Ever have that awkward moment when someone offers you their breast milk? I have, but trust me.. I have plenty of it. Haha. You all might think I am crazy after this post.
(At first I thought it was a little weird someone had offered me their breast milk, but then I realized they were just trying to help. They did not know if I was pumping or not. They new that Baby G was in the NICU and could possibly use it. Thanks to the lady for being so kind.)
My milk seems to be taking over my freezer..
Not just in the door of the freezer but you can barely see there is actually any food in there. I had to throw this away.
And even more away, more than once. Since baby G was a NICU baby and I couldn't be there all the time, I wanted to pump for him so he could have the good stuff.
With my first baby I was a working mom, so I pumped then as well. 7 months of it.. a long 7 months, haha. I don't even want to begin to calculate the amount of time I have spent pumping. 15 min every couple hours. :) Time consuming but worth it.
Baby G is almost 4 months old now. I am posting about this because he is such a stubborn eater. These past 4 weeks have been some of the roughest. I took him to the doctor this week to see if we could find out any more info. He refuses to let me hold him in cradle position to feed him. He will go hours and I mean hours with out eating. A few days ago he went 14 hours without having a bottle. He will scream and scream. Last week he cried for about 5-6 hours. I definitely thought something was wrong, maybe an ear infection since he would not eat unless he is standing up completely vertical. With all the crying, I started crying.. there was nothing I could do to help him, so it seemed. I decided to take him to instacare since I was not able to calm him after those long hours. They assured me he had no ear infection and seemed fine.
Baby G is a happy baby at times and then other times he just wants to cry non stop, it is amazing how every baby is so different.
This is what it is like every time he eats.
I had to start using the pack carrier because it was a work out for my arm to do this. Anyways, I took him to the doctors this week. He has been sick the past couple weeks, cough, congestion, etc. The night before we took him in, he threw up a whole bottle and then didn't eat until almost 14 hours later and when he did eat, he only had two ounces. The doctor said it appears my breast milk is too thick for him. Not something I would have ever guessed. When he is sick and congested, it is too thick for him to swallow and digest well. Hence maybe the fighting while eating. The doctor told me to syringe pedialite into his mouth every 30 minutes to an hour, and then give him 2 ounces of breast milk. Tried that the first little while but then decided to water down the milk I pump for him a little bit and there seems to be improvement. However, he still will only eat when he is directly vertical. I try other ways and he just cries and cries. I asked the doctor about possible food allergies, especially since Celiac disease has a strong history in my family. Big brother has it, maybe little brother too. He has some skin rashes on his face, I asked the doctor if they are from possible allergies. He said maybe but usually they get them many places on the body, not just on the face. I have to put cream on his face for the week and if it doesn't help then the little man will be tested for allergies.
He is a big boy, no doubt. Already over 15 pounds, I tend to have big babies :) People look at him and think he definitely gets enough to eat, but really he doesn't, at least not right now. Just because a baby looks big and healthy doesn't necessarily mean they are. Just like when he was in the NICU, people all the time would say something like this or similar, "I am surprised he is in the NICU, he was full term and a good weight when he was born." Well folks, sometimes full term babies need extra help too. Just happens sometimes.
I am hoping we can figure out others way for him to eat. (Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.) I would really love to be able to hold my baby and cuddle him like a baby without lots of crying.
I do want to state again though that he does not cry all the time. Does he cry a lot? Yes. Sometimes what seems like all day? Yes. But he is also a happy boy whom I love so so very much.
Pumping has been a good help with losing baby weight. Any of you mommas out there pump or have pumped for your kids? Do you prefer formula, breast feeding, etc?
