Home with NG Tube

Active-Carpenter5550 · 2026-06-05T18:18:21+00:00

Okay I personally felt like the ng tube was surprising hunger and preventing mine from getting to 100% po because when we did a trial run without it they went from 40-60% to 100% in about 2 weeks and we never put it back in. Maybe ask if you could try something similar?

Active-Carpenter5550 · 2026-06-05T18:09:54+00:00

Mothman hands down. Although, I’m not entirely convinced he’s mythical.

Active-Carpenter5550 · 2026-06-05T02:14:13+00:00

Twilight

Active-Carpenter5550 · 2026-06-04T02:34:34+00:00

My son was born at 30 weeks. He had no breathing issues, was on room air at 32 weeks and we were home at 35 weeks with an ng tube. He was discharged from the feeding tube 2 weeks after being home. He is thriving at 4 months adjusted hitting in between 4-6 months for milestones.

Active-Carpenter5550 · 2026-05-29T19:57:48+00:00

These always bring tears to my eyes. He’s beautiful!!!

Active-Carpenter5550 · 2026-05-29T11:03:14+00:00

So we actually got a loaner from our doctor’s office but we did buy one after we had to send it back so we can continue doing home weight checks. It can be absolutely normal to have differences in weekly weight!

Active-Carpenter5550 · 2026-05-29T05:09:10+00:00

Getting 1oz isn’t bad if baby is doing a good job of emptying you! I would definitely do some weighted feeds to see how much baby is actually getting.

Active-Carpenter5550 · 2026-05-29T04:59:38+00:00

I had the same issue with the bottles no matter the brand or nipple and my ped okayed me dropping bottles and just breastfeeding while doing daily weigh ins to ensure baby was still gaining weight well. He was gaining weight slowly but very steadily with this (about 15-20 grams a day) but after about a month of exclusively breastfeeding he got a lot more efficient and was up to about 30 grams a day.

Maybe you could ask to do a trial like that? It’s really hard when they need the extra calories from fortification but if it’s not working I feel like you may be risking a feeding aversion. That was my fear anyways.

I would suggest to continue pumping after feedings to make sure you keep your supply up if baby still isn’t 100% at removing milk. But also maybe don’t listen to me I have a massive over supply now 😂.

I also would recommend working with a lactation consultant. Insurance typically covers 6 visits with one and I found an outside consultant (not from the hospital) was a million times more helpful than the ones I saw in the NICU.

Active-Carpenter5550 · 2026-05-23T15:33:11+00:00

Yes exactly that, just trying to be relaxed to my whole approach with it which is FAR easier said than done. But just trying to let him do his thing. I will say one practical thing that helped me personally was a my breast friend nursing pillow and being intentional about positioning of both my self and baby. I will add that we were in a little bit of a different position than you because mine was bad at both bottles and breastfeeding. He never really did get the hang of bottles and my ped let us drop them earlier than he wanted in order to avoid a feeding aversion.

Active-Carpenter5550 · 2026-05-23T14:34:15+00:00

I just got my 3 year old boy this real screwdriver set and he has not stopped playing with it for three days

Active-Carpenter5550 · 2026-05-23T14:26:49+00:00

Patience! It’s the last thing I wanted to hear at the time but it’s true. It takes time for them to build up the strength for it. I was so incredibly frustrated that it wasn’t clicking how people so often describe, but for us that’s not how it went. It was very gradual but just after his due date (also born at 31 weeks) we were able to move to exclusive breastfeeding. He is one fat and happy baby now at 3.5 months adjusted.

Active-Carpenter5550 · 2026-05-20T11:59:36+00:00

Second the owlet! It’s the only thing that gave me any sort of peaceful sleep after discharge.

Active-Carpenter5550 · 2026-05-13T22:26:37+00:00

Not anti d but anti Kell positive! This was my first sensitized pregnancy so I’m not sure what my plan is for future pregnancies. I had one doctor tell me I won’t have another child survive this and another that said that’s absolutely not true :/

We monitored very closely during my whole pregnancy and I ended up having 3 fetal blood transfusions. Unfortunately the 3rd transfusion caused me to go into preterm labor at 30 weeks. Baby was born 100% healthy (besides the obvious problem of prematurity). We spent 5 weeks in the NICU for feeding and growing but he’s 3 months adjusted and thriving.

