ex machina
the eric update - day 112: progress with nursing!
after sixteen weeks of pumping 8-10 times a day and producing a huge inventory of milk, i'm happy to report that little odin seems to finally be getting the hang of nursing!
right up until a few days ago, it didn't look like he was going to be a great nurser. getting milk from a bottle is a whole lot easier than getting it directly from The Source and while he'd nurse every now and then, many, many times he'd pitch a fit until kris relented and gave him a bottle.
but in the past few days, kris has been working with him and learned that she needed to start nursing well before he started obvious signs of getting hungry to prevent him from being hungry and frustrated, which inevitably would lead to a world class tantrum.
and while the issue has raised a minor brouhaha in the past, i should probably disclose that little odin's tantruns showed all the classic sings of nipple confusion, including opening his mouth but not latching on shaking his head from side to side, rearing back, looking for the nipple and appearing puzzled and quite agitated.
but thanks to a little more work on kris' part over the past few days he's begun to almost exclusively nurse and is only occasionally taking a bottle, which is really great news. many micropreemie moms find that their milk supply will "dry up" after months of pumping if the baby hasn't begun nursing in earnest, which is not only a tough thing for the mom to go through, but formula can be quite expensive.
it's really quite amazing that kris pumped so often for so many months and it really looks like all her hard work is going to finally pay off.
update: holy crap! i can't believe i forgot to note that day 112 was odin's 16 week birthday and his 4th full moon birthday!
10/24/2004 07:23:00 PM
12 comments
12 Comments:
Gosh, that's a terrific achievement for both the little fella and Kris! Honestly, she should get a medal for being such a devoted pumper!
~ laura
By 
, at
12:08 AM
Awwwww. What a great breastfeeding picture. Well done to Kris for persevering! :-) NordicMamma
By , at
9:32 AM
Oh hooray, hooray! If anyone has earned the right to a blissful nursing experience from now on it's Kris. Congratulations! Breastfeeding.com is a usefule site for any questions that come up, and I bet they'd love to have your story.
Cindy
By , at
10:07 AM
Anybody would prefer a warm baby to a cold pump. Hooray Odin!! Great pic too. Congrats!
This is such wonderful news! I think so many moms find breastfeeding a challenge under the best of circumstances, and it's great that Kris' perseverence is paying such dividends for them both. Is his reflux now under control to the point that he no longer needs rice added to his milk?
By , at
10:21 AM
Wow. Kris, you are a amazing! Totally AMAZING!
You, E3 and little Odin have flown over so many hurdles and now you're getting to the good stuff :). You've got an amazing little boy who is growing and gaining weight by leaps and bounds! He seems to be amazingly healthy despite everything he has endured thus far and the icing is now going on the cake :). Wow! I am so excited and happy for you all!
By 
pumpkinhead, at
10:22 AM
P.S. Not that the stuff beforehand wasn't good...perhaps I should say the 'easier stuff'? What I'm botching up trying to say is that it seems that the worst is over and things are just getting better and better! (I'm still living this everryday and my son is 2! Being a parent really does keep getting better and better everyday, regardless!)
BTW, it's me, Emily in Nova Scotia!
Peace and love, Snowdeal family!
By pumpkinhead, at
10:24 AM
Woohoo! Congrats to the family, that is so great! Pumping exclusively is not the most fun thing in the world. I mean, who doesn't love waking up at 2 and then again at 5 to a machine?
I love looking in on Odin's progress, it definately gives me a good outlook on our own little journey. Darsie took 3 cc's from a bottle yesterday and she nuzzled at the breast last week. So hopefully one day she will make the same strides as your handsome Odin.
wow! That's really great news. The weight gain should start to snowball plus all the immunity he's going to get will help him even more. Congrats on the continued pumping, that's highly admirable.
That is such great news! He is just defying all expectations, in such a good way.
And not to stir up the nipple-confusion brouhaha again, but I'm not even sure confusion is the right word. My son was born huge and late and healthy, so our experience has been different from yours in the details, if not in the similarity of doing whatever you must to care for your baby the best that you are able.
However, this weekend we were all sick -- stuffy noses, coughs, upset stomachs throughout the house. I'm sure my milk production was down (I pump at work and can see I'm only producing half as much as usual). Our eight month old son, who has confidently switched between bottle and breast since he was about eight weeks old, clearly could not be bothered to nurse. Too much work for too little result at a time he didn't feel like working. He clearly wanted dad to go get some pumped milk out of the freezer and make a bottle.
Even as young as he is, little Odin probably knows there's an easier way to get the goods. Soon he'll figure out that straight from Mom is the best way, but sometimes he won't care.
By , at
1:42 PM
Congrats! Congrats! Nursing a baby is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. :)
Is his reflux now under control to the point that he no longer needs rice added to his milk? |
his reflux is getting a lot better! since he's nursing so much, he's obviously not getting nearly as much rice as he would be if we were giving him the bottles for every feeding; even without the rice, he's barely spitting up any food, which is quite remarkable.
he's also not getting as much caloric fortifier with all the nursing so hopefully he'll keep gaining weight. otherwise our pediatrician might gently "enforce" more bottle feedings.
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“"it is hard to be brave," said piglet, sniffing slightly, "when you're only a Very Small Animal." rabbit, who had begun to write very busily, looked up and said: "it is because you are a very small animal that you will be Useful in the adventure before us."”
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this site chronicles the continuing adventures of my son, odin, who was unexpectedly born on the fourth of july at 25 weeks gestation, weighing 1 pound 7 ounces.
he's quite a fighter and you can always send him a postcard to the most current address listed here if you're inspired by his adventures. see the postcard project/google maps mashup to see a map of the postcards.
if you're new, you can browse the archives to catch up. and don't forget to watch a few movies that i made while we were in the neonatal intensive care unit. or if you want the abridged version and you can find a copy, you can read about his adventures in the november 2005 issue of parents magazine.
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