Aiden and I have been attending the "New Moms" group that the hospital sponsors every week. I look forward to weighing him to see how much he has grown and chatting with the other new moms. However, last week when I weighed him he had actually lost an oz, which was very alarming, so we made an appointment to see his pediatrician. His pediatrician, Dr. Binder, did 2 things:
1. He switched Aiden to a completely bottle fed diet. He did this so that we could monitor his intake and so that he would expend as few calories as possible trying to feed. Dr Binder had diagnosed Aiden with laryngomalacia at his 2 week check-up, and we had a feeling that this condition was causing him to utilize too much energy trying to breast feed. In laryngomalacia the support structure of the larynx is not fully developed and collapses when Aiden breathes inward. This means that he has to work extra hard to try to breathe and eat. You can tell that he struggles because he sounds like he is snoring or whistling (depending on his position) when he breathes. We also went to see an ear, nose and throat specialist who confirmed the diagnosis by sticking a little camera down Aiden's nose and into his throat to examine the larynx. Aiden did not like this one bit, but he was very brave!
2. Supplemented each feeding with additional formula, for added calories.
I must say that the results were amazing! Aiden started this diet on a Thursday and by Monday he had gained 1 lb and 1 oz! Unbelievable! It took 7 weeks for him to gain 2.5 lbs and 4 days on the new diet to gain 1 lb! We were literally watching him grow before our eyes.
Here is a picture of him the day he started the new diet...
And here he is with his new fuller cheeks a few days later...
At last check he was 8 lbs 4oz. I am so excited by his weight gain! I feel like we are making so much progress in the right direction.
One of the things that I learned from this experience is that one size does NOT fit all! I had been doing what I thought, and what I read in almost every book out there, was the best thing for my baby - just hang in there with the breastfeeding because it is what is best. Aiden and I were really struggling and there were so many days that I wanted to quit, but I tried to stick it out because I thought that I was doing what was best for him. It turns out that I should have listened to my gut telling me that this was not working for us. In our case, he needed to be bottle fed. That does not mean that I don't give him breastmilk or that I don't believe that breast milk is wonderful for him. But rather, that we could not follow the traditional breastfeeding route - and that is ok!