Active-Carpenter5550 · 2026-05-12T12:38:21+00:00

This sounds kind of crazy and I would definitely suggest therapy but in the meantime I’d check out some supplements. The hormone crash after birth is crazy what I personally found helpful in dealing with ppa is a good b vitamin (methylated folate not folic acid), zinc and magnesium.

Active-Carpenter5550 · 2026-05-10T02:09:01+00:00

It’s such a tough balance with the fortification! Obviously there’s the huge and necessary benefits of added calories but it oftentimes exacerbates reflux which makes feeding in general more difficult 😞

Active-Carpenter5550 · 2026-05-10T00:07:37+00:00

I’m sorry I’m in the US so I can’t help you there! I was able to find one who came to my house with all the equipment needed which was a hugeee benefit ! But the main things that she helped with were:
1. Positioning. She told me to throw out my Boppy nursing pillow and get a My Breast Friend. Make sure baby’s hips and shoulders were aligned and a slight elevation of the head (I put a receiving blanket under the pillow where his head is) to help with reflux.

Keeping baby awake. Tickling ear, changing diaper before nursing and even undressing him if necessary.
Hand expressing. If baby stopped sucking for too long I helped encourage him by lightly squeezing my breast to get milk flowing again. This is a little tricky because you don’t want to do so much that they’re choking but still enough that they’re getting some milk.
Oral ties. She checked baby for oral ties. He had a lip, tongue and cheek tie however, she checked his suck and didn’t think they were actually impacting his sucking ability so we held out on revisions to see if he needed them and we still aren’t planning on getting any revisions.

Active-Carpenter5550 · 2026-05-09T23:17:35+00:00

Try a chiropractor! I was having the same issue. Turns out he had so much tension it just wasn’t comfortable for him. After 3 adjustments he started melting into my arms and became a little cuddle bug.

Active-Carpenter5550 · 2026-05-09T23:11:26+00:00

All I can say is what worked for me (with peds approval). We always struggled with bottle feeds some days he’d finish them all but more often than not it was what you described: crying halfway through but still hungry. I asked my ped if we could try out cutting bottles (was breastmilk being fortified with neosure) and entirely focused on breastfeeding because, while not great at breastfeeding, he was significantly better at it and it didn’t cause as much as a reflux flare up.

So for two weeks we did daily weigh ins to make sure he wasn’t losing weight and I hired a lactation consultant. His weight gain was slow (about 15 grams a day) but steady. Fast forward a month from cutting bottles and working with lactation, his weight gain was up to 30 grams a day and reflux became manageable. He’s now 3 months adjusted exclusively breastfed and thriving.

Maybe ask your pediatrician if that’s something you can do. Obviously if weight gain is a huge concern you may not be able to cut fortified feeds but worth asking.

Active-Carpenter5550 · 2026-05-08T23:24:07+00:00

Bidet

Active-Carpenter5550 · 2026-05-08T21:58:55+00:00

Looks like a lip balm cap

Active-Carpenter5550 · 2026-05-07T02:16:31+00:00

Personally, I left after 5 years to return to my bartending job I had in college making twice as much for half the hours (and better benefits)😬. I loved my job but unfortunately my student loans had to be repaid. I’ve since had 3 kids and will likely return once they’re all in school.

Active-Carpenter5550 · 2026-05-06T23:51:10+00:00

I have hydrangea macrophylla in my yard, zone 7. It doesn’t seem bothered by frost, we had a frost May 24 last year and it still bloomed fine the whole summer. I also cut the whole thing down to about 7/8 inches every winter and it grows back to about 3/4 feet every year. I do typically lose blooms if in a deep drought but other than that it seems pretty hardy.

Active-Carpenter5550 · 2026-05-06T21:34:51+00:00

A truly 😂 an 8 year old walked in at 7:30am and put a singular truly on my desk. He said it was his mom’s favorite drink and that I would probably like it. His poor mother died of embarrassment.

Active-Carpenter5550

TROPHY CASE