I have a mom I'm working with now, very nice woman, who's baby is 8 days old
today.  She had gestational diabetes which was well controlled.  She was
induced and had an epidural.  She also hemorraged after birth (hemoglobin
went from 13.6 to 8).  Her baby was 9lb 11oz at birth, but both she and her
husband are big people and OB felt his size was appropriate.
She has a lot of edema in her feet and legs which OB told her was related to
her blood loss.  Is that correct?  Mom has not felt any engorgement.  She has
very large breasts (DD) but they have not been full at any time since the
birth.  Could the edema in her legs affect her milk?
Baby has been very sleepy up until the last day or two and we are still
having trouble getting him to latch.   I have her pumping frequently around
the clock - such a committed mom!  She usually gets 7 or 8 cc each time she
pumps, though she got a little more yesterday.  We have been trying the SNS
at the breast as well as finger feeding.  He has had no pacifiers or bottles.
 I was starting to get concerned about weight loss so we've started
supplementing him with formula.  We can only get him to nurse at the breast
with an SNS once or twice a day.  She tries him at the breast for a few
minutes and if she can't get him to latch she pumps and finger-feeds him.  He
has a good suck once he gets going.
I told her that blood loss, diabetes and the epidural can all affect her milk
coming in.  I hope that she will get a good supply eventually.  How long have
you all heard of a mom going before her milk is in?  I suggested fenugreek
and read about it to her from Tom Hales's 1997 edition, but she does not want
to try it because he writes that fenugreek "is reported to increase asthmatic
symptoms in some individuals" and she has asthma and allergies.  Would
oxytocin help her?  I thought it was just to encourage MER and would not
affect supply, but perhaps I'm mistaken.
The latching/sleepiness problem has been difficult also because of her large
breasts.  It's hard to find a position that works.  He also prefers one
breast over the other, so we've been pretty limited.  I'm getting concerned
about the finger-feeding going on this long without getting him on the
breast.
Any ideas greatly appreciated!!
TIA
Cynthia D. Payne
I'm also working with a high palate and a FTT at the same time.  Why do we
get the tough ones all at once?