I spoke with the nurses a little more today about how we start the bottlefeeding and when we can start breastfeeding. The book I have been reading about preemies really advocates breast over bottle first but I don’t think I can convice the neo-natologists here of that, so I’ll have to just be patient. The nurse told me that when we start out it’s going to just be a few drops in the nipple of a bottle once a day to get him used to feel and taste of something in his mouth and the nipple. Then we’ll follow his lead as far as increasing the amount and number of times a day. So he’ll still get his full tube feedings for awhile till he actually starts eating enough to replace his tube feedings. She did say it isn’t unusual for them to do one of the feeds every day as breast instead of bottle, so that was encouraging to hear that once he gets to work with us on nursing or just expect us to figure it out on our own once we got home, but they’ll definitely work with us once he’s got the swallow and breathe reflex down.
My milk supply is actually increasing from what it has been so I don’t have that added stress to worry about right now. I am getting 4-5 oz almost every time I pump so I think that day when I wasn’t getting very much I was really tired and stressed. I had been getting 2-3 oz every time, so the increase to 4-5 is good to see. Means I am doing enough pumping so I won’t fall behind on the amounts Tate will need when we are able to breastfeed exclusively. The nurse also told me today that I could start freezing my breastmilk at home instead of bringing it up here every morning because I have already taken up a whole shelf in their freezer with my milk!
I bought a book about preemies and the NICU and the chapter I was reading today was about the benefits of breastmilk. I knew breast was best and that there were so many benefits to breastmilk over formula, but I was surprised to learn that my breastmilk is actually producing different vitamins and nutrients now because he is a preemie than it would if he had been full term. Studies actually have shown that breastfed preemies spend an average of 15 days less in the NICU than formula fed babies. Our bodies are amazing to be able to know how/when to produce milk and what the milk needs to have in it.
Tate was awake and alert for the longest period of time I have seen this afternoon. He laid in his isolette and looked at everyone and kicked his little legs all around. This was a good time for him to be awake cause Papa, Gigi and Aunt Christin had all come up for a visit. None of them had seen him since last week when he was under the lights so it was good for them to see him with his eyes open and kicking his feet.
I saw Tate get a bath tonight too. It’s wasn’t his first bath but it’s the first time I have been here to see them do it. He did NOT like it. He cried the whole time she was washing him up. After she washed his body she swaddled him up and then washed his head. He LOVED that. She even combed his hair after she washed it and he never made a peep the whole time. His hair already seems to be getting a little bit lighter than it was when he was first born. Tate also loves to keep his hands up by his face while he sleeps, like Hudson always did. They are having to keep his hands wrapped in little gauze “mittens” to keep him from pulling out his feeding tube. Naughty little boy!
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