Lactnetters,
Remember the baby with congenital CMV who's mother has been struggling
to breastfeed, despite multiple disabilities?
Last time I posted, the mother had been hospitalised with no breastpump
and her milk had dried up. Since then, she has attempted relactation by
pumping, but the baby would not breastfeed again. She is 50% NG-tube
fed, 50% bottlefed, largely Prejomin formula. She is 5mo.
It's been several weeks now, and the mother is *still* pumping. Her
yields have dwindled to a couple of ounces a day despite trying
everything we can think of, without having an medics on our side at all.
But let no one call this mother a quitter - every day, 8 times per day
or more, she puts that baby to the breast. Yesterday, the baby accepted
the breast and even gave one or two sucks.
We are hoping that she can visit a rather famous LC in the near future,
when she visits another hospital for neurological tests.
The list of diagnoses that this baby currently has are as follows:
Congenital CMV, severe epilepsy (medication makes the baby drowsy and
baby has daily fits), severe GER (worse since no longer mainly
breastfed), facial/neck palsy (causing inability to raise her head),
torticollis, conductive deafness, neurological impairment (thought not
to affect intellect significantly), congenital hip dysplasia, potential
life-threatening allergies (due to family history).
I have rarely met a woman who can be so positive in the face of
overwhelming odds, but I just hope supporting her optimism isn't
unrealistic. Is there any chance this baby will go back to the breast?
How good a milk supply does she need to make it viable, or does that not
matter? How long does she keep on struggling before finally admitting
defeat? I know there are no real answers, but I would value your
opinions.
PS. One amazing thing that has happened. At a few weeks old, this baby
had an MRI scan that showed "global calcifications of all areas of the
brain". The prognosis was grim. A repeat MRI was done a few weeks ago -
the calcifications were gone. The doctor said he had never seen the like
of it before. The mother attributes this to breastmilk and I can't
argue.
--
Anna H.
http://www.ratbag.demon.co.uk/anna/
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