Somehow, time rolled along as it tends to do and Lukas was suddenly 2 months old! I'd managed to get him to nurse from my breast as long as I used the nipple shield. At this point I was content to use the nipple shield until he weaned as long as he would drink from my breast. He nursed all the time, it seemed, and wet constantly so I knew he was getting plenty of milk. He fussed; I offered the breast. Yeah, it was tiring, but it worked and I knew he wasn't hungry if he was eating himself into oblivion every time (which he was). The only time he slept during the day was when he'd nursed himself to sleep in my arms. Often, he'd keep sucking and just drool the excess milk out his nose while he slept.
I happened to discover that I was using the wrong size flange when I pumped and he seemed to have a harder time nursing on the right side, so I thought maybe a different size nipple shield might help him nurse more easily. Luckily, there was a local breastfeeding boutique that sold all sorts of supplies and just happened to be run by the hospital's lactation consultant. I sent an email asking if she had what I was looking for. She not only went out of her way to find what I needed, but also suggested I come in so she could check out my pump and see if she could help get Lukas off the shield. I thought, "Yeah, SURE you can get him off the shield. Whatever, crazy lady.", but she'd been so nice and helpful that I agreed to go in anyway.
We met with J two days before Lukas's two-month check-up. We went over his birth, she looked him over, weighed him, and helped me try to nurse both with and without the shield. She even looked at my pump and gave me suggestions on ways to pump more effectively. She seemed confident that he was doing well, despite the dependency on a nipple shield, and so was I. I agreed to come back next week and work more with her on getting him to nurse without the shield.
I was in good spirits as I took Lukas in for his check-up. We had the doctor we'd wanted, we were past jaundice with it's heel pricks and bili blankets, we didn't need to supplement his feedings, and we were finally just starting to get the hang of this parenting thing. But that all came crashing down as soon as the doctor put him on the scale. Lukas only weighed 9lbs 9oz. As soon as the doctor saw the number, it became his focus. I was left with an image that will never leave my mind: Lukas lying on the scale with Dr. F standing next to him. Lukas had hold of Dr. F's finger and was pulling it around while smiling and cooing up at him. Dr. F was looking at me sternly and asked if Lukas was smiling yet. It took a few seconds for my brain to process that he was not joking. An alarm went off in my head, but I didn't know what else to do.
Despite the fact that my son had grown 4 inches in two months, was gaining weight, was meeting all of his milestones (and then some), and regardless of me telling the doctor REPEATEDLY that both Andrew and I were long and slender as babies and children, the doctor told me that the weight was a concern. He wanted me to go back to supplementing. Two ounces after every feeding. And he wanted me to cut Lukas off after 10 minutes on each side because he was just sucking to suck at that point and not eating any longer (which I knew was not true). I went home and gave it a try. Lukas's hunger shrieks as I pulled him away from the breast only solidified my knowledge that he wasn't just sucking to suck. He wanted us to come in for weekly weigh-ins and then have a 3-month check-up to reassess.
I told J everything when I went back to her and she jumped in to help. She offered up her scale for the weekly weigh-ins to save us the extra trips and co-pays. She made the calls to the doctor's office so I wouldn't have to. She worked diligently with us to get him off the shield and help him learn to suck more efficiently so he wouldn't take 45 minutes - 1.5 hours at each feeding. We did switch feeding (5 minutes on one side, 5 minutes on the other, 5 minutes on the first again, 5 minutes on the second, finished up with a 15 minute pumping session and feeding him anything I managed to express) and compressions to speed him up. After the first week, she had me change the switch feed to 10 minutes a side as long as he was still nursing well and not messing around at the breast. She also put a call in to another local doctor who specialized in breastfeeding to see if we could get a consultation with her. Unfortunately, she was on vacation and we couldn't get in to see her for another month.
By the time he was 3 months old, we were rarely using the shield and he was spitting up every time we supplemented.
We saw Dr. Fe for the first time. She spent a good hour and a half listening to our story and talking with us. She agreed that he seemed strong and healthy. He was just thin like his Mommy and Daddy. We made the decision to stop supplementing and let him nurse like a "normal" baby.
We saw Dr. F. He still wanted to see some more "meat on those bones" (complete with rib pinches). I let him know that we'd met with Dr. Fe for a consult and what had gone on there and I let him know that we'd been working with J as well and told him about all the progress we'd made. He wanted us to keep up with the weekly weigh-ins. I let him know that we would be going on vacation for a week, but we'd weigh him as soon as we got back.
I came down with the first sinus infection of my life.
We left for vacation.
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