today we had tess's 1 month check-up and got to find out her stats. she is now 8 lbs and .05 oz, 20.5 inches long, and her head measures at 35 cm. she is in the 15th, 25th, and 15th percentiles respectively, but considering where she started, everyone still seems amazed at how much weight she's gained, especially since she's exclusively breastfed.
after getting very upset when the doctor told us she was "just fussy" and that it would get worse before it gets better (because apparently the fussiness peaks at 6 weeks), the lactation consultant came in and was once again in awe of her weight gain and piggy-ness. "i know i'm not supposed to judge, but she's a PIG!" she actually gave us some (read TONS) of stuff to try. beginning today, we will limit dairy (though not get rid of it entirely), begin using gripe water, stop using the nystatin, increase the prilosec dose (double it!), start a baby probiotic, continue my probiotic, spread out my daily vitamin from once a day to once every three days, and reduce my milk production - using altoids and vitamin b6. going through them, the reasons are as follows: dairy can be hard to digest, gripe water is a possible remedy for upset tummies with a main ingredient of sodium bicarbonate and other things like fennel and ginger, nystatin can cause gas (and also she doesn't have thrush for sure now), her weight and the upper end of the dose is why we're increasing the prilosec, probiotics for digestion, daily vitamin restrictions in case i'm "dumping" extra vitamins into my breastmilk, and reduce milk production because tess is drowning in it each time she eats - how cool is it that i'm doing that through altoids? apparently peppermint slows production, and the magic number of altoids is 6, paired with 100-300mg of vitamin b6 can slow milk production. i was worried it'd slow too much, but i trust dee (the lactation consultant) and she said she is not worried about that happening with this course of action.
hopefully soon i'll have some positive updates, and we can celebrate whatever it was that works for tess!
4 comments:
It sounds like you have a great Lactation consultant! I hope it works!
I thought I read it wrong when you said Altoids since I definitely didn't know peppermint had that effect. Anyway, hope one or all of those suggestions work so you can experience the happy side of motherhood. Hang in there, Em!
I'm so glad they gave you a specific plan, and I'm praying it helps a lot! My massage therapist yesterday mentioned something about fennel or other herbal teas perhaps being of help, but wasn't sure about what exactly...so I'm very glad they know about the effects and also what peppermint and B6 does to the milk supply. That's awesome about her weight gain...you are 'da WOMAN!!! LOL
Such a sweet picture! 8 lbs - holy piggy! That's incredible. Glad you have such a great lactation consultant. They are heros in my book!
Hey, funny side note. We got a letter in the mail yesterday and I thought, "Emily would get a kick out of this!" It was a reminder note from Duke Primary Care to Madeline reminding her of her upcoming check up. It said to let the front desk know if she needed any assistance with walking or standing. Um, I think their automated system didn't realize she was a 5 month old! Ha ha. What do you think, should I let them know??? grin!
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