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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Is this your first, OP? I remember being completely baffled at how to eat when we first got home from the hospital with my first….my neighbor dropped off pasta and meatballs, salad and bread and I almost cried, it was so nice, and I think we were just so overwhelmed with the transition. I’ve since made meals unprompted for many different neighbor families with new babies as my way of passing it on. Would any of your neighbors be willing to start a meal train for you?

Did she have a NICU stay? How big is she?I’ve had 2 that were 36 weekers (5-5.5 lbs) and my last was a 34 weeker (4.5 lbs) who was stuck in the NICU for 2 weeks while she learned to eat - so glad they didn’t send us home as she was so sleepy that most of her milk was tube fed those first weeks. I pumped and bottle fed for the first few weeks after she got home as it was faster and my husband could take a turn, and allowed us to take “shifts”

By maybe week 3.5 - 4 I was throwing in a nursing session or two during the day and she got the hang of it pretty quickly. By week 5 or 6 she had gained enough weight and was strong enough to move to night nursing too as well which was a life saver.

My other two did not have NICU time and no tube feeding but had a hard time waking to eat, both times we supplemented with formula in the beginning as we did not want to mess around and were under strict doctors orders.

My advice to get through it - buy multiples of pump parts. Buy and eat greek yogurt (it’s delicious with honey and/or peanut butter and cinnamon and fruit) for breakfast or a snack - it’s filling and healthy. Or oatmeal which is also good for supply. And keep trying with the nursing, if it’s important to you. But don’t be afraid to supplement; it will not ruin your breastfeeding relationship but might save your sanity. Use the slow cooker - it will be your friend.

Good luck!

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Yes, she’s our first.

I think we just didn’t have time to prepare and these past couple of days at home have been a lot. Food hasn’t been a priority but we will do some grocery delivery to make sure I eat.

She wasn’t in the NICU solely but she was in the hospital and I stayed with her for 6 days. She was born at 35 weeks and 5 days at 5lbs 6.5oz. She dropped down to 4lbs 11oz by the 3rd day so they kept us. She was back up to 5lbs 1oz when we came home.

I’m doing bottle feeding with the Dr. Brown’s 2oz ( preemie) bottles but I do put her on the breast so she can try to get the hang of it. We are waking her for every feed still and she isn’t awake pretty much at all except for 5-10 minutes every couple of hours. We are under strict feeding schedules as well to make sure she gains well.

I’m a little picky. I don’t like oatmeal, honey, or cinnamon. I do eat a healthy diet so I will stock up on my usual without guilt for eating takeout during this time. I don’t plan to cook so we will be using a lot of prepared meals for the next several weeks.

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