Weight watchers v2.0

You may remember the weight issues we had with the Boy when he was a newborn. Since he was premature, he was small and wasn't strong enough to nurse effectively. We spent his first several weeks focusing on getting him to gain weight, which included an endless cycle of nursing, supplementing (with breast milk), and pumping. It was exhausting, and we were so relieved that Mei-mei was born full-term, a good size, and able to nurse from the beginning.

Of course, things couldn't stay that simple! Mei-mei was born 7lbs 11.9oz. When we took her in for her first visit with the Dude (at four days old), she had dropped to 7lbs 2oz. That was within the normal drop of 8-10%, so no one was worried. We went back four days later when she was one week old, because we had to get her cord stump checked for infection. While we were there, we did a weight check...and she was still 7lbs 2oz. She was supposed to be gaining an average of 1oz per day, so four days of no weight gain was not a good thing. Five days later, we went back for her two-week check-up and discovered that she still weighed 7lbs 1oz. This was really not good. Nine days with no weight gain whatsoever.

So we started the ol' nurse/supplement/pump routine that we went through with the Boy. It took me 1.5-2 hours to complete a cycle, and then 30 minutes later I'd start waking Mei-mei up for the next round. I continued this through the weekend, but on Sunday Mei-mei started spitting up whatever she got from the bottles. She was also latching much better and nursing more effectively. So I stopped giving her the bottles and hoped that everything would be OK at her next weight check.

Today was her weight check, and I tried to fill her up right before the appointment so that she would be as heavy as possible. The nurse weighed her and announced, "7.06 pounds...so just a tad over 7 pounds". My heart sank. She'd lost weight again! But then the Dude came in and said that the scale was a new one and the display wasn't set correctly. It actually should have read 7lbs 6oz, not 7.06lbs. Whew!

That means that Mei-mei gained 6oz in five days, which is perfect. The Dude said I could continue to just nurse her and skip the tedious 2-hour routine since it seems that she's doing well with nursing now. She'll have her weight checked at her four-week check-up, so we'll be able to see how things are going then.

So now things to be going more smoothly again! Hopefully Mei-mei will continue to gain weight and will remain the low-key gentle baby that she has been so far. By this point, the Boy had already entered his fussy stage, so we're feeling pretty lucky this time around!