I just wanted to say something about the possibility of a diaphragmatic hernia developing, after birth.  I have heard of it before.  My daughter, Julia, was born with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia.  She would have died without extensive surgery.  Her stomach and intestines were in her chest and her lungs were tiny, because there was no space for her to draw the amniotic fluid into them.  I don't know if babies who are diagnosed later on had a weak spot in the diaphragm, or what, but I assume the situation is like a milder case of what Julia had.  So, I wonder if some of the things I did with Julia might be helpful.  I know that the baby this thread was started for hasn't been diagnosed with diaphragmatic hernia, but it sounds like it should be investigated.

Julia was six months old when I adopted her, and weighed a little over 9 pounds.  She had a gastrostomy, but I wanted to avoid using it and see if I could get her gaining weight better.  Her stomach was very tiny, which went along with her defect.  A child who is diagnosed later probably has the stomach capacity compromised, to some extent.  So, what I did with  Julia was feed her a tiny bit, 1.5-2 ounces, every hour, for a while.  If I tried to get her to take any more than that, she would start gagging and throw it all up.

It was months before I figured out how to get her nursing, and I never responded to a pump, worth a darn. This was 1990, when milk sharing was frowned upon. I gave her a combination of formula and raw goat milk.  I found a way to increase the fat content in the goat milk, slightly.  It doesn't separate like human milk or bovine milk, but if you let a bottle of it set overnight and hold it up to the light, you can see that the top part is richer.  I left it in a bottle, upside-down, overnight, then opened the lid and let a little bit of the thinner part out.  I didn't want to load her up on empty calories, but just to give her a few more.  She not only gained well, but her pale, grayish, color pinked up nicely and she was much more active.  I only did the richer goat milk thing for a month or so.  Also, I stopped giving her anything through the tube when I'd had her for a week, except for water to clean the tube.  

Whether any of that is helpful for the baby from the op, I don't know, but I just wanted to say something, since diaphragmatic hernia was brought up and not many people have experience dealing with that. 
 		 	   		  
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