At her 2 month visit she was 9lbs (10th percentile) and 23 inches (60th percentile). This is about where Randal was so the low weight wasn't that concerning by itself, however, I had taken her in two weeks prior because she was gagging and vomited once and at that appointment she also weighed 9lbs. 2 weeks with no weight gain causes my pediatrician to freak out....in the most calm not trying to freak the parent out kind of way possible, ha! So with as much compassion as possible she told me I had to start supplementing my nursing with formula immediately and needed to offer formula after almost every feeding. I was pretty close to devastated by this. Seriously a big deal for a nursing mother to be told she isn't doing a good job at feeding her child. As women we are quite literally created to feed out children so having the doctor pretty much tell me I wasn't enough for my daughter's diet was like her telling me I was failing as a mother...I know it sounds crazy when I type it out but seriously I was feeling pretty low when we left. We left the doctor that day with orders to supplement with formula and come back in 6 days (after our trip back to Kernersville) for a re-check on Tilley's weight.
That first day of supplementation Tilley took 4oz of formula total....talk about laying on the guilt!!!! All that was going through my head was that I had been starving my child! The next day she didn't take any until late at night when she took 1oz. The following day she barely nursed, didn't wont formula, and was MISERABLE!!! Finally after a long bout of screaming her head off she pooed (you just don't know how thankful you are for a child's plumping to work properly until you are a parent). The child was a different baby after going potty. At this point I am sure it was the formula but what was I to do....she HAD to gain weight and HAD to do so ASAP!!! The next day she was still a fussy and took about 1oz of formula again and more misery ensued until she went to the potty. All in all she took 6-7oz of formula over the 6 day period between doctor visits. At the weight re-check she was 9lbs 6oz. Hallelujah!!! 6oz in 6 days makes for a happy doctor and mommy!!! The doctor said that the formula she had across those days wouldn't have contributed enough to be the driving force behind the weight gain and that what had likely happened was that 2 weeks prior to Tilley's 2 month appoint (you following this?) when I took her in due to the gagging she likely had a cold and wasn't eating as much so she lost weight, my milk supply went down (classic supply/demand relationship), and then when she got better she put that weight back on and my milk supply went back up. So that 9lbs wasn't necessarily a constant even thought it looked like it. All I have to say is that I'm glad I don't have to supplement her any more and if I do have to in the future we will be trying different formula because it was so tough to see her so miserable.
On a lighter note at 2 months she was just starting to smiles, loves her play mat, and wakes up once a night to nurse.
I love you Tilley Grey!!!
PS- Its late this is a long post which means it is riddled with spelling and grammatical errors. I have never and will never claim to be a whiz when it comes to spelling or grammar so to my mom and Matt just let the errors go and if it needs changing....Matt, you know the password!
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