Today had a lot of crying in it - most of the morning in fact. I just feel so overwhelmed at taking care of Morella's feeding schedule. Feeding her this thick, goopy, honey consistency formula just kills me. It makes her mouth all chalky and she smacks her lips like a thirsty person and it just stays there in her mouth being all ... inert. Then when she does manage to suck some of that sludge down the reflux tags in and she in discomfort for the next 45 minutes (at least). You would think that this sludge would stay in her belly and not cause her issues, but alas that is not the case. Not to mention her breathing has gotten worse and is even more labored than before. A lot of the time it sounds like she really needs a good cough to get that gunk out.
Last night it took her 45 minutes to go sleep after eating at 3:00AM because of the reflux. She has already vomited twice (once yesterday and once today).
What do you do with a baby when they are fussy? You carry then, jostle and jiggle, you look at their diapers and ... what was that other major thing? Oh yeah FOOD. You feed them. Except what do you when it feels like every time you give them the bottle you are playing a game of russian roulette? Did I make the formula thick enough for her to not aspirate but yet suck down? Oh no did she just aspirate now? Is the formula too thick now and can she eat anything?
That damn pediatrician never called me back. I am sure she is just waiting until the appointment tomorrow morning. You know, I don't think I like her much. To be honest she isn't the one that got the whole ball rolling on this it was the stand in pediatrician that did. Though of course she consulted her on everything and seemed unsure of herself. Still, I appreciate that she got things in motion. I feel like this pediatrician is too quick to say everything is "normal."
Tim has decided that he hates lactation consultants because they should have been experienced enough to see that we were doing everything right and that there might be a medical reason behind her not breastfeeding. He does have a point. The lesser pediatrician is a LC ... but she isn't permanent for the East side location. I am currently stuck with the one I have until they hire another one (the other one just left for another job)...or go to a different location. I don't feel like my driving is that great to do that and it would probably be the location that is far away and hard to get too. :(
I guess I will see what happens tomorrow. I feel like our situation is serious enough to warrant action. Fast and efficient. But the fact that she didn't call me back today makes me think that maybe she thinks babies breathing in liquid into their lungs is NORMAL.
Anyway. After we both cried for a long time, and eventually she finished a bottle we both went to sleep on the couch (her in her boppy and propped up) and me cuddling next to her. We had a nice three hour nap -- which she continued after I gave her the 4:00 bottle. Oh yeah, I am going to try and not feed her anymore except after three hours to make sure that she drinks the sludge down. It's too hard to play with the consistency of it for comfort feeding to work.
I think I am going to try the hot shower steam thing tonight and see if that helps with her breathing.
posted by hadjare @ 6:12 PM
3 Comments:
In defense of LC's, they are not generally qualified to diagnose something like that.. and in my opinion, an issue this severe is rare.
The LC we used, and whom I adore is Hershey Barnett-Bridges. Our pediatrician told me when Cassidy was an infant that she was the BEST in Madison. So if you want to continue on that route, give her a call. As for peds. I could refer you to the ones we used (I LOVE them and wish I could have packed them up and moved them to NY with us!) But I think Dr DiMuri is doing doctors without borders now and no longer practicing in Madison. After hours care we were always sent to the UW ped clinic on the west side and they were equally amazing and proactive.
A good cry about things never hurts. Sometimes its the best thing. I'll email or give a call when I hear back from my sisters about the reflux/suck swallow issue, ok?
Hang in there
To clarify my point about LC's, though they can't diagnose medical problems, they SHOULD have at least suggested a medical component to this issue be explored. They didn't. They didn't even recommend we go to the pediatrician. That's something we did of our own accord because we were so dissatisfied with the LCs. They were obsessed with us trying everything under the sun to breastfeed, and did a crappy job of listening to us when we described how she was behaving, our concerns about breathing, etc.
I mean, at some point as an LC, shouldn't you start wondering to yourself what's causing the difficulty, or do you continue to blame mother's and baby's BF inexperience for the failure and just suggest more LC sessions?
Course, I suppose I shouldn't paint the whole profession negatively, but from the contact with the ones in the hospital and now with the HMO, I am completely unimpressed.
-Tim
Not only does a good cry not hurt, it can help...cleansing away mental and physical stress. Cry it out! Then have some nice hot tea. And cuddle that baby lots. I'm thinking of you all, and hoping you have a satisfying and informative appointment today.
I'm spouting pure opinion here, but I think lactation consulting is a fairly new field with the increased popularity of breastfeeding in the past several years. There are certificate programs, but completion of the program doesn't make a consultant a wise old village sage of breastfeeding. I think many of them are working from their own experiences (which were probably good, and gave them the positive attitude to pursue consulting), some book and video larnin', and a few dozen hours of contact with other consultants, nurses, and nursing mothers. The person who cuts my hair probably has more formal and hands-on training than the young LC I worked with at the hospital.
It's very likely many LCs haven't encountered such a deep medical problem. And it's possible that during their training, the "spin" on breastfeeding is that it's super and should be easy and natural for anyone who's got the hold and the latch right.
Anyway, it could take a decade to build a nationwide "village" of seen-it-all lactation experts.
-SECP
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