Sebastian's Make A Wish Trip to Disney

[wendygrace]

Yeah Amber! I'm so happy for you! I highly recommend Mother's Milk Tea (health food stores carry them). Drink it by the gallons (literally). It helped me improve my supply dramatically. And don't forget the water. I'll be thinking of you!!

 

[Dreamer & Wisher]

YAY!!! Dr. Pat is letting us go home for Thanksgiving!

Savannah is still 9 pounds 11 ounces--same as yesterday the "base-line."

Since Savannah didn't gain but she DIDN'T LOSE we are going to be eating our turkey with our family! There are a LOT of discharges today and we are going to be one of them! Wohooo!

Dr. Pat says we have to take Savannah in on Friday and if she continues to be "failure to thrive" (what a horrible label BTW) then she'll re-admit her.

I'm going to fill myself with milk-making stuffing and pass it along to Savannah so that doesn't happen.

I can't wait to sleep in my own bed. I am beyond exhausted. The guy who was our technician last night insisted on vitals all night that woke Savannah up..and kept me from ever getting to fall asleep. Do you really need at rectal temp at 1:00 a.m. from a sleeping baby?! Ugh!

We're waiting for lactation to come and do the pump rental and talk about a supplemental feeding system. Then it's sianara Hospital!

I am so glad you are going home! Another benefit to the supplemental feeding system is that it will help increase your supply.

Also, if possible try to weigh her on the same scale each time. Sometimes scales can be inaccurate from one to another.

Mother's Milk tea is helpful but you can also take Fenugreek and Blessed Thistle in capsule form. Take three capsules three times a day. Some women notice it makes their milk smell like maple syrup though.

 

[HeatherSue]

YAY!!! I'm so glad you'll be home for Thanksgiving!!

I can't believe you modeled the clothes and took pictures of everything in the hospital! That was so sweet of you! Everything looks wonderful!

I just wanted to comment on the breastfeeding, too. I was in the hospital for 11 days (on all sorts of drugs) when Sawyer was 5 weeks old. I wasn't able to nurse him for that time (but I pumped and dumped to keep up my supply) and he'd never had a bottle before. We were shocked when he took right to the bottle filled with formula. Then, he went right back to breastfeeding when I got out of the hospital. The boy didn't skip a beat! So, Savannah might go right back to it without a problem. I have never been able to get much milk by pumping, so it's not an accurate measurement of how much milk you're producing.

to you! I've been thinking of you and praying for little Savannah!

 

[Khalana]

I am so happy you get to go home for Thanksgiving!!!

I am sorry the whole BFing thing is so stressful right now. I agree with trying the Supplemental Nursing System. It really isn't hard (I tried it) and she will get your milk AND formula while still increasing you supply. And you could fortify the formula in the bottle and she would get the best of both worlds at the same time! All you really need is the tube (not really necessary to tape it, but might be easier) and a bottle with a hole cut in the nipple. One part of the tube goes in baby's mouth, the other in the bottle and viola! a SNS! Have you checked out Dr. Jack Newman's website? He has LOTS of info on there about breastfeeding (he is THE breastfeeding guru in my opinon!) and I think he talks about the SNS too.

But if all else fails, DON't feel guilty about bottlefeeding!!! You are a GREAT mom and you're doing every thing possible to keep your baby happy and healthy!! She HAS gotten 4 months of breast milk and you should congratulate yourself for that! Way to go, mama!!

Lots og for all of you!! The outfits were SOOO cute, btw!

 

[maroo]

Am I the only one who saw a Hidden Mickey in this???

oh my gosh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hilarious....completely drop on the floor hilarious!

Moms!!! lol You guys are so crazy.

I have absolutely NO advice to give in this area AT ALL....being "not the Momma" and all...

But I am so, so glad that you guys are doing better! And that there is a good explanation...other than CF and other stuff. I am so, so happy for you guys.

And I am praying for a wonderful Thanksgiving to you all!!!

 

[iu97alum]

Woooo hooo! Happy Thanksgiving INDEED!

 

[twob4him]

Amber - Praise the Lord that everything is working out and you are headed home for Thanksgiving. You poor thing... many hugs for you and your DH and I hope you can get to bed really early tonight! I am sure you can't take much more and you are so brave and strong to make "lemonade" out of lemons.
Hopefully you can put this all behind you soon and get ready for Disney and a much needed break!!!I just love that you brought the Big Give to the hospital and enjoyed everything there. The outfits and hats and albums and everything was just so cute. I just love the pic of Sebastian in his overalls.....awwwwww so cute!




About supplementing from my perspective:

My son was born Dec 1st but didn't eat much the first month. Being a first time mom I had no idea and just figured all babies cry. Well, when we finally got in for his first check up which was delayed by the holidays, he hadn't gained anything! I was immediately told to supplement. He didn't like sucking the bottle anymore than me, so I had to make the nipple hole really big and literally pour the formula down his throat. Well, his weight gain began in earnest after that and I was soooo relieved. So with all my girls I took them weekly to get reweighed as I bf. I also supplemented with formula for all of them. I am not a real good milk producer. As long as they were gaining weight, I didnt care if I was nursing or supplementing. You are still loving and bonding with your children either way!

