July 16, 2011

If at first you don't succeed...

Try, try again.

Dr. Satterwhite told us at the appointment on Thursday that we could stop attempting bottles.  We'd tried close to a dozen different varieties ranging from $4 to $35 each and they had all failed.  Bottles that claimed to be designed "just like the breast" clearly were not and Clara was not only uninterested, she was down right mad about it.  It got to the point where she just saw a bottle coming and starting howling.  We had also tried sippy cups, even though most babies don't start those until at least four months, because we'd been told by doctors and lactation consultants that some babies go straight to sippy cups.  It would have been so nice if Clara could take a bottle for several reasons.  A) We have forty-some gallons of frozen breastmilk stored up from three months of pumping while she was in the hospital. B) With her eating every 2-2.5 hours it's hard for me to go much of anywhere or do much of anything without it being time for another feeding.  C) The attempt to get "extra calories" in by adding some powdered formula to the breast milk is futile if you can't then get that concoction in her somehow.  Alas, the many attempts to get her to take a bottle or sippy cup were all epic fails and it was becoming quite discouraging and more than a little frustrating.  So we were kind of relieved to hear him say that we could just quit fighting that battle.

Excuse me?  Did somebody say "quit?"  Ummm, that's not how I roll.

On the way up to the mountains this weekend I ran into the Rite Aid to look for gripe water because I'd heard it could cure hiccups (that's another story....).  Well the mountain Rite Aid didn't have gripe water, but while I was on the baby aisle I looked at their drug store selection of bottles.  We'd tried most of them except the playtex drop ins and I had a vague memory that somebody somewhere had said that these worked for their breastfed baby {Sidenote: People are passionate about their preferred bottle of choice.  They will recommend their bottle system in an instant and swear that it is the best thing ever for a myriad of reasons.  I will listen to this advice and buy one of each bottle.  They will all fail.}  It was four bucks, so I picked it up.


Yesterday it was just my mom, Clara and me hanging out up here in the mountains.  It was rainy, quiet and dark.  When Clara was waking up from a nap, still swaddled and half asleep, I handed her over to Mom and gave her the playtex bottle while I said sarcastically, "I'm sure this is going to be the magic bottle that she just guzzles right down." 

Well, you guessed it.  She sure did.  I had only put one ounce in there, but she drank that whole thing down without hesitation like she'd been a bottle baby all her life.  Un. Be. Lievable. 

Thinking that surely it was just a fluke, we offered the bottle three more times yesterday and each time she took a little more than the time before.  Now, she's still not up to a full feeding via the bottle yet, but holy toledo.  There's hope!  I might get to go have a haircut some day!  Or renew my driver's license!  Or go on a date! 

We haven't tried the formula concoction yet... we want to be sure that this is firmly established before switching it up.  But it's so nice to see how prayers are answered daily, even more small miracles instead of big ones, and even in the form of a baby bottle.  Thank you God for the engineers at Playtex who thought up the Drop In Bottle System.  We are so thrilled. 
Robert taking down 2-3 days worth of pumped milk during our hospital time...

A sampling of the many bottles we've tried.  There are at least three others I can think of, not pictured here.


Plus sippy cups!
Thank you, God for Playtex drop ins!  Hallelujah!

18 comments:

  1. I LOVE it! Thank you, Lord! :)

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  2. You are a riot, Chrissy! Love all the pics of the losers and the final picture of the winning bottle. Date night in your future...Connie

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  3. That is such amazing news! Savannah never had a problem taking an occasional bottle, but when I tried with Hailey she refused! It is so frustrating and I didn't have nearly as much milk saved up. I never did win that battle and it took me about six months after I knew all that frozen milk had gone bad before I could bring myself to throw it away. It's such a tough thing for a mom to do! I'm so glad God has given you victory in the bottle battle!! :)

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  4. GREAT JOB CLARA! Chrissy, have you tried the bottle....ha ha just kidding. I'm so proud of your persistence. I can't wait to meet this girl!
    Katie

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  5. Love it! I have to say, the bottle on the far left is something to behold! Dare we even ask?

