Normal weight gain?

[Tasha]

Hi girls. So this is my first post here. My baby is ten days old and whilst he is number four with me, I only ever tried to BF my last one and we managed a few weeks but because of crap advice by now we were already combi feeding. So what I'm trying to say is that this is all new to me. I LOVE feeding him and I can feel/see the difference in me from my other babies as I was already struggling with PND.

However I've had two stillbirths and sixteen miscarriages and the consequences of that is I'm super anxious about everything. I can't tell you how many times I've thought he has died

One of my anxieties is weight gain, I'm use to FF babies and so by now we are well beyond birth weight but he's 20grams below birth weight at the moment. Rationally I know this is normal but it's hard to get out of the mindset of expectations that you'd have with a FF baby and that's obviously not good for me/us.

I don't trust my body, it's let me down so many times before now so it's hard to trust to nourish my little man. Even though he has many wet and dirty nappies a day.

I'm just wondering what is normal for a BF baby to gain? He only put on 50g between the Wednesday and Saturday appointments.

Does any else worry like me?

 

[teal]

I worried loads. My son was a very slow gainer with no underlying health issues. By day 4 he had lost over 12% of his birth weight and it took over 4 weeks for him to regain that. My GP who was very supportive always said to me as long as no weight loss and plenty of wet nappies then generally all is well. I found a support group helped me if there's any near you xx

 

[Tasha]

Thank you so much teal. It is really helpful to read that I'm not the only one. The mw told me yesterday about a BF support group so I may pop there soon.

 

[noon_child]

He is gaining so that is great. If he puts on 50g (as he already has done in three days) he will be above his birthweight by 14days. Unless he was born very small, you can rest assured that birthweight by 14 days means that so far all is going as it should be; your body is working!

Support groups saved my sanity btw. Definitely go!

 

[zebbed89]

Hi, my lo is only 4 weeks but he only dropped 4% of his birth weight but took nearly 3 weeks to regain it. The midwives were quite good and just kept saying to feed him when he wants especially as he would Feed for 10 mins max! Xx

 

[ay2808]

Sounds like you're doing great. Bf babies need to feed a lot more frequently than ff so keep going. X

 

[dan-o]

Ugh the lovely weigh ins Sounds perfectly normal compared to mine.

It took both my term babies 13 days to get back to birthweight, the gain was so painfully slow for those two weeks. Then all of a sudden they both shot up the centiles. I think it's a combo of supply settling and baby establishing feeding techniques, these things are bound to take a few weeks.
Quinn is following exactly the same slow initial growth pattern at the moment. The MW was concerned when he only put on 35g then just another 10g in the following two days, but when she came back 48 hours later he'd put on 70g!! I kinda guess that would happen so I wasn't too worried myself.

I'd say just keep feeding and I bet you will start noticing bigger nappies and some much bigger weight gain leaps. Has he got any jaundice? I find that doesn't help much either as it makes them sleepy!

 

[Tasha]

Thank you so much girls. I'm feeling more confident with the feeding as time goes on. He's happy and settled so I figured it must be going okay. He got weighed on the Wednesday when he was born, Saturday, last Wednesday, this Saturday and then we had the HV for the first time today but she didn't weigh him and said they'll send me an appointment for two weeks for weigh in clinic, seems long to me.

He does have jaundice dano, well according to the mw but I can't see it. So he'll be review at day twenty (next Tuesday), so hopefully they'll weigh him then. I wish I could get him weighed before then.

Is Quinn back to birth weight yet?

 

[Odd Socks]

DD2 only lost 5oz by day 5, but by day 10, she was still 4oz below her birth weight. she was back up to birth weight when the midwife came on day 15.

she's always been a slow gainer, but she's a very healthy, cheeky, happy 3.5 year old now (just a little on the small side!)

 

[noon_child]

Thank you so much girls. I'm feeling more confident with the feeding as time goes on. He's happy and settled so I figured it must be going okay. He got weighed on the Wednesday when he was born, Saturday, last Wednesday, this Saturday and then we had the HV for the first time today but she didn't weigh him and said they'll send me an appointment for two weeks for weigh in clinic, seems long to me.

He does have jaundice dano, well according to the mw but I can't see it. So he'll be review at day twenty (next Tuesday), so hopefully they'll weigh him then. I wish I could get him weighed before then.

Is Quinn back to birth weight yet?

If you have been signed off from the midwife then that means they think he's happy, healthy and gaining enough weight. Two weeks is recommended because it gives an idea of average weight gain over time and like a pp said there can be days when nothing happens and then suddenly a huge surge. Two weeks ie enough time for those to even out in to a pattern of steady growth (or not if there is a problem). Where I live there are self weigh clinics you can go to if concerned but a baby who is settled after feeds (mostly), has wet and dirty nappies and a Mum who isn't experiencing pain really doesn't need anything more regular and it might cause more anxiety than it gets rid of.

 

[dan-o]

Sounds like you are both doing fab and the HV sound more than happy!

Vincents jaundice was the worst of the three and took 4 full weeks to clear completely. He still didn't need the lights or anything, so if Orion still has a tinge I bet they won't worry too much. I'd say Quinn still has a tinge left.
His HV appt is tomorrow, think they weigh here so I will let you know. When I pick him up he feels more like he did when he was born now so I'd guess he is. Last weigh in was Sunday and he was a couple of ounces off it then x

 

[Tasha]

Thank you so much girls.

Tuesday they still didn't weigh him but referred him to the hospital. Hospital today says he isn't jaundice and he is 6lb 10 today, up from 6lb 1 at birth. He's three weeks old so I think we are doing okay?

Dano how did it go?

 

[dan-o]

I'm not surprised Tasha, he looked lovely and pink, not yellow, in his pics!!

Fab weight gain, we are tracking very similar, 6lb 4oz from 5lb 9.5oz. He actually feels solid now

My other two were breastfed and their gains were on an almost identical pattern. I think it must be a natural breastfeeding curve to start slow then gain faster, then settle.

Have you been released to just go to baby weigh in now?

 

[Tasha]

I kept saying that I didn't think he was jaundice but the mw's knew better

That is similar. It's good to know that we are doing okay.

We had to catch his pee this morning and it was very clear so I think that is a good sign that he is adequately hydrated.

Yes we are released, HV on Tuesday

Are you guys mw free yet?

 

[patch2006uk]

Aww, Tasha!

Huge congratulations, so thrilled to hear you have had another baby

How is everything going today?

 

[Tasha]

Thank you patch. Finally had my rainbow. It's all good, I feel like we are properly established with feeding now. Fingers crossed any way. The only worries I have are nursing in public.

I can't believe Alexander is sixteen months! How are you all?

 

[patch2006uk]

We're all doing ok Trying to make the most of our last few weeks before Isaac starts school!

Alex is a funny little thing - much cheekier than Isaac ever was. Everything goes down the toilet if we leave the lid up, clean washing gets put back into the laundry basket, socks are *everywhere*!

Public nursing always feels like it's going to be worse than it is, I think. Nursing tops from h&m have been a staple of my wardrobe for subtle feeding If you do it in front of a mirror a couple of times, you'll see how little is actually on show. Do you have any nursing friends you could go out with? My friend and I fed our older ones while our other friend fed her teeny girl in public - a wall of boobing definitely boosted her (and our!) confidence!

Glad you're feeling things are going well xx