(James update below.)Mattie had a good day yesterday. Because he's around 32 weeks now, they're starting to ease him into the process of getting food by mouth. With preemies, they generally do both breast and bottle feeding, because breastfeeding takes more energy and they don't want them to burn up too many calories. (Also, of course, they feed every three hours, and moms aren't usually there around the clock!) Right now, and probably for a little while yet, he's still getting all of his nutrition by tube (which they've upped to 30 ml per feeding), but he's been sucking on a pacifier, and they've started sometimes putting a drop of milk on the pacifier so that he can taste it. (In full term babies who will be breastfeeding, the recommendation is often not to give a pacifier until nursing is established, but the rules are different for preemies.)
Last night we also gave him a few drops of milk by mouth as they were starting his feeding. The NICU lactation consultant -- who is awesome, super nice and extremely helpful -- came in yesterday, and showed us how to position him for breastfeeding. He opened his mouth, and even took a couple of experimental sucks. Pretty cool! This is about all they hope for at this point; the idea is to get him used to the idea of feeding.
Maybe the best part was that I held him for a while after that, and he was wide awake and looking into my eyes. (The kangaroo care is great, but for kangarooing, the babies are lying on their stomach on our chest, so because of the angle, you mainly see the top of their head and their backs; it's a little hard to see their faces.) Such a sweet boy!
6 comments:
I'm glad you've got access to a good lactation consultant (very important for anyone, but especially one who can help with the preemie-specific issues).
::hugs:: and prayers for all of you!
What's the line from Casablanca? "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." :)
C was a little bigger than Mattie (4 lb 10oz) but I remember exactly what it was like working with the lactation folks to help her learn to eat. Good times! Glad Mattie is getting ready for that.
Wow! Bfing is hard enough under typical circumstances. Brava to you for undertaking it. Good Mommy!
So glad to hear the boys are doing well. It's so exciting that Matthew is trying to nurse! You are doing a super job. I was really impressed with the lactation consultants at UNC too.
Janas
That's awesome that you're working on breastfeeding the twins! It took Sam until his due date to really be able to transfer milk directly from the breast, so my advice is to keep your expectations low and become very good friends with your breastpump! I named mine Bertha. :D
How exciting to start this process. I assume you've been pumping all this time too. Way to go for keeping that up. Yes, a good lactation consultant is worth her weight in gold. And one perk of the longer-term hospital setting is having that much more help with the process. Its not an easy skill to acquire!
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