Sleepy

I never imagined this would be an issue…but, it appears Bailey sleeps too much.  This has been on my radar since day one, actually.  I even brought it up at her 2 day appointment with our pediatrician.  Not only was she sleeping 4-5 hours at a whack, but she was incredibly difficult to wake up.  I really want to nurse this baby.  I wasn’t able to nurse Brooklyn because of my back injury, and all the medication I had to take and such, and I really, really wanted to be successful at it this time.  I made an appointment with the lactation specialist last weekend because while I’ve had another child, I didn’t feel I really knew what I was doing.  And, because of our experience with Brooklyn, and her weight issues, I was nervous about breastfeeding and not knowing exactly how much she was taking in.  I thought the appointment went great.  They weighed her before and she was 6 lbs 14 oz.  They weighed her again after nursing and she was 7 lbs 1.5 oz.  So, she’d gained 3.5 oz and the LC seemed very pleased and surprised at my supply and her intake.  I nursed all week exclusively and I really thought she was doing well.  But, at her 10 check up she weighed 7 lbs 0 oz.  This was not an “acceptable” gain.  I was crushed.  I made another appointment on Friday with the LC.  She got to see firsthand how incredibly difficult it is to wake her up.  She feels Bailey is a baby that is “happy to starve.”  They don’t wake or show hunger cues as often as they should.  She said they are as difficult to nurse as babies with latching problems, etc….She was eating for me every 4 hours or so, but, she needed to be eating at least every 3, if not more.  So, she and I came up with a plan to keep my supply up, and ensure Bailey gets enough to eat.  I HAVE to wake her up every three hours and, if need be, feed her a bottle of expressed milk and/or formula.  She will eat while sleeping…but nursing is a little more difficult.  I have to pump every three hours to make sure I keep my supply up.  So far, I’ve managed to get all her feedings in, and mostly give her expressed milk, and it is exhausting.  I was encouraged yesterday that several times she woke on her own right at 3 hours.  Hopefully establishing a schedule will help her regulate this and she will outgrow it soon!  The most important thing right now is that she gain appropriately, and that we maintain my supply. 


I’m not very thrilled about weight issues already on the table with her.  I have such mixed feelings on the issue.  While I love our pediatrician, I always feel like too much emphasis is put on gaining tons of weight as an infant, only to turn around and be concerned with being overweight as children.  Brooklyn’s situation was a little different in that she would actually lose weight, and obviously had an underlying medical condition, but, she really is also just very petite.  I was very petite.  My mom was very petite.  Gavin’s niece nephews are petite.  A lot of this must be genetic.  At her 3 year appointment the doctor was thrilled with her BMI.  Really?  Nothing’s changed.  She’s still tiny, and all of the sudden it was “great.”  So, I don’t want to go the same route I did with her.  Worrying unnecessarily.  Counting calories.  Pushing calories with butter, cream, cheese, etc.  Those things ruined my child and her eating experience for a LONG time.  I don’t want to do that again. 

Hopefully as Bailey matures she will wake up more and eat more frequently on her own.  I always demand-fed Brooklyn so this is uncharted territory for me.  When she is awake, though, she is the most alert, precious little thing!