Alex was born a little over a month ago. No real time to blog these days — she’s a high need child — always wanting to be held and cuddled with. (I don’t mind except when I have to go to the bathroom and eat and such…) I know this will pass with the end of the ‘4th trimester’. The birth went ok. I will probably post more on our experiences when I have a free hand later. We were upset, though, that the hospital fed kiddo formula from the get-go without our approval. I mean you wouldn’t give a kid medicine without parents approving, food should be nothing else. This of course means that I have been 5 days behind on milk production as we had to teach Alex how to resuck after being exposed all too early to the rubber nipple. This has been the hardest thing about being a parent — fighting the system to ensure that my baby can finally be 100% breastfed. (We still unfortunately need to supplement a little even though I am against it — Alex needs to gain more weight.) Wish I could sue the hospital. Will definitely send them a bill for the lactation consultant and the breast pump rental. It’ll at least make me feel better. Hope to post more pics etc one day! And for those of you who are parents, please please tell me that it gets better!
6 Responses to “One month…”
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All In A Day's.... 
My first hospital was that way, the nurse at night had me in tears fighting about breastfeeding. The second hospital was very supportive of breastfeeding. Drives me insane how many stores like yours I hear. I think I should become a lactactivist. I would have thought LA would be very progressive about breastfeeding. If there is a positive to the supplementing, it is bonding time for daddy. With my second, my husband fed him one bottle a day usually formula, because I never got the hang of pumping. It was very helpful for both my son and my husband. Hang in there, I know this can be a tough but wonderful time.
“We were upset, though, that the hospital fed kiddo formula from the get-go without our approval.”
What the hell? That’s insane! Are you able to make a complaint about that? When my baby was born the first thing my midwife did was get her to feed off me. That’s such an essential part of the bonding process.
Wow I’m astonished.
Congrats on the new wee babe. Have as many cuddles as you can during this wonderful time. Especially before they start wriggling and pulling your hair too much!
xox
They did WHAT now???? I will not get into the degree of not-cool that is in your comments section, except to ask how much does she sleep, and when she needs/wants attention how much does she cry?
This happened to me, and I developed a sensitivity to calcium proprianate, (proprianic acid being the important part) which shows up most in purchased bread products, and IS transferred through breast milk. It causes (pretty much invariably) an emotional/behavioral reaction which if undetected will eventually result in some frustrated teacher diagnosing ADHD or some crap like that, but it does NOT affect intelligence and with a bit of work and awareness, the stuff can be avoided.
I’m still muttering “stupid hospital bastards” to myself, but Alex is simply adorable – please give her a cuddle from me, too! 🙂
I’m glad to hear that you and she are healthy, and get so mad every time I hear stories like yours regarding hospital births & feeding! I’m sorry you have had to fight like this, but glad that you’re standing up for you and Alex!
It gets better.
I understand your anger about the formula — you are absolutely correct that the hospital had no right to give Alex formula without your permission.
We, too, had issues getting Vivian to breastfeed — mostly because she was premature and would get tired and fall asleep half-way through nursing. The bottle wasn’t as taxing, so she could get a full feed. It took about 6 weeks for her to really settle in and get comfortable nursing. Try to keep your chin up — it definitely gets better!
Thanks so much for your supportive comments and stories! Nora, I really applaud the fact that you were able to keep up with breastfeeding and do a bottle a day. We’re trying to avoid that, but have a great lactation consultant who has totally different weight charts than the pediatrician’s.
I remember your story, Sara, and my friend had the same experience at the same hospital as you did. She has a special needs kid which meant that while she was able to breastfeed a bit, she had to use formula just to stay sane.
We’ve decided this week to give Alex a little extra in terms of formula and whatever I can pump just to fatten her up a bit, although I think she’ll be a thin babe for a while given her genetics and such.