So confused and tired..early days

[klcuk3]

I gave birth to my LO on 31.5.11 by forceps and had a big bleed following. Therefore feeds were delayed a bit and she's lost quite a bit of weight. MW is happy with her and she does bf really well. I'm just having second thoughts about BF as she's hardly pooed or wee'd ie once a day so far. I'm struggling with exhaustion and anaemia as well. I know this is all normal and if I hang in there it'll get better but I would really like to know exactly how much she's getting and would love some sleep...god I sound awful!

 

[CeriB]

Your not awful its a very tough and difficult time, especially after a tramatic birth.

TBH, she should be having about 6 wet nappies a day and st her age about 2 dirty ones. If this is not the case, speak to your HV or doc. If she is feeding well, I would be inclined to keep doing what your doing for the time and see how you get on. It is very hard at the beginning, not know what they are getting, if they are getting enough and the growth spurts hit your confidence really hard. You just need to trust your body to do what it is supposed to do! Babies have a very strong survival instinct and will feed as much as they need to. Sometimes that might not be very much, sometimes loads.

Take each day as it comes and remember that you both are doing exactly what you are supposed to do. If you are worried at all, thats what your HV is there for!!

Good luck hun - keep at it! Your doing fab!

 

[TigerLady]

Very hard in early days.

Has your milk come in yet? She'll start weeing and pooing a lot more when it does. Loosing weight is normal. 10-15% of birth weight is completely normal and I've seen up to 20%.

I had a big PP bleed when my DD was 7 days old. And I was still BFing my 13 month old son. I lost so much I needed a transfusion and I was aneamic for a while. Iron tabs helped. It took some time to build any energy -- especially with the demands of a newborn and chasing after a toddler. Just be as easy on yourself as you can. Rest as much as you can. And ask for help from family and friends.

 

[Kelly81]

I'm fairly new to all this myself so am by no means an expert but it sounds like I had a similar birth to you (forceps, lost a lot of blood, ended up seriously anaemic and sent home with iron tablets which I have been too terrified to take due to not wanting to make a serious case of constipation worse- sorry TMI )

Poppy was very sluggish the first day or two as I had pethidine and an epidural so she didn't feed well and went from 8lb 1oz at birth to 7lb 6oz at 10 days old, it was only when she was weighed yesterday that she had gained back her birth weight, but she is now feeding well and seems healthy and strong, hang in there it does get better

 

[starsunshine]

Away bless u. I had big pp bleed and was anemic. The way I dealt with it was to do nothing. My oh cooked all meals made sure all visitors only stayed a short time etc. I only moved to go to the toilet!!!! We had loads of skin to skin and rest. I didn't worry about if he was getting enough, I just trusted my body & his. Hang in there it gets so easy after 6 wks you'll wonder what was so difficult at first!

 

[klcuk3]

Thank you ladies for your support and advice. I got readmitted on Sat as felt really unwell. I had my bloods done and my iron level had dropped more so I had a blood transfusion and am starting to feel better.
Amelia breastfeeds really well still and my milk is in. She is weeing and pooing for England now lol! I have been trying to exclusively bf her even when in hospital again. But last night she had a ff at 1am which hubby gave her, then at 4 am feed she fed for ages and after 1hr45min she just wouldn't settle so gave her ff top up. Then 8 am feed she had 15min on one breast, nappy change, 15min on other then settled straight away. We shall see how the day pans out.
I think I'll express some ebm so that she can have that in the night instead of ff.

 

[Sarah_]

Hi I am sorry your were readmitted to hospital.

I just want to offer some support my LO is now 4 weeks old. I had an ECS developed anaemia and was admitted back in to hospital 6 days after she was born with a wound infection and was in for 9 days. She lost just over 10% of her weight in the 1st week and I was exhausted.

BUT it so much easier now, she's only waking once in the night and put a 1lb on last week! Expressing for the night feed is a really good idea that way you can get some extra rest, it does get better

x