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  6. Oh my goodness, such a funny post! Love the picture of Robert! LOL

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  7. @Melissa - it's called a Haberman feeder. Supposedly for babies with cleft palate or other issues that can't suck. I won't tell you how much I paid for it or how wildly unsuccessful it was. (A LOT, VERY). Alas. There was also one called "The Breastflow" that was supposed to look and work like a boob (http://www.amazon.com/First-Years-Breastflow-Bottle-Ounce/dp/B001QVG9YS/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1310867741&sr=8-4). Guess what? It didn't.

    Oh well! I'm glad we found one!

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  8. Hooray! I'm glad you found a bottle that Clara likes (my BF son will only drink from Playtex drop-in bottles also) and hope the extra calories help her gain more weight. Your post was hilarious -- love the pictures of all the bottles :-)

    If you need somewhere to donate extra breastmilk, WakeMed Mothers' Milk Bank is one option. I donated a freezer full to them a few years ago. http://www.wakemed.org/body.cfm?id=135

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  9. Oh what a hoot Chrissy! 25 years ago Christina refused any type of bottle she was offered - balled up fists and screamed. I fretted as after 10 weeks of leave as I HAD to return to work, NICU at Baptist. She would take just enough and wait. Kirk would have her bathed and ready for me when I came through the door when she would growl at me while she nursed. One evening, she drank 1 oz the whole 9 hrs I was gone - talk about being a wreck, but she tanked when I was home, Kirk persisted with the bottle and we all made it.

    I am so glad that you found a "product" that she will drink from besides mom! Thankful for the little things that make life easier!
    Joanne

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  10. I have always used the Playtex drop in bottles and have loved them. My daughter prefers the brown nipple opposed to the clear silicone one bc it is softer and forms to her mouth more like the breast does. It's very exciting that Clara has finally found her bottle of choice!

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  11. LOL, you and Clara need to write a book. You'll have to save those bottles and show her when she's older, ha-ha. Keep up the good work, girls !

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  12. Well, Praise the Lord! You know, 24 years ago one of my babies only wanted the breast, and we use Playtex to get him to finally take a bottle. It was called the Playtex Nurser back then, but had the same format of a collapsible bag and, as one others posted, a soft brown nipple more like the breast. So glad you found Clara's "bottle of choice!"

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  13. Love this. I suspect we may see a personality trait in the making! Remember this when she's 16 and you're shopping for prom dresses. She will have HER dress, and only her dress, thank you very much. :)

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  14. The ONLY thing that worked for us was a NUK nipple. Didn't see that posted here and maybe you've tried it, but it was a god-send for us. Apparently my son has a very high palate and those normal shaped nipples actual hurt him to use.

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  15. How beautiful that Clare loves the breast feeding! Keep it! Don't struggle with the bottles! Why? Really unnecessary! Based on your previous post, she gained an average of 15 g/day - an approporiate weight gain for her age, especially for an exclusively breast-fed baby. Formula-fed baby usually gains more. That is why breast-fed or breast milk-fed babies are leaner and less develop obesity in their adult life.

    As a general rule, healthy term infants will lose no more than 10% of their birth weight and regain their birth weight by 7 to 10 days of age if formula-fed or by 10 to 14 days if breast-fed. During the first 3 months of life, the infant gains an average of 25-30 g/d (30 g = 1 oz), and durig the second 3 months gains an average of 15-20 g/day (so Clara is on target). The healthy term infant will double the birth weight by 5-6 months. From 6-12 months, infants gain an average of 10-15 g/day and triple their birth weight by the end of the first year. In addition, the length, head circumference and linear growth are all very important factors to determine an infant's growth, not only the weight, i.e. lean body mass vs fat.

    Clara was not a healthy term infant at birth (she was very very very very sick), but now she looks like a healthy baby and close to double her birth weight. We all should be very proud of her, of you and of your family. As long as she is happy and acting normally in the daily life, just let her peacefully grow. Don't pass our adults' unrealistic expectation and anxiety to her. She is fine and will be continuely fine.

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  16. Soo proud of Clara! I'm praying for a successful weigh in!

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  17. Too funny. Only one of mine EVER took a bottle so I know how it is to be without haircuts! But, when she did, it was a Playtex drop-in!

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  18. We were playtex peeps too... Tried a kabillion others and that's the only one that worked. Magic bottle or persistence or just pure luck? No clue. But my marriage AND my hair were very thankful. Yay for haircuts and datenights that are longer than two hours!

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