The expert - part 3

I know some people think I'm too open in some of my blog posts.  If you're of this opinion then it's probably wise that you come back in a few days time when there'll be some fun photos posted about Uncle Seth and Aunt Alissa's visit to see Adain, London and Norway.

The rest of you carry on.

We went back to see Louise the Lactation Lady today for our 3rd session in three days. We saw progress in Aidan's finger feeding last night but as exhaustion is setting for Erin and I we decided, before we went in, if he had dropped weight from his Wednesday weigh-in we'd definitely settle for the bottle.  We're not exactly sure how much of the food he takes in, he dribbles a lot and often spits up.  I thought, and quietly hoped, he'd dropped weight so we could get on with a consistent feed.

He'd put on 80 grams.  A good amount in three days.  I looked at Erin and knew we were going for another push at this.

In the next few minutes a strategy was developed but it only led to crying and screaming from the little fella and desperation from me.  Erin looked beaten too.

Louise was persistently taking Aidan on but I decided to confront her about the issue of 'breast being best' which we always hear.  I said that we'd had enough of this, that I was really worried about the well being of both Erin and Aidan, and that surely formula would be all right? She was calm in her response and gave us her arguments.  The ones below are the ones I heard:

• Breast feeding provides nutrients and immunity which formula can't.  
• The government is investing millions in this message because those who breast feed are less of a drain to the resources of the NHS
• It stimulates intelligence.
  

She spoke for around 5 minutes with a calm passion which showed she wasn't going to give up on us.  But I had to have one more go.  I started with the intelligence issue suggesting that if he took formula he might not be getting what mother's milk provides but he would still be getting the care and attention from us two, being constantly spoken to and read to and nurtured.  I even mentioned that he'd been given a little show from his teddy bears in the morning before we left to see her. 

To me the intelligence issue is a non starter and so are the government lines, so I ignored them. I told her what really concerns me is that when I go back to work Erin will be home alone dealing with a baby that potentially won't feed or cries when doing so.  I don't want that to have a damaging impact on mother and baby's relationship, and mother's sanity. 

Louise took a moment to think about this and then asked us to see what we thought about her plan to continue finger feeding over the weekend, use a few approach techniques and for Erin to go back and see her on Monday.  She said that Aidan had made great progress, and if he hadn't, she would have given up there and then.  She also said, as he's gained weight this week, we didn't have to wake him every three hours at night.

We were given added faith when Louise called at the end of her shift to ask Erin to bring a bottle teat with her to Monday's session.  She said she'd been giving us extra thought and wants to try use the teat to trick him. (I suppose if we were in the US we would be paying a pretty penny for this type of service).

We're going to follow the plan.  But I do feel that it's a shame we're having to focus on this. Aidan is currently opening up his big blue eyes more than ever, he's enjoying meeting his new teddy bears, a monkey and rubber ducks. And he gives us the largest belches I've ever heard. When we're not worried about him he does make us giggle.