The past two months have been really stressful and mostly miserable. I noticed my milk supply decreasing when Dancy was about 3.5 months old. I drank over a gallon a day and it still was never enough for her. I stopped exercising so that what I did have might have more calories. I started feeding her Cheerios to supplement just before she was 4 months old. My friend Mallory told me that Dancy is lip-tied, meaning that her top lip is attached to her gums by a bit of tissue. Being lip-tied or tongue-tied makes it so that the baby cannot suck properly and therefore decreases the mother's milk supply, despite any efforts she may make to increase her supply. Well, that made me feel better to know it wasn't my fault. So I took Dancy to the doctor.
I pointed out the lip-tie and expressed my concerns that it was making my milk supply decrease. I asked if we could get it cut. Two doctors told me, "You've breastfed her long enough. Just keep feeding her what you can and start feeding her food and formula if you need to." You know what upsets me? If the stinking medical world touts that "breast is best," why did I get brushed aside when I asked for help? Why is 3 months of breastfeeding enough? I can't afford formula, nor do I want to if something easy like snipping the tie would allow me to continue feeding my daughter breast milk. One of Mallory's daughters tore her lip-tie while playing (at age 3). Dancy and I had both been frustrated with the situation for a few weeks before we went to the doctor, and nobody seemed to care. Obviously I'm still getting over some bitterness. That was the beginning of October, and her weigh-in was 10 lbs. 9 oz. (almost 4 lbs. over birth weight).
Over the course of the month, Dancy went from being a happy, playful, slightly fussy baby to screaming all the time. I could never set her down without her screaming at me. She wouldn't play with anyone and screamed if we tried to play with her. She used to laugh when I bounced her, but all through October, she screamed. Stress levels went through the roof. She stressed me out; I stressed her out. I didn't count the number of times I wanted to hurt myself or her because I was past my limits. Or the number of times I cried at night because I was dreading another day with her. I was feeding her yogurt, Cheerios, oatmeal, mashed fruit, noodles, etc, in addition to her trying to get whatever milk she could from me. She was loving eating, but seemed to just scream every time after she ate. She started waking up in the night to eat once or twice, where she had been sleeping through the night before. I allowed it because I figured she could use all the extra food she could get.
Two weeks ago on Sunday I missed an hour of church trying to console a screaming Dancy. I couldn't take it any more. Monday was my limit and I couldn't take it anymore. After we visited Shad for lunch, I called the clinic to make an appointment that day to get Dancy checked out. I found refuge at Brandi Seamon's house until the appointment. Tom and Katie were so happy to play with Marcus and I was happy not to have to be alone with my baby. When we got in to the doctor, Dancy weighed in at 10 lbs. 3 oz. WITH HER CLOTHES ON. That meant that she'd lost 6 oz. in a month and was barely 3.5 lbs. over birth weight, at 5.5 months old. It's one thing to be a tiny baby, but no matter what your genetics are, babies aren't supposed to lose weight. This time I was told to start feeding her a special kind of formula (which we've been able to get via WIC).
Dancy quit taking bottles about 3 months ago. So Tuesday Dancy had bottle training. I took her to Mallory's house to get help giving her the first bottle. When she finally took it, it had been 5 hours since she last ate. Six hours later she consented to taking another bottle from Shad. I decided I had to completely drop breastfeeding, but pump what I could, so that she wouldn't refuse the bottle again. I found that in a 24 hour period, I could pump out 4 oz. and it took me almost an hour to do so. Four months ago I could pump 4 oz. in five minutes every three hours. No wonder I had a screaming baby! She was starving! I hadn't pumped in 3 months since she quit taking bottles, so I had no idea how much she was getting, I just knew I wasn't ever producing enough for her.
One week later she weighed in at 10 lbs. 9 oz. again. She takes 6-7 ounces every 3-4 hours, and will snack on solid food as well. She feels heavier and thicker. She happily plays on the floor; grabs me to smile, chat, giggle and play; is rolling front to back (she wasn't doing anything before when she wouldn't let me put her on the floor) and almost rolling back to front; flirts with store cashiers.
She cuddles with Tom and Katie.
It's so nice to be able to have family play time now.
Smiling! Yay!
I love baby sneezes:)
Moral of the story: now that I know about lip-ties and tongue-ties, I'll start checking every baby's mouth before we leave the hospital and get them clipped as soon as possible. Not gonna take "no" for an answer again.
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