please help again w/ breastfeeing questions!!!!!!!

i know i've posted several questions recently about breastfeeding, but i really want to make sure i'm doing everything right!  i'm wodering if i should be questioning my milk supply...  

ds is 9 days old today!!!

he has about 2 real poopy diapers a day (maybe 3) and the rest are wet.  but i'm used to my girls diapers when they are wet so i question sometimes if his little diapers are wet enough i guess!  

sometimes he acts like he's not interested in feeding.  he's extrememly hard to wake up sometimes which i know is normal for some newborns (and has always been the case w/ mine) but i'm used to knowing how much their eating b/c i always pumped and bottle fed my others.  

his ***** seem to change sometimes... like sometimes they're stong and others they are not.  the past 2 nights he doesn't seem to want to wake up very well to eat much in the middle of the night.  i thought he was doing really well a couple days ago w/ eating so much and now it's less than 10 mins on each side.  so that makes me wonder about my milk supply!  he's not cranky and letting me know if he's still hungry or not after not being interested in feeding.  and i ALWAYS have to wake him up to eat...  day and night!!!  i do not ever feel my milk let down between feedings and don't even always feel it let down while he's feeding.  a couple times he's gone almost 4 hrs between feedings (not on purpose) and i can feel my breasts are full but nowhere near engorged like they would be if i were pumping!  and then when they feel that full, after him feeding for like 10 mins again they feel empty...  at least to me!

he has his 1st appt on wednesday in the morning...  i can call the LC from the hospital but i wanted advice from other moms.  should i be worrying this much???  or is this all normal in the beginning???  i want so bad to get this right and i hope someone can give me some more advice or encouragement...  or something!!!!!  

jen

[spade22]

My little one is a few days your than yours and this is my first but I will try and help as best I can.

According to my doctor, from day 6 onwards baby should have about 6-8 wet diapers per day (colorless to pale yellow urine) and 3-4 seedy yellow stools.  I was told this can vary quite a bit - some will go more and some will go less.  If you are getting 2-3 poopy diapers a day, that sounds like things are probably on track but Im obviously not an expert in this subject.  How many wet diapers does he go through?

My little one also goes through stages where she is not interested in eating and there doesnt seem to be much I can do to arose her.  I was told that when they are this young it is important to do what you can to wake when and get them to feed every 2-3 h but if they refuse to feed thats ok (as long as you are trying you are stimulating their memory because they forget to wake up when hungry sometimes).  Does he also have stages when his does wake and is very hungry?

Another thing - did/does he have jandice?  This is pretty common in newborns and can make them very sleepy and much more difficult to get them to eat.  Jazmine has mild jandice and I was told in her case it would probably peak around day 6 but it can sometimes get worse after this time.  Since this effects feeding and makes little ones tired its something to consider.

I have no idea what is normal/common for breasts with a breast feeding mom.  My milk came in yesterday and parts of my breasts are getting hard by feeding time.  When I nurse on one side, the other turns into a facet (lol) and even a little pressure on my breasts causes them to leak.  I think I am going to have to sleep in a bra w/ pads.  I also feel like my breasts are relatively empty (they are soft at least) after about 10 mins of feeding.  You may try posting this aspect of your post in the breast feeding forum.

Sorry, thats all I have for you.

[spade22]

One more thing to add.  If you are really concerned, you can probably pop down to the doctors office or hospital and have a quick weigh in before Wednesday.  That way you can tell if he is on track.

[Tanker Chic]

Everything you have described sounds like my son when he was newborn except for the number of poopy diapers.  That seems a little low to to me.  I thought there should be at least 4 to 6 a day, but I'm no expert.  

10 minutes on each side doesn't sound bad at all.  Sometimes I was luck to get 10 minutes period.  

You probably won't be as engorged as you were with pumping, because this is a more natural demand. I would call your dr about the poopy diapers and see what they say.

good luck to you..

[kennedydp5]

thank you guys for responding...  he has an appt on wednesday morning.  i'm going to wait and see how much weight he's gained and go from there i guess.  he did better today again...  i guess he's going to have good and not so good days.  i'm glad to hear that someone else has gone through this, though.  i'm driving myself (and dh) nuts worrying so much!  he did have more poopy diapers last night and today, too!