Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Mommy report: Weight issues

As most of you know, for all but the last six days of her life, Braska has been fed through an NG tube. This was for two reasons: to ensure that she would gain enough weight to make it to her surgery (check!), and because she would not suck properly with a bottle. As of last Thursday morning, she has been breastfeeding and has been without the tube, which we celebrated with a big yippee! Unfortunately, she has been losing weight, so her pediatrician is now concerned that she is not getting enough.

So today we had a visit from Tammie with home health. (We are still sad that it was Dayna's day off.) Braska was weighed pre-feed, then I fed her, then she was weighed again. She gained only 0.6 ounces, which is supposed to mean that is all that she ate. I can't see how that's possible, but the numbers are supposed to be believable. She was sucking and swallowing like a champ, and she was super contented when she was done, so it would appear that she had a good meal. I just don't understand the weight differential.

The first changes we have to make are to make sure she is eating on a 3-hour schedule again. We've been allowing her to dictate when she eats, but apparently she is like her dad and food is not a priority. And she's been sleeping through the night, so we've been letting her skip one feeding then, but we have to stop that for now as well. Darn....I was enjoying getting more than 2 hours of sleep at one time.

Tomorrow we see Dr. Y for her 4-month check and shots, so I'm sure we'll be discussing what he wants to do. I really do not want to go back to NG at all, so we'll be looking for alternatives. But if it's best for her health, we'll have to go that route, of course. I'm hoping I can stuff her full today and her weight can be up tomorrow when we go to the doctor... that would be good.

6 comments:

  1. Thanks for the update RK. As for me and my house we will make this matter of prayer. We agree with your feelings about the ng tube; there just has to be a better way.
    Grandpa John

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  2. We're rooting for you, Braska show those Dr.'s how big you can get! Karen Kleinman

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  3. I say feed the girl a pork chop. That should do the trick. Seriously though, I expect she will be gaining soon and then she can go back to sleeping through the night. I really think with her extra energy she is working off the calories. So I like the energy part. Maybe the new feeding schedule will bulk her up.

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  4. When Elora was nursing, she started losing due to ear infections. I was able to purchase a SNS (Supplemental Nursing Sysytem) device from a medical supply store. She was still able to benefit from nursing, while getting the added calories she needed to gain. Worth asking your Dr. about. She looks awesome!
    Michelle

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  5. Ah Ha another Michelle---this could get confussing.
    Michelle n. in Ms here.. good job RK and Muncher. I had the same problem with jared (3.9 oz) premie.
    he too would just sleep thru a feeding. So I had to wake him up and make him eat. I also had to put him on a supplement bottle for extra calories. this bottle could be pumped breat milk or formula. Like Gram c. expressed she's useing alot of energy just eating (wish that worked for "me") Your doing a great job, hang in there! Nebraska looks healthy and wonderful!

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  6. Thanks for all the tips... we're off to the pediatrician today, so we'll see what he says.

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