Highs and Lows

I hope y'all don't get tired of me talking about my nursing problems. Today was our scheduled appointment with a lactation consultant. DH and I knew that the lactation consultant we saw last week wasn't going to be there today when we made the appointment, so seeing one new lactation consultant wasn't a surprise, but instead we saw two of them at the same time. We wondered if this was because they wanted someone else's input--maybe we were a tough case?

Anyway, I told them both our story thus far. They usually weigh the baby first and then weigh them after, just to see if they were able to take in any breast milk. Well, one of them proceeded to get DS to latch on and without too much trouble, he did! I think she was as surprised as I was, because she made a comment about how she didn't even weigh him because she didn't think he would latch on. We eventually switched sides and lo and behold, he latched on again! I told her, "Where were you last week?" Oh, and we did weigh him afterwards just to see how he compared with last week. He was back up to his birth weight of 7 lbs. 14 oz, an increase of 6 oz. since last week. "They" expected 1/2 oz. weight gain per day, and he gained closer to 1 oz. per day. They said that meant I was making good milk for him. :)

We got home after taking DS to get his blood drawn for his second PKU test (required in Texas). He must have been exhausted from all of that. We had to wake him up again to feed him four hours after the last feeding. He had a little trouble latching on again and I was worried, but then I changed one thing and he got right on. I was SO happy, especially when he latched on the second side, too. I thought my problems were over.

Then, the next time, he just screamed and screamed in between episodes of falling asleep. He also had some episodes when he would we wide-eyed and peaceful--and not acting hungry at all. I finally gave him a bottle, and he sucked that down in no time. I was crushed! :( What made it worse was that DH was gone at DS#1's soccer practice, so I felt so alone. I tried again at the next feeding, with DH present for moral support, but DS#3 wouldn't latch on again. I literally had a constant drip from one side and he still wouldn't latch on. Finally, he got a bottle and I pumped; in six minutes I got almost three ounces from each side--ouch!

So, in short, I was on an emotional rollercoaster today. *SIGH* We'll see what the rest of the week and the weekend bring...