaCare for preemies) breast milk. Also, his feeds will go from max every 4.5 hours to every 3 hours. He is too little to loose weight!! Hopefully, this overhaul of his feedings will help him gain some weight.
His caloric demand is just more than what I can give him right now. I'm okay with the supplements. I don't think I have much of a choice. As much as I want to breastfeed him exclusively, I want him to thrive. He is getting my milk either way, which to me is the most important thing. And, when I go back to work at the end of the month, he'll be getting bottles of breast milk anyways.
I'm hoping that as he gains weight, we can cut back some of the extra bottles. Like, maybe only bottle him after his day feeds and leave the night feeds to just breast. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. He has a weight check on Thursday, to make sure he is not loosing more weight.
Otherwise, he checked out perfect. =)
Love your positive outlook and the fact that you are so awesome with your mentality about him getting your breast milk no matter the source. So glad that a good plan is in place to help Zachary on his way to those rolly-poly fat baby thighs! :)
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you have a good plan going. . . I'm actually surprised that you didn't already have a plan for supplementing with fortified BM.
ReplyDeleteMy plan was a bit different, because I wasn't bfing all feeds by the time mine came home, I was supplementing and pumping WAY more than actual bfing. But as we became more proficient, the supplementing went way down and at three months completely stopped.
I had weekly weight checks with my LC, and we did before and after feeds weight checks. It gave me some insight into how much milk was being transferred. Can you go that route at all? I wouldn't do it every day, just weekly, otherwise you will go crazy, but it might help figure out something.
Good luck!
Jill
grow little zachary, grow! sounds like you are doing a great job momma, keep up the hard work! :)
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