 

[mommyof3princess]

Am I the only one who saw a Hidden Mickey in this???

I saw it but I didn't want people to think I was crazy.

YAY!!! Dr. Pat is letting us go home for Thanksgiving!

Savannah is still 9 pounds 11 ounces--same as yesterday the "base-line."

Since Savannah didn't gain but she DIDN'T LOSE we are going to be eating our turkey with our family! There are a LOT of discharges today and we are going to be one of them! Wohooo!

Dr. Pat says we have to take Savannah in on Friday and if she continues to be "failure to thrive" (what a horrible label BTW) then she'll re-admit her.

I'm going to fill myself with milk-making stuffing and pass it along to Savannah so that doesn't happen.

I can't wait to sleep in my own bed. I am beyond exhausted. The guy who was our technician last night insisted on vitals all night that woke Savannah up..and kept me from ever getting to fall asleep. Do you really need at rectal temp at 1:00 a.m. from a sleeping baby?! Ugh!

We're waiting for lactation to come and do the pump rental and talk about a supplemental feeding system. Then it's sianara Hospital!

I am so happy you all get to go home. That is great news.

I don't have too much to offer about the bf. With Megan my mega 10 pound baby. yes 10 lbs 21 in. I tried to bf with her and she would cry so much I felt like I was always feeding her. It turns out at her first apointment she lost close to 3 pounds. The dr freaked out. And said I need to get some food in her. After I tried pumping to see how much was coming out. So I was starving her pretty much. Since the milk never really came in I was forced to bottle feed. When i had the twins the dr recomended that I try again. But nothing ever came.. And they are big strong girls. And I know no matter what happens Savannah will be to. Have a great thanksgiving try and relax.

 

[tinytreasures]

glad she is coming home

 

[mom2lilnick]

I am so glad she is coming home! Praying that she continues to gain. Hugs hugs and more hugs!

 

[teresajoy]

YAY!!! Dr. Pat is letting us go home for Thanksgiving!
Dr. Pat says we have to take Savannah in on Friday and if she continues to be "failure to thrive" (what a horrible label BTW) then she'll re-admit her.

Yippee!!!

I HATE that term too! Arminda (now 10) was "failure to thrive" as were my brother's two little girls (now 14 and almost 11). Such a HORRIBLE term! They are all happy and healthy now though!

Oh My Gosh...that just gave me a great laugh!!!!!!

I'm so glad I could make you laugh!!!

 

[AmberGreenawalt]

We are home!

I am sitting here sobbing as I read these posts. Thank you so much for all the prayers, support and advice!!!

I rented a Medela Symphony and bought a Medela SNS from the Lactation Center on the ground floor of the Hospital.

We will be back at the hospital for Sebastian's Bone Scan and CTs on Monday so I went ahead and made an appointment for Savannah at the Lactation Center so we can do the weigh-nurse-weigh thing again and I can find out exactly how much she is taking.

They also sold me some herbs called "Mothers Milk Plus"...has fenugreek, blessed thistle all that good stuff. Says to take four times a day...I'm on it.

I'm going to keep trying even if it's just for comfort for her. All my kids have eventually had formula when they weaned...I'm making my peace with formula this early if that is the case. She really does seem to love the bottle and I have enjoyed getting to look at her while she is eating.

Thanks again for all the comments. It really made it feel like we were not so isolated while at the hospital.

Much Love,
Amber

 

[tinytreasures]

I'm so glad you are home
formula is not the worst thing in the world if they need the extra boost they need it

Avy is still counted as failure to thrive at age 8

prayers she gains over the weekend
are you still planing on leaving in a few days?

 

[wendygrace]

Yeah Home! Grow baby grow! Perhaps T-giving will fill her up!

 

[kimmylaj]

Am I the only one who saw a Hidden Mickey in this???

thats so funny i thought thats why the pic was on there

i am so glad you will be home for thanksgiving, and i am so glad you got all your packages, it is so much fun to see pics of everyone with their stuff.

 

[teresajoy]

Amber I'm so glad you are all back home! Get as much rest as possible!!!!

thats so funny i thought thats why the pic was on there

i am so glad you will be home for thanksgiving, and i am so glad you got all your packages, it is so much fun to see pics of everyone with their stuff.

So did I when I first saw it!!!

 

[twinmum]

Hello - I am so sorry to hear all that you have been through with Savannah, but glad you are home for Thanksgiving. I have been feeling extremely guilty - and sad - that I haven't been able to keep up with everyone, or even post about our wonderful trip. Other than the joy of parenting our terrific twosome, it's been really crummy - settling into our reno rental,too many reno decisions, too much work (but at least it's $), icky politics on school council and I'm the treasurer, more issues with my mother's health etc. I am REALLY looking forward to reliving our trip with a decent report. So far, I've gotten us onto the plane in my first draft!

