Friday, May 8, 2009

My new job

From what we've learned, the road to teaching a preemie to breastfeed is complicated. The natural reflex that helps a newborn feed, coordinating sucking, swallowing and breathing, is not yet developed in a preemie. If he doesn't use that reflex when the gestational age to do so is finally reached, it goes away. Plus if the baby has been intubated, especially for an extended period of time, he can develop an oral aversion, associating anything in the mouth with discomfort. So the process must be carefully executed.

The speech therapist is involved to make sure the baby is correctly using his mouth, tongue, lips, and jaw. She's also making sure he is safe, only swallowing milk when he is ready. So the entire process is broken down into steps. The first step is what the hospital calls 'lick and learn'. For this, the mother will pump first so that the breast is empty. She then introduces the empty breast so the baby can practice latching on and suckling without the stress of swallowing, as the lactation consultant and speech therapist watch. During the same time frame the speech therapist will be working with him on his ability to swallow. She uses an empty bottle nipple, putting a few drops of breastmilk in at a time, watching how he reacts to swallowing. When both of these are mastered, the mother will try feeding, under the supervision of lactation and speech therapy. Since preemies can lack the strength to suck for extended period of time, they often need some supplemental form of feeding until they gain more strength.

When a baby is in utero, he gets plenty of practice swallowing, because he regularly swallows amniotic fluid. One of the things we have learned about Lawson is that his original problem of having a fluid filled chest cavity was probably caused by swallowing difficulty, possibly causing the polyhydramnios (too much amniotic fluid). So the speech therapist is taking extra care to ensure that Lawson can safely swallow before we introduce any breastmilk orally. After she spent some time working with him, she realized he is not yet ready to safely do the 'swallow test' I mentioned in an earlier post. She will instead be working with him to help him develop his swallowing ability.

We had our second meeting with Lactation today. She said Lawson was a pro at latching on! He is currently able to do a series of about 4 'non-nutritive sucks' (not receiving any milk) followed by a swallowing action. She said this was a great start. We will be trying this each day for about 5 - 10 minutes at a time until he is able to do several suck/swallow series. The special time and closeness we share during this activity makes it something I look forward to with great anticipation! The lactation consultant said that if breastfeeding is my goal, it's their goal too. So I'm considering this my JOB until we're both pros at getting him fed and getting him home!!!

7 comments:

  1. I hope Lawson surprises all of you and does just fine with breastfeeding. I love the bond that it creates between mom and baby. I will pray that he learns real fast for your sake and his! Praise God for his progress so far! He is truly a miracle!

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  2. Awesome Lawson will blow the data/stats away!! I don't think too much of data stuff anyway-LOL!! He has been proven the stats wrong left and right! Between having such an awesome Mom and such a miracle fighter- U 2 will beat the odds with a super feeder soon!!!! Go Lawson Go!! Still cheering and praying for a big welcome home Lawson day soon!! love u guys!
    :) Lauri
    Lauri

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  3. Mitzi...hang in there as long as you can with breastfeeding, there is no more indescribable bond known to woman... God definitely chose you, Brina, and Lacy for this miraculous journey with Lawson.

    God, in her/his wisdom only visits special people and families for extraordinary messages.

    Love,
    Elaine

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  4. Still praying for you all. It is so amazing to see such encouraging news. We await the news of his feeding success and arrival home. All the best,
    Star

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  5. Mitzi,
    Have a wonderful Mother's Day!
    Love,
    Donna

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  6. Mitzi,

    God is Good all the time:) Have a great Mother's Day! Jenn Dunn

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  7. I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day with Lacy and Lawson. I feel very sure Lawson will get the hand of it very soon.
    Hang in there, I am sure it will all work out.
    You continue to be in my thoughts and prayers.
    Love,
    Nancy Huxley

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