Food for the soul

Dear little Milo

On your fourth day, which was actually when you were 3 days old, it was brought to our attention that you weren't actually drinking from the breast, but sucking your own tongue! You had lost 9% of your birth weight, which brought everyone into a slight panic.

The lactation consultant was brought in, and the midwife and the post natal nurse and everyone put their heads together to figure out why I wasn't producing milk yet, and the fact that you were so jaundiced. We had to turn to formula. Of course, this was a great disappointment to your Soul Mama and Papa. We chose organic cow milk formula, but didn't opt for a bottle. We went for cup feeding. What a messy affair that was! Most of the drink went either side of your mouth and into your bib! Then we tried finger feeding, and a breastfeeding kit, nipple shields, you name it. We finally acquiesced and went for the bottle.

 Jaundiced you

Big feet, eh!

 

But all was not lost. Our lactation consultant found us a breastmilk donor with 6 litres of oversupplied breastmilk in her freezer! We could have it and she lives also in Eindhoven. With a 7 week old, we were able to follow her oversupply of milk from her baby's first week. What a boon. We did pasturise the milk and sterilise the bottles - a bit of a to-do, but anything for you.


I rang your Soul Nana and Soul Auntie in Australia and asked them what their breastfeeding story was, and in both cases, it took a while for milk to come in. So I have faith that all will be well with us and that in no time, perhaps a few weeks, we'll be 100% breastfeeding too! In the meantime, you are having breastmilk, rather than formula, and that's just a good thing.

(I'm drinking water out of my camelbak bag! With a tube, just like you Milo!)


Love you!

Your Soul Mama