Feeding update

Jeremy and I have now spent four solid days at the hospital working on nursing Clara and it feels like we've made little progress. To be honest we are both feeling fairly discouraged right now because when we moved into the hospital on Friday we were not expecting to have to stay this long. Most attempts at nursing involve Clara screaming hysterically before, during and/or after nursing. Part of the problem is that there are several factors that could be contributing to her being upset - her tongue tie, reflux (this will probably be an issue for her for at least the next year), possible discomfort remaining from surgery - and it's hard to know which is the problem. Jeremy and I are both finding it difficult to continue working on this when it seems like it is such torture for her.

We came home for a couple hours tonight just to get a break from the hospital, but in a couple hours we need to be back there to nurse again. The lactation consultant talked with us today and confirmed my feelings that we hadn't really made any progress in the past four days. She is going to have the occupational therapist look at Clara tomorrow morning to assess her sucking abilities. And later tomorrow several of the medical professionals are having a big meeting to talk about each baby in the NICU, so maybe some new ideas will come up for how to help Clara. Since they don't seem to want to perform the frenotomy (clip Clara's frenulum) at the hospital, if we don't start making progress soon Jeremy and I are considering bottle feeding just so we can get her home and then find a pediatrician to perform the procedure.

We covet any prayers that you can raise on our behalf as we are feeling weary and just want to bring our baby home. We also need wisdom to know what is best for Clara, and assertiveness to push for what we want even if it's not the hospital's first choice.