Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Weigh in

Carter has continuously had weight problems since he's been born and was categorized as "Failure to Thrive" when he was a month old. For those of you who do not know this phrase here is the definition per Wikipedia:

"a medical term which denotes poor weight gain and physical growth failure over an extended period of time in infancy. As used by pediatricians, it covers poor physical growth of any cause and does not imply abnormal intellectual, social, or emotional development. Failure to thrive is weight consistently below the 3rd to the 5th percentile for age, progressive decrease in weight to below the 3rd to the 5th percentile, or a decrease in the percentile rank of 2 major growth parameters in a short period"

So, the poor little fella was not getting enough calories from me just breast feeding him. The doctor asked us to start feeding him a few ounces of formula after he nurses and to consider my milk as "the main course" and the formula as "the dessert". Well, as any child would, he prefers his dessert over the main course. I've continued to nurse Carter, but he has become a very very lazy nurser and falls asleep or gets angry that my milk is not coming out as fast as it does in a bottle. My milk supply has diminished due to this. I have tried to pump since the very beginning, but it does not seem to be very effective. I will pump several times a day after he nurses and just wont get anymore than 2 ounces total in a day. It's been incredibly frustrating, tiring, and heart breaking. So, I enrolled Carter in services through the agency that I work for and he receives consultation for our nutritionist on a weekly basis and gets weighed weekly. He was 8 pounds 13 ounces at birth. At his 1 month check up he weighed a little more than 7 pounds. Yeah.... the little booger wasn't growing! So, now, at 2 months and 2 weeks we have a great weight gain! He has slowly been progressing and weighed in at 10 pounds 12 ounces!! Lil man is no longer failure to thrive!!!! I'm soooo happy! I hate that his nutrition comes from something that is not natural, but I'm gonna have to get over it. I have not stopped nursing and pumping, and plan to continue for as long as I can. I had a small pump that I purchased after he was born, and as I said, it didn't seem to be working well. I mentioned this to our nutritionist and she referred me to a program so I could rent a hospital grade pump. Wow! This sucker is quite the sucker and it's huge! My days of discreet pumping are looooong gone. I used to be able to carry my little pump in a little black bag, but this one is a huge thing that has to be carried in a bright blue hard case. It's ridiculous! But, it's fantastic! This one is a double pump, and my other is a single. It cuts my time down like no other! I've been getting 3 ounces in one sitting and it takes 20 minutes to get things done that took an hour with my single pump. It's great!

Oh, other good news.... my camera was left at my parents house! Yay! I didn't loose it!

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