L.C.

Feeling desperate about your baby nursing and gaining weight is one of the hardest things for a mother to go through. Judah had been doing so well, then (as the 4 month post indicated) he began to slow considerably in his weight gain and seemed to develop nursing issues. We are mid-way through a weight check period of time (I have to take him back on a week and a half) and I am feeling very pensive about his progress. Although he is the happiest baby, and sleeping well, we are concerned he is not gaining weight. We decided to pursue the route of a lactation consultant, which can be very expensive, but as they say, something's gotta give. 

There is this place called the Upper Breast Side (on the Upper West Side, haha) that specializes in all things nursing, so I stopped by there for some help. They have a lactation consultant that they referred me to, so I contacted her, and they also have a doctor's grade baby scale, so you can weigh your baby. They have it set up like a little nursing station, so you can weigh the baby, nurse, weigh the baby, nurse. This way, you have an idea of what the baby is taking. Brilliant.  

The home visit with the L.C. was ridiculous ($250), but she had a group session for $75 that I registered for. The session was helpful. I "shared" the L.C. with four other women, so you don't get the undivided attention, but she did a great job of giving everyone adequate time. I was able to determine how much Judah is getting, got some pointers on herbal supplements, got his weight (still 13 pounds), and was informed that Judah may have a tight frenulum that needs to be evaluated by an ENT. Really, people, it should not be this hard to feed a baby. I was also instructed to up Judah's feedings to 10 times per day (10!) - he is currently nursing 7 times per day - and to pump after every feeding. If you know anything about nursing and pumping, you know this is a tall order, particularly when you have to do it in the midst of chasing and carting a nearly 3 year old around. 

Absent the feeding issues, though, Judah is doing great. He is already showing signs of interest in solid foods, so whereas we had planned to wait until 6 months we may go ahead and try rice cereal this week. I was eating a grilled cheese sandwich with Gabriel the other day and had Judah in my lap and he literally tried to grab the sandwich and put it in his mouth! Too bad eating rice cereal is not a source of substantial calories, so that probably won't help in the weight gain department, but if it can encourage increased eating we will take that! Stay tuned.