Updates: March 4th - Mario's official due date

Today is what was Mario's due date. Little did we know that he would already be 2 months old when this day rolled around. Speaking of it, it's hard to believe our little man is already 2 months old. Where did the time go? And, he's been home from the hospital for a month now :)

Friday, the little man and I had our appointment with Dr. Ballard. I will honestly say that I have mixed feelings about how it went. I don't think Mario was too happy with it either.

She first examined him and told me he has a high palate and a strong gag reflex, which may be interferring. The she did a pre-feed weight. She then had me breastfeed, with no aids, for about 20 minutes and did another weight. I swear I saw him sucking and swallowing, but the scale showed no weight gain. So, we did the same thing with the nipple shield, same results. Next we tried adding the SNS (the supplemental nurser system) with the nipple shield. He only took about 30mL in total from that, but this was after being messed with and all of this for over an hour and he was getting fed up with it. Finally, she had me try bottle feeding him with a fast flow, orthodontic style nipple. He did not like that at all. I think the milk flow was too much for him and he choked. It's also very different than what we give at home (we use the Playtex VentAire Wide with Natural Shape nipples, which were recommended by the lactation consultants in the NICU as being the best for breastfed babies).

So, the instructions she left me with were to do suck training several times a day using my finger, breastfeed as much as possible with the nipple shield and SNS, and use an ortho or NUK nipple when bottle feeding as a follow up to the breastfeeding. Her reason for that nipple was because of the high palate. She also told me to decrease the frequency of my pumping (I try for every 3 or so hours during the day - after he feeds, and after he feeds at night, which has been every 3-4 hours) as well as the duration so I decrease my supply some. Now, I know I am way ahead of things, but I always thought that too much was better than not enough. Though, I guess we have been talking about buying another freezer because the milk is taking over our big one in the basement and we're running out of room for mommy and daddy food.

Now, I really appreciate all of her help, but I don't think I will go back. I went into this appointment having done a lot of reading (books, internet, message boards, etc) and such and a lot of what she said went against what I have read. I know that there are many different opinions out there, and it's so hard to know what is "right" or best for us. I also didn't like the way she had me position him and I don't think he liked it either. I think that was evident in the fact that he didn't get anything straight breastfeeding. At home, when I use the nipple shield it is always full of milk when he pulls off, during our session there was none. He was doing a lot of non-nutritive sucking and not getting anything. I also don't think we'll be switching bottles. What we are using now works for him and it took a while to find one that would. I hate to change that, especially because my goal is to feed at the breast as much as possible. Also, I had read not to offer a bottle immediately after the breast and to make that a separate feeding so that the baby doesn't hold out for the bottle. She said she didn't think that would happen, but I think it does with my little guy.

So, bottom line is that I am taking this as more information, but not the end all and be all of things.

This weekend, things seemed to go better breastfeeding. I figured out that the best way for us is to use the SNS without the nipple shield. He has gotten progressively better at it and hasn't had a bottle since early Saturday morning and has been eating very well. He's now up to 4 ounces/feed from the SNS, plus whatever he is getting from me. Whether that is a lot, or nothing at all, at least I know he's getting plenty of food. He has had plenty of wet diapers, isn't dehydrated, sleeps well, etc. Mom also helped me with the breastfeeding stuff this weekend and was very encouraging. I think we're on the right track and just have to stick with it. Mario is simply acting like a new baby who is learning to breastfeed. That makes sense, because, in a sense, he is relearning how to do it after we've had to use the bottle for so long.

This weekend Grandma Scipione, Mick, and Auntie Brynn came to visit us. We had a good time and everyone was happy to see the little man :) In fact, he and I woke Brynn up this morning so she could play with him and watch him while I pumped and Dom fed the zoo. I think the next time Mario will see all of them will be Easter, when we plan to visit family in Salem.