Hi everyone. I had my little girl- Lydia on 30th March 5 weeks early due to developing severe pre eclamsia. She did brilliantly and was out of hospital at 1 week old. The problem is now that she doesn't seem to be gaining much weight. She was 5lb 3oz at birth which I thought was a brilliant weight but she hasn't gained much since. I took her to baby clinic on Monday and she had lost 1oz over the last week and was 5lb 5oz. We were sent to hospital to have tests to rule out any infections and to monitor her feeds( I am breastfeeding). All tests came back clear and they don't know what else to suggest except that maybe my milk wasn't quite ready with her coming early. She was feeding every 2 hours and not giving my boobs chance to refill was a suggestion that was made to I started to top her up with formula in hospital which seems to be working. She slept for between 3- 4hours but to be honest wasnt having a lot of formula- sometimes just 10 ml!
Just wondering if anyone has any advice for me or has been in a similar position. We have been dischaged today but told I may have to go back if her weight doesn't begin to increase.

Michelle and Lydia xx

[Modified by: brandnewmum2b on 19 May 2009 16:55:45 ]

Hi girls. Well as some of you know Lydia has been having trouble gaining weight and was admitted to hospital last week as she lost 1oz. We were discharged on Wednesday and had an outpaitient appointment yesterday to check she had gained weigh with the top up of formula she had been having. I took her yesterday expecting her to have gained a good few ounces as she felt so much bigger. She was weighed and was only 5lb 1oz- a loss of 4oz!!!!
I questioned the consultant and told him she had grown but he insisted the scales couldn't be that far out. She was re admitted to hospital this morning to be tested for rare conditions such as over active thyroid.
After having blood taken from both feet and collecting stool and urine samples they decided to weigh her. She weighed 6lb 4oz. She has actually put on 1lb not lost 4oz!!!!! There is no way she put that n over night- the scales yesterday were obviously way out. Not had any apology for the stress and worry over the last 24 hours but a complaint is being made!

So when your baby gets weighed just make sure the scales actually work!!

Michelle and Lydia- 7 weeks

[Modified by: brandnewmum2b on 19 May 2009 16:56:16 ]

My son was 8 weeks prem and I went straight to formula. His weight gain as been brill so far on nutriprem 2 (a prescription only milk). Have the hospital suggested you top up using that milk?

They gave me aptamil to use.

I had the same whilst I was in hosp with my Son. The Dr wanted him to gain 40-60g per day but he was only gaining 10g. I was exclusively breastfeeding and topping up with my milk after he had been on me. The nurses said the best way to help him was to eat well and rest, which was hard but my Hubby made me do both and his weight went up almost instantly! One of the nurses suggested a mars bar a day as well as healthy eating so did that also. Will write down example of days food so you can see how much I did eat

Breakfast-2x granary toast with real butter, banana and milky tea

Snack mid-morning- tuc biscuits and cheese sticks, apple

Lunch- (cooked) macaroni cheese and peas, yoghurt, plums

Snack mid-afternoon- Flapjack, milky tea/coffee, satsuma's

Dinner- (cooked) Chicken casserole, mashed pots, broccoli, carrots, apple pie and custard

Evening snack- mars bar, rich tea

I also ate a granola bar in the night and 2+litres of water during the day and the same at night!

I made sure I rested between feeds and had a nap at least once per day.

Hope that helps you.
xx

OMG
Poor Lydia, no wonder your making a complaint. She went through all that because the scales were wrong. I agree there is no way she could put that amount of weight on in one night. I hope she is feeling better now.
I breast fed Kenny for 9 weeks and loved it but he was also feeding every 2 hours and I turned into a human dummy! We started giving formula at his 11pm ish feed and he soon slept 3-4 hours after than one. He seemed more content and I was getting more sleep. I obviously wasnt producing enough milk for him and weight gain was slow so I decided to wean him to formula. We did this over about 2 weeks as I loved feeding him and I didnt want to get mastitis by just stopping. He became a different baby, happier, slept longer and more active. I was a happier mummy, slept longer and became more active. It was a win win situation. His daddy was soon a recruit for feeding too :-)

xx

[Modified by: denise007 on May 19, 2009 10:11 PM]

They get worse don't they! my dd was 4 weeks early but was small for her gestation 4lb 12oz but lost a1lb so was re admitted to scbu and was tube fed, since i found out she sould not of been discharged after that weight loss but the doc who discharged her said he didn't know her weight even though we did ask! she still doesn't feed very well i'm fully expressing and she has around 15 oz in 24 hrs! so is only gaining 1-3oz per week for the past month she's 9lb 6oz and 5 months and she is weighed on the same scales each week as they are still coming to weigh her cos she is still under the neo natal care and they have advised me to put a scoop of actamil in a 4 oz bottle with my ebm. fingers crossed she's gained loads tomoz x