This is pI, wife of med student. Baby born term, May 29, BW 3420. At 4
days,
weighed 3470. At 10 days, weighed 3700. At 16 days, weighed 3840, and at
25 days, weighed 3800. No typo - baby stopped gaining. Mother had 3
episodes of fever: 1 after getting rubella vaccination, 1 with mastitis on
one side, and 1 with mastitis on second side. Mom called me on day 25,
when baby had stopped gaining weight, and this despite mom's report that
baby was nursing almost constantly. Just to make things interesting, when
I brought up possibly having thyroid levels tested, mom said she was a
known hypothyroid, was on thyroxine. She said that she hadn't had levels
tested since about a month or two before giving birth. I asked mom to (1)
have her levels checked pronto, (2) check baby for thrush (poss. cause of
mastitis), (3) check baby for suck dysfunction (like tonic bite). Mom
started giving ABM supplement, altho she heard baby swallow, saw milk
drip. Was stoppage in weight gain because of repeated maternal fevers or
thyroid problem or something else?
She just called me back to say that her thyroid levels showed her to be
hyper (to everyone's surprise), and her thyroxine dosage has been
adjusted. Baby continues to nurse for long period, very frequently, but
cry 1/2 hour after feed. Mom continues with supplement. I asked her to try
giving a little water, no sugar added, if baby cried shortly after BFing,
thinking that perhaps mom's milk was especially fatty, making baby
thirsty. Mom also reports that sometimes she has noticed that her milk is
"streaky", and also noticed "lumps" in breast that disappear when baby
nurses.
I would like to hear from you all:
(1) could "streaky" milk cause "lumps" (which probably are the cause of
repeated mastitis?
(2) what is streaky milk, and how can it be avoided/prevented?
I told mom to be very aware of lumps and take immediate steps to get rid
of them.
Anybody have any ideas aside from giving the baby water after feeding if
she's cranky?
Grateful for input.
And please don't forget my question about nicotinamide in human milk.....
Regards, Judy Knopf in Beer Sheva
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