Finding What Works

We've been struggling lately here at the Nakel house with trying to find out what works in terms of supplementing formula along with breastfeeding. There are days where I simply can't nurse Eden ALL day long. It's exhausting and we've had days where she wants to nurse for almost an hour, takes a half hour off, and then wants to nurse again. My boobs simply can't handle that. Plus, in the event that I have a chance to get out of the house by myself, I hate being a slave to the clock of, "Oh I have to hurry up and get back to nurse E." Plus, when people visit, I'm not overly comfortable nursing her in front of people so it's a pain in the ass to go upstairs to feed her...not to mention, no one else can feed her so that's no help to me.

We tried using the little bottles of formula the hospital gave us when we brought her home. It was the Similac Advance ready made and we found out that it gave her horrible diarrhea. All those giant blow outs she was having was caused by that and it broke my heart to know that it was my fault by giving her that. I called the pediatrician and talked to the phone nurse and she suggested I try the Similac Almentium and left a can for us to pick up and try. So we tried that for a few days, but I started to notice that she was SO fussy. John kept saying that it was because a book we have on "Your Baby Week by Week" says something about babies getting fussy at this age, but I was convinced it was the formula. She was never fussing at night when I nurse her, just during the day/evening hours when she'd get a bottle or two.

Well, Mary was giving her a breast milk bottle today and the 2oz. it had just wasn't enough (she usually takes between 3-4 depending on the time of day she gets a bottle) so I made her another 2oz. bottle of the formula to finish her off. Sure as shit, as she was burping her from that, she was instantly fussy. That was all I needed to seal the deal that it was the formula making her fussy, so I made yet another call the the pediatrician phone nurse. This time, they suggested Gerber and said it was supposed to be better for babies who are also breastfed and said they'd leave me a can and cooler pack at the front to pick up.

I'm hoping that this will work for us because it's killing me to know I'm putting my child through hell, just to alleviate some of my inconvenience and stress. I have the utmost respect for the women who can exclusively breastfeed because I just can't do it all the time. I love nursing at night because it's easier for me. No heating up any bottles or messing with anything else, and since I'm the only person who ever gets up with her when it's just John and I, why not. But if this formula doesn't work, I don't know what I'll do!