The mom of the baby who had to have cardiac surgery 10 weeks ago in Pennsylvania called tonight. The surgery went well, Barbara Shocker did a great job of supporting the family and helping them to pump and then nurse there at the hospital. They are back home and doing well. The baby is gaining slowly-an average of 2 oz a week ( remember she had cardica surgery and oral feeds were delayed for over a week). Pediatrician told Mom she had to supplement with ( he named a specific artificial milk) diluted 13 oz of concentrate to 9 oz of water to get enough calories in the baby. He told mom apparently her milk doesn't have enough calories in it, and besides " she has breastfeed for 2 months now and the immunities have all been used up". This is at the Medical School clinic so this guy is teaching!! And yes, there was a resident and a medical student with him and so they probably are believing this garbage! The baby was referred to the Mental Health Center Social Worker ( don't know why-the social worker doesn't even know why! I have already talked with her) so the mom is afraid that if she doesn't follow doctor's orders, she will be referred to Social Services. So tomorrow AM I have to try to get in touch with this MD and ask him to show his references for these orders. Not really-- I will try to be nice but I am supposed to go to Raleigh to pick up the wedding dress ( a 2 hr drive each way) in the morning and I don't want to have to be battling with some ignorant doctor first thing in the morning! I have heard other stupid things from this doctor so I am tired of it. But then I have to be nice because don't want him to refer her for failing to follow his orders. I recommended Fenugreek, extra pumping, nursing on one side at a time, and something I have tried before which is having the mom put the pumped milk in the refrigerator and when it gets cold, scoop off the fat on the top and let the baby lick it off a spoon. This mom is a Peer Counselor and has nursed 4 other children. By the way, the baby has gained 2 inches in length at 10 weeks. I couldn't remember if that's a lot but it sounds like it to me but I had height challenged children who never gained 2 inches at a time! Can some babies grow more in length then weight? Are babies with cardiac problems who under go surgery slower gaining usually? I have worked with only one other baby who had a heart condition requiring immediate surgery and he gained slower then most babies but he did better then most of the other babies at the cardiac clinic. Barbara Whitehead, IBCLC Eastern NC ( wedding is now one month away and the panic attack tally is me with 3 this week, Stacy none. She says she is mellowing this week and Absolutely nothing is going to bother her from now on! Somehow that doesn't seem fair!) *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html