you've still got that cold? thats horrible. i hope things get better. i've got all this to come, have i? take it easy x

Sling. Girl you need a sling.

With the breast feeding thing... she is getting the hindmilk if she is on for 20 minutes. You need to feed her off both sides.

As far as parenting 2 kids 21 months apart, I have no idea You can do it. Nap when Oni naps and delegate as many chores as possible! Get help if you can. Its only rough the first few weeks (with breast feeding too!) until you get your routine established.

oh sarah im sorry your still sick! what the heck!!!!!! i thought it would be gone by now

Wow you really do have your hands full!!! I really can't help with the breastfeeding stuff because I never did it....but good for you for giving it a try

I'm sure that things will settle down in the near future. Right now it is this HUGE adjustment for everyone. I think that most women have the feeling that they are going to lose their mind at one point or another after giving birth..lol

Take your time with the video, we all understand that your time is very limited!!

Oh, I forgot to mention, she has Jaundice too. I'm taking her to the Dr(not Oni's, but the one from the hospital) today so he can check her levels.

She's not pooping, so the biliruben keep going up. It's a flashback from when Oni was born. But this time I'm not FREAKING out about it.

I have a feeling the Dr is going to want me to supplement with formula to get her to poop. I'd be fine with that. I'd give her 'x' amount of ounces of formula, and top her off with breastmilk. I'm just concerned about her getting nipple confusion.

SO far, she TOTALLY knows which nipple(paci or boob), has the milk!!! She wants NOTHING to do with the paci if she's hungry. But she'll aceept it if she's got a belly full. So that's a good sign for me right now.

Baron's getting upset because he feels there's NOTHING he can do, and Nya is wanting to feed every 2/3 hours. He doesn't realize that breastmilk ISN'T thick like formula and they need it more often. And I MUST give it to her if I want my supply to go up...

Sarah

Laura always has good tips for breastfeeding!

Laura where are youuuuu?! LOL!

Sarah

try breastfeeding a newborn and taking care of a 11month old ey yi yi thats fun im sorry your sick but like ing said get a sling and 20 min on each side if pos try to get both girls on same schedule that is what i did and sleep when you can and clean when you can not easy i know i had to do it all by myself hubby not homwe and no one close by plus i had a 5 year old to boot but yes if some one offers say yesssssss please and thank you lol i hope it gets better soon your a great mom with 2 beautiful girls just like momma

I don't have any advice about breastfeeding, but I know how hard it can be with 2 babies. It might be rough for a while, but it gets easier with time. I'm sure you will do great, you are a wonderful mother. Does Oni have any jealousy?

It isn't that breast milk isn't thick like formula, breast milk is MADE ONLY for babies. There is very little 'waste' in breastmilk. It is baby's perfect food. With very little waste, they need to eat it more often to keep up.

Once you have established a breast feeding routine, it will be so much easier. KEEP IT UP!

Also? Why on earth would a doctor advise a woman NOT to breast feed? That is ridiculous. In which case, you should immediately contact a la leche league near you for tips and advice on how to approach a doctor who feels that you should supplement your baby with formula!

Hang in there! I've never been in your shoes, so I don't really have any advice on the breastfeeding. But it sounds like you're doing an AWESOME job! Has Baron been able to take off any time from work to help out?

Here:

http://www.drgreene.org/body.cfm?xyzpdqabc =0&id=21&action=detail&ref=100
There are two types of jaundice that are related to breast-feeding. They are called breast-feeding jaundice and breast milk jaundice. Breast-feeding jaundice is a jaundice that may occur in the first week of life in breast-fed infants. 13% of breast-fed babies will develop jaundice in the first week of life (Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics, WB Saunders, 2000). The cause of breast-feeding jaundice is thought to be due to decreased milk intake leading to dehydration or low caloric intake. The incidence of breast-feeding jaundice may be reduced by increasing the frequency of feeding and not using too much water to replace breast milk (Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics, WB Saunders, 2000).]

Breast milk jaundice is far less common, occurring in about 1 in 200 babies. Here the jaundice is often not visible until the baby is a week old and then reaches its peak during the second or third week. Breast milk jaundice can be caused either by enzymes in mom's milk that deactivate the baby's enzyme for dealing with bilirubin or by fatty acids in mom's milk that the baby processes as a priority over processing the bilirubin.

Whichever the cause of breast milk jaundice, if the mother continues to nurse her baby, the jaundice will decrease and disappear on its own, but this may take 3 to 10 weeks. If the mother stops nursing for 1 or 2 days, substituting formula, the bilirubin levels will drop rapidly. They will not rise again when the nursing is resumed.

Permanent damage or ill effects from breast milk jaundice is extremely rare. Phototherapy (lights used to lower bilirubin) may be used if the level of bilirubin is above 20 mg/dL. In breast milk jaundice, stopping breast milk for 1 to 2 days can help the bilirubin level drop rapidly. However, pediatricians and neonatologists generally agree that most babies who are well enough to feed may continue to feed on breast milk. This is true even when the bilirubin level is high enough to require phototherapy.

http://pediatrics.about.com/library/breast feeding/blbreastfeedingh.htm
If, for example, the baby has severe jaundice due to rapid breakdown of red blood cells, this is not a reason to take the baby off the breast. Breastfeeding should continue.

I am breastfeeding...so i can totally relate....try stripping her down to just a diaper when she feeds....she'll stay latched longer..
As for parenting 2 babies...yup...i am doing that as well. Nathan is so demanding right now.(more so than before Nicolas) What I do is while I am breastfeeding...i usually make myself comfy on the couch...i turn cartoons on and Nathan snuggles up to me too. That way he feels loved as well.
get a sling too. You can breast feed while she is in it...all the while doing dishes...playing with Oni..etc...

Thanks for the tips ladies.

