Oh dear. The paed gastro was not the answer after all....

Liane, would it be possible for your contact to email you a picture 
of this baby? This might help you assess. I would be pretty sure this 
baby looks skinny and pinched and you would be able to spot this even 
if the baby is clothed (though unclothed would be better).

Have you found out anything about how often this baby is feeding, inc 
at night, and if she is using at least 2 breasts per session, with 
breast compression?

 From what you say the mother is nowhere near putting in a proper 
programme of supplementation -  and the weight gain is desperately 
slow.

The doctor would presumably have noticed if the baby's lack of 
nutrition was causing an acute medical problem, and he is presumably 
competent to rule out any major gastro-related disorder,  but his 
assessment that the baby is 'in good shape' would not be reassuring 
me.  In 30 years I have never come across a truly healthy baby of 3 
weeks this much under birthweight and growing so slowly - and I see 
and hear from the mothers of healthy babies all the time :)

The babies I have seen in this position have *all* had a serious 
underlying disorder or (more usually) have been underfed.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc, tutor, UK


>Baby has continued to gain, according to mother's baby scale, .5 
>oz./day. Obtained quantity of donor milk night before last. Is 
>supplementing after nursing with either mom's expressed milk or 
>donor milk. In less than 24 hours m had nursed as usual, and fed 9 
>oz. of either her or donor milk. Still not another bm. Went to 
>pediatric gi specialist today. He declared baby fit and said he's 
>just eating lots of small meals and not triggering a bm. Parents say 
>he told them some babies go three weeks between bm's. (I have never 
>heard of one this young doing so.) He suggested staying the course 
>with supplements to try to fill him enough to trigger a bowel 
>emptying, but is satisfied with .5 oz/day gain. He says baby is in 
>good shape and not failing to thrive. He wants to see them in two 
>weeks. I am not accustomed to hearing things like that from Dr's 
>I've worked with. I was pleasantly surprised as I was beginning to 
>really question myself with this one -- still am, for the most part. 
>So, home birth, 21 days, still one pound below bw, only two bm's -- 
>one on day 1 and one on day 15.  Thanks for everyone's input. I 
>really appreciate it!   Liane C. Varnes, IBCLC

-- 

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome