Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Momma Knows Best

Today was a good day. I took Bennett in for his weight check and I am so thrilled to report that he has gained 8 oz within the last six days!! The average weight gain for a baby is .5 to 1 ounces a day so he gained even more than I hoped he would. I can't even tell you what a relief this is for me.
So a little background info: At Bennett's 4 month check up he weighed 11 lbs, 9 oz. Three weeks later I took him in because he had a horrible cough that ended up being croup. His weight dropped down to 11 pounds even. Thus began the weight checks. At first our ped didn't make much of a big deal about it. We went through this same type of situation with Campbell so genetics kept being blamed (for lack of a better word) as the problem. Of course our doctor wanted to be cautious so he had us come back the next week to check his weight again. In just one week he only gained one ounce. I left not feeling too terribly concerned because my doctor didn't make that big of a deal about it. However, he called me the next day and said he'd been thinking about it and suggested I give Bennett two bottles of formula a day and also wake him up between 2:00-4:00 am to feed him. I said no.
While I stood strong against doing something I truly didn't feel was necessary, it 100% bothered me to know he went home thinking about our situation and felt the need to call me the next day with some suggestions on how he thought I could fix it. That's when I got completely stressed out and began pumping like a crazy person. I felt like since I said no to his first suggestions, he may tell me to start doing all bottles of expressed milk to see how many ounces Bennett was taking, so I wanted to be prepared and have enough. I mean, I already have a freezer stocked full of milk (because despite my small babies, the amount of milk I'm capable of producing could feed twins if necessary) but I don't like to dip into my "in case of emergency" stash.
I felt so much pressure to get Bennett's weight up even though I knew in my heart there was nothing wrong. Bennett is reaching all milestones when he should, he sleeps 12 hours at night and is the happiest little baby. A lot of people were pushing me to do formula and when I said no to that, I got pressure to do a human milk fortifier which is something you can put in your breast milk to add calories. I didn't want to do that either.
I'm not one of those moms who is under the belief that your baby should only be fed breast milk. I know formula is a lifesaver for moms and I am thankful that such a thing was created to give to our babies. The reason I am so pro-breast feeding for me and my babies is because it makes my life SO MUCH EASIER. I don't have time to make bottles. Heck, I don't even have cabinet space in my kitchen to store bottles. I can't tell you how many times a week I feed Bennett in my car when we're on the go. Nursing is 100% the easiest solution for me not to mention, I just enjoy doing it. I'm proud to do it. I want to do it.
I kept telling my ped (who I love so much and have so much respect for and think is an amazing doctor, by the way) that my gut was telling me that the reason Bennett hadn't gained weight is because he got that croup then had a lingering cold for weeks that just wouldn't go away. I mean, I know when I don't feel good I don't eat as much and tend to lose weight. He somewhat disagreed but last week he did give us some antibiotics so Bennett could finally knock this cold out for good. And then what happens once he starts feeling better? He gains eight ounces in six days that's what.

The point of my post is this: Your mothers intuition is a very powerful thing. Trust it. Use it. Believe it.
I trusted my heart in knowing that there was nothing wrong with my milk or my baby. A lot of people wanted me to do something I didn't want to do but I wouldn't back down. I could tell some people thought I was being ridiculous but I didn't let that bother me. Was I concerned? Yes. Did I lose my confidence in breast feeding? Absolutely. It's so easy to. But I kept saying "just give me another week" and look what happened. I knew once Bennett got rid of that cold that we would see his weight climb. I just knew it. My mothers intuition has never led me astray and the longer I'm a mother, the more I learn to listen to it.
We don't have to go back for anymore weight checks now. I'm so glad to be done with this. My doctor jokingly said that Bennett has been way too easy on us and he needed to give us something to be stressed about. Ha! So true. But lets move on now. I'm tired of pumping.

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