I'm sure it's breastfed jaundice.

Nya isn't pooping. SO sometimes Dr's will have you UP the intake of food (breastmilk AND formula) to encourage her to poop. OR have her drink KARO water, to get her to poop. OR suggest getting some suppositories. YOu don't put the suppository in and leave it, you just aggravate the area and stimulate her urge to push.
Poop = flushing of billiruben... my options are MANY, and I'd prob choose supplementing last.

This is the Dr from the hostpital and not Oni, so I'm curious to see how he handles this. And his views. So far, from what I've met of him, he's VERY into breastfeeding.

Surprisingly, the Brestfeeding consultant called me today!!(this is PLUS visiting me MANY times while I was in the hospital!) She wanted an update on me and Nya and the family.
SHe asked me some questions and was pleased to hear that I was still breast feeding her! I told her about Nya's Dr's appt and what might come of it (the recommendation of supplementing w/ formula), and she told me that if that was the case, then to buy " a slow flow" nipple to make her continue to work for the formula. Not something that would just fly down her throat. So she would remember she has to WORK for her breastmilk. and not get frustrated.
And for me to then top her off with breastmilk for at least 10mins. This being for her familiarity AND my milk supply!

So, I'm feeling a LOT better about it. No matter what though, I don't intend on giving up breastfeeding. I'm SOOOO excited that it's going this good this far!! I plan on breastfeeding for a LONG time!

sorry this was so long!

Sarah

I've done a lot of research on this, Sarah. There is NO REASON TO DISCONTINUE BREAST FEEDING AT ALL!

http://www.breastfeedingonline.com/7pdf.pd f

So called Breastmilk Jaundice
There is a condition commonly called breastmilk jaundice. No one knows what the cause of breastmilk jaundice is. In order to make this diagnosis, the baby should be at least a week old, though interestingly, many of the babies with breastmilk jaundice also have had exaggerated physiologic jaundice. The baby should be gaining well, with breastfeeding alone, having lots of bowel movements, passing plentiful, clear urine and be generally well (handout #4 Is my baby getting enough milk?). In such a setting, the baby has what some call breastmilk jaundice, though, on occasion, infections of the urine or an under functioning of the baby's thyroid gland, as well as a few other even rarer illnesses may cause the same picture. Breastmilk jaundice peaks at 10-21 days, but may last for 2-3 months. Breastmilk jaundice is normal. Rarely, if ever, does breastfeeding need to be discontinued even for a short time. There is not one bit of evidence that this jaundice causes any problem at all for the baby. Breastfeeding should not be discontinued "in order to make a diagnosis". If the baby is truly doing well on breast only, there is no reason, none, to stop breastfeeding or supplement with a lactation aid, for that matter. The notion that there is something wrong with the baby being jaundiced comes from the assumption that the formula feeding baby is the standard by which we should determine how the breastfed baby should be. This manner of thinking,
almost universal amongst health professionals, truly turns logic upside down. Thus, the formula feeding baby is rarely jaundiced after the first week of life, and when he is, there is usually something wrong. Therefore, the baby with so called breastmilk jaundice is a concern and "something must be done". However, in our experience, most exclusively breastfed babies who are perfectly healthy and gaining weight well are still jaundiced at 5-6 weeks of life and even later. The question, in fact, should be whether it is normal not to be jaundiced and is this absence of jaundice something we should worry about? Do not stop breastfeeding for “breastmilk” jaundice.

I totally agree with ingi, theres no reason to "top up" breastmilk with formula milk!!

I breastfed jayden for a year, for the first few weeks he was feeding every 2 hours. Its much easier for them to digest than formula which is why they need feeding more often....yeah thats hard on the mum but if its better for the baby then its sooo worth it!

To increase your milk supply try drinking loads of water, I found that helped me, and you should still be eating more calories than pre-pregnancy because of the calories needed for breastmilk. So Baron could help there by cooking you healthy snacks/meals

Personally I fed jay on one boob at a feeding. I was advised to do that, and hadn't heard about feeding them on each boob at the same feeding time. I found it worked for me just doing it on one, because then the other boob had time to fill up with milk ready for the next feeding and vice versa.

The best tip I *ever* got with breastfeeding was to put a bit of vaseline on my nipples after each feeding (and before if necessary) to stop them getting sore or cracked. Mine were sooooo sore in hospital they bled, then the midwife gave me that tip.

Sorry no advise for taking care of 2 babies, I dont envy you there lol!

I used lasinoh on my nipples. But only after they cracked (ouch!). I'm glad you got such GREAT advice! Please keep sharing it with every new mom you meet!!

i think i blocked those memories from my head, i cant remember much. I know I would feed from both boobs, each for about 15 mins. Get a sling to help hold her up so you have a free arm and a boppy pillow if you dont already have one. they get heavy after awhile!

Is there anything that distracts Oni? like a particular show? Try recording a few episodes or getting a DVD of one and when you sit down to feed Nya turn one episode on for her.

also try to get Nyas feeding insync with Onis nap so once Onis asleep you and Nya can go lay in bed, she can eat and yall can have a catnap.

If Barons looking to help more, at night let him do the changing and then you feed her. Make Oni his kid when he gets home so when you are feeding Nya you dont have to worry about Oni.

I hope this darn cold goes away! IM sick of you being sick lol

GOOD! I'm glad that I won't have to supplement!! I REALLY didn't want to even introduce her to the bottle.

SInce my milk has come down, I can ALREADY tell a difference in her feedings!! She's getting nice long gulps!!

I just wonder why she WON'T poop! They had to do an enema in the hospital Saturday night to get her to poop. The nurse said it was REALLY thick, and that's why she was prob having a harder time getting it out.

It kinda worries me because I know she SHOULD be pooping a couple times a day because she's breasfed!

Sarah