Hello all -

Have a couple who've had a rough couple of weeks - baby came fast, was
delivered by on-call OB rather than midwives at birth center and it seems he
couldn't keep his hands to himself (among other things *yanked* the placenta
out and then had to go back in 7 hours later to "clean things up a little" -
aaaaaargh!!!!)  (This is a comment about this particular OB - nothing
else...)  Baby first given formula for being hypoglycemic, then given
formula because of high bili levels before mom's milk came in.  Mom and dad
stellar - super-dedicated to breastfeeding, and there's finally light at the
end of the tunnel, although the baby is very sleepy.

I have an odd question - they reported that the baby didn't pass meconium
for several hours after birth due to a mucus plug in her rectum - the theory
is that this is why the bili levels were high so early (although they were
never over 19 and peaked on late on day 3 - my understanding is that this is
pretty normal.)  Does anyone know anything about this kind of plug?  I'm
asking a) because I'd never heard of it, and b) because the baby hasn't had
a bowel movement today, and I'm wondering if the plug could re-occur.  We
are also looking at intake (they are waking her up every three hours),
weight gain (the last three days have been 2 - 2 1/2 oz a day), hindmilk
imbalance, etc, but I wanted to explore this a little further as well).
They are working with an LC who has them on a strict regimen of nursing (one
side is all baby will take at a time), pumping and syringe feeding every
three hours.  I'm trying not to step on toes, but would like to be
supportive if I can...

Thanks for your insight -

Morgan Kennedy Henderson
Independent Childbirth Educator
LLLL
Wellesley, MA