But I did want to post and tell you that I am praying for you all. And I hear you on the "failure to thrive" label - Mark still has it at age 10 because he has a g-tube to supplement his nutrition. Remember, though - he has cerebral palsy and burns mega calories. Still, the label made me feel like a failure until I accepted that it wasn't my fault, it was just a label.

However, Mark did have very serious GERD when he was younger and eventually had the anti-reflux surgery which was brilliant. Beofre the surgery, we tried all manner of meds, positions etc.

So...if you want to vent, or seek advice should the GERD appear to be the case, I'm happy to share any advice, or lending a virtual ear. We're seeing Mark's G/I tomorrow, in fact, and we're still at the point of praying for more weight gain (although the scale at home deson't lie...he's done more stretching than putting on the weight!)

With thoughts and prayers,
Alison

 

[LindaBabe]

Oh, Amber!
I am so sorry you guys are having to go through this!! My heart aches for you and all the babies. glad the big give packages gave you SOME smiles.

You MUST not feel bad in any way if it turns out the baby ends up on formula instead of breast feeding. You already know every child is different, and ya gotta do whatcha gotta do. I can imagine how difficult it is, though.

My prayers are with you and your family. Hang tough!


SO HAPPy you got to go home = and HOPE you get to stay there and your next stay out of your bed is the one at WDW! Fingers crossed.

 

[hotmamac]

Amber ~
SOOOO glad to see that you are home!
We've all had the flu so I haven't been on the computer for a few days.
I'm thinking about you all the time!
Misty

 

[AmberGreenawalt]

We took Savannah to be weighed on Friday. She is still 9 pounds 11 ounces.

After meeting a bunch of new doctors this week it was so nice to be seeing our Pediatrician again. I am always amazed by how she remembers everything from our previous appointments. What symptom started when, who was on which medication and for how long. I can’t always remember and I only have three little “patients” in my charge.

I was thinking today how we’ve been taking our kids to her for nearly three years now--ever since we moved to NC. It was really one of the first relationships I formed in this state. As my friend Ashley always says “you have to love your Pediatrician because your pretty much married to them.” Like my husband she’s definitely seen me at my worst.

At Friday’s visit I just broke down. The hospital stay with all the pumping and weighing and experimenting with new food on no sleep was really hard.

I’m doing the best that I can to keep nursing. My milk's up since the hospital which is great! Since being on the herbs and more comfortable at home I’ve been able to get three ounces from each side in the morning (after not nursing all night) so that's one six ounce bottle at least. Still, I’m trying to make my peace that the bulk of Savannah’s needed intake is going to have to come from formula.

Our Pediatrician laid out a diet for Savannah. Our goal is to get her to drink 36-40 ounces of milk a day and 6 tablespoons of food. Dr. is having us put her on “EnfaCare Lipil” a high calorie formula given to low birth weight and premature babies. It has 22 calories per each 2 ounce serving.

Our doctor explained that it is going to take a lot of momentum to get Savannah's metabolism out of what’s called a “Catabolic state” --a destructive process where the body loses muscle mass.

She showed us Savannah’s growth chart. It’s all out of whack at the moment—down in that “shaded” area at the bottom of the page. She said it’s going to be six months before we see Savannah get back onto her growth curve.

I’ve also been directly nursing Savannah a couple times a day since we got home and we have definitely noticed that she “refluxes” much more when she drinks directly from the breast without the thickening with rice cereal. That added thickness does seem to help her Esophageal Sphincter muscle hold the milk down.

But pumping ten times a day just isn’t practical for my life. Especially after Brian goes back to work on Tuesday. I have some milk frozen I can use too. I guess I will just have to see where things go. I'm not going to beat myself up about it forever.

On the plus side I think Brian is having a great time with getting to feed his baby girl. Between the two of us we have been feeding her constantly. Even still we have only been able to get her to take 16 ounces today. Baby steps…right? Baby steps.

Another strange development...Since my in-laws brought the kids to visit us at the hospital Sebastian has been talking like a baby. It's gone on for days now. He's saying a lot of "Me want..." and "Da-dee" "Ma-mee." We've tried ignoring it and giving him more attention but still it's frustating. We're trying to remember that this episode with Savannah has probably been pretty traumatic for him. Afterall he knows what hospitals are all about. When we came home he kept asking us if she was "fixed."

Monday is another big pray day. We’re headed back to the hospital for Sebastian’s Bone scan and CTs and taking Savannah to have her intake evaluated and weighed. The power of prayer is so awesome! We just know that everything is going to come back great and then we’re headed to DISNEY!!! DISNEY! DISNEY here we come!!! Five more days!!!

MARK 11:24 NKJ ~ "whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."