Edison is two months old! & Vancouver clinic visit went very well :)

Age: My baby is two months old today! Wow! There have been so many changes in him.

Weight & height: Edi weighs in now at 11.6lbs, that's not a very good gain. Only gained 1.1lbs this month, less than he's supposed to. He's about 23.22 inches in length now too.

Clothing: because he hasn't been gaining much weight most 0-3 month onesies still fit! So we have a much larger selection of clothes than I thought we would at this point. All of his 3-6 month sizes & 6 month onesies are currently in his drawer too.

Likes: correction from last month, Edison enjoys being latched! But will only eat 6-8 minutes MAX each side and then fall asleep but will scream if taken off and not allowed to suckle. So my little man is a total boob guy.

He really likes sitting up alone to kick and look at stuff. He watches the tv because of the flashing pictures that keep his attention. We are borrowing a swing which he seems to enjoy more and more. He likes his soothie even more than last month and falls asleep with it every time. He's found his fist which he enjoys sucking while making the most adorable noises. He's the cutest little man :)

Dislikes: Edison still hates his car seat but only when it's in the car and he's alone in the back seat. If someone is with him in the back or his seat is out of the car then he's fine. He still dislikes a wet head in the bath but stopped screaming during diaper changes. He hates having to wait for milk and very much dislikes falling asleep alone.

Development: Edison has been cooing, he turns his head to noises or people that interest him, he is smiling a lot more and "talks". He is doing better at tummy time but still hates it, he does so much better with lifting his head when held.

Hows mom doing?: I am doing fabulous! I had my follow up glucose test which came back NEGATIVE! Wahoo! Which means NO diabetes, so happy! My hemoglobin is also back to normal which is apparently not all that common for it to go back to normal so quickly after so much blood loss.

My breast milk production hasn't been that great though but we're working hard on it. I went to the Vancouver breast feeding clinic which was a really great experience. The doctor I got was fantastic! She recognized the problem very quickly and was sweet yet firm with informing me about it and how to move forward. So basically what's happening is that Edison is just hanging out at the boob suckling but not eating, he's falling asleep really quickly which isn't telling my brain to make more milk. Therefore, my milk supply is low and not sufficient for my growing boy. He's getting only two ounces of milk from a feed (that's including both sides) when at his age he should be eating three to four ounces total. So he's only getting half of what he is supposed to. No wonder he's only gained one pound this month, poor guy.

Although his gain is small let me me make it very clear that Edison was never in any danger. We were going to the doctor for weekly weigh ins to monitor him. I would NEVER put my son in danger on purpose, and I was never starving him. I offered him boob constantly, he was getting food but just not enough. Hence why I was constantly breast feeding (every 1-2 hours) and could never go out anywhere.

SO, we have a new routine given by the doctor. He gets to eat on each side for ten minutes which is timed and then I pump each side immediately after he's done for five minutes and feed Edison the pumped milk. I need to give Edison two ounces at each feed for a top up (to get his feed to 3-4 ounces total, assuming he's still getting 2 ounces from me) so if I can't manage to pump two ounces (which I currently can't, hence why he's not getting enough food) then we give the rest of the top up as formula.

How am I feeling about all of this? I'm doing better accepting the fact that this is just a hiccup and NOT a defeat. The doc said the goal is to get my milk up and phase out the top ups. But because of the blood loss affecting my milk production so much I may never be able to keep up to Edison's needs. But I'm going to continue to do everything I can. Including the pumping, prescription meds, mothers milk tea and fenugreek pills. I'm just wishing so much that it wouldn't have to be this hard but then again this whole pregnancy and baby experience has been challenging and has made me stronger. I sure am learning a lot about myself and my body. I'm also committing to eating better to respect my body and it's sensitivities to help my body be the best milk producing machine!! So this means it's time I actually DO the gluten free diet and give my body the ability to heal and use its energy to make milk!

So hopefully come next month I'll be updating you with a picture of a plump Edison and news of my abundant milk supply :)
N.


Edison at one month & two months. What a difference in his face!