hi everyone,

i gave birth to my baby boy zakareya at 34+5 weeks on the 11th july. he weighed 4lb 10oz. got discharged two days later only to have to take him to the children's hospital in birmingham the next day as he was no longer feeding and had slept the entire day. found out that he was jaundiced and had a urine infection. have to have a follow up scan on the 14th to check the kidney function. giving him antibiotics and vitamins at the moment. had to have a feeding tube put in through his nose until he gathered the strength to feed. this took almost a week. he no longer had the strength to breastfeed as he had done initially. i am currently expressing my milk and giving it to him by a bottle. i really wanted to breastfeed but am realising that this may not happen. at least he is feeding. he does tend to sleep a lot still though. was this true for everyone else's babies? i ask as apparently newborns want to feed every 2 hours but zakareya is waking every 3-4 hours. sometimes i have to wake him if it is nearing the 4 hour mark. how is everyone else feeding their babies and how often?

i probably sound really paranoid but this is new to me and it would be a big help to draw on everyones experience

Hi, Congratulations!!!
My daughter was born at 32+2 so was in scbu for 4 weeks. I expressed and its hard work isnt it. I stopped 2 weeks after she came home as she was doing breast for 10 mins then bottle with special formula and then I was expressing and it was a nightmare. I felt really bad when I decided to stop but it was definately the right decision.
Grace fed every 3 hours-I had to wake her if she went longer.
I havent had a full termer but think that they feed 3-4 hourly and sleep an awful lot in between.
Perhaps your health visitor may be able to advise you.
Good luck, and enjoy him, they don't stay tiny for long!
Helen.xx

[Modified by: hjanea on July 30, 2008 08:00 PM]</p>

Hi there. My daughter Amelia was just short of 35 weeks when born too. she was 5lb 7 oz and was my 5th child. (and last)
She spent week in SCBU as developed Jaundice. she also had breathing probs for first 15 mins and could not stay warm so they put her in incubator. she spent 72 hours under phototherapy lights but came out for feeding. luckily as the problem was dealt with in hospital then the Breast feeding went really well. Also, its the 3rd time I have BF a baby so it was a lot easier.

4 hours between feeds is Ok so long as he taking a large amount. If he only taking a little then sleeping again then you may need to talk to your HV or Doctor.

Is he doing lots of wet and dirty nappies? wet nappies are a sign that he is getting enough and it is passing through him the right way. Dirty nappies in BF babies can be every nappy or every few days to a week. They should be runny and mustardy colour with bits in...not hard, dark or green.

Good Luck

d xx