Verdict on Ryan's Weight and Carseat Test

Ryan was weighed Tuesday evening at about 7:30pm, and he had gained 10 grams from last night's weight (which is about 1/3rd of an ounce). It was encouraging that he didn't lose any weight, but Ryan had received pretty significant supplementation at 4 or 5 feedings prior to being permitted to breastfeed on demand, so this gain was with the assistance of additional breastmilk through his nasal-gastric tube. He has been a pretty sleepy boy since his circumcision, which the lactation consultant said was entirely normal since his cortisol level is expected to shoot up after the procedure. Just too bad that the timing of the procedure was during this trial period of on-demand nursing. I can nurse him whenever he is wakeful and showing hunger cues, but he cannot go longer than 4 hours between attempts to feed him. So far he has already gone 4 hours between feedings twice (though when we woke him up, he did nurse well). The lactation consultant also provided us with 2 Haberman feeder bottles that are made by Medela and are specially designed to allow us to control the flow of milk that Ryan would receive (and you can change the flow speed just by rotating the bottle). She said that 98% of babies who use this type of bottle are readily able to return to breastfeeding as opposed to using another type of standard bottle. If we need to supplement his nursing at home, we plan to try using this type of bottle.

Ryan is currently almost finished with his carseat test. In order to pass the test, he has to keep his vital stats up in normal range with the buckles fastened in his carseat for an hour. We started the test at 1am, so he'll be done in about 15 minutes. This is the last major item that has to be completed before he were to be discharged. So, if given the neonatologist's approval for discharge, we'll be ready to go.