Our Five Ring Circus: Every Baby Is Different - Coen's Story

Friday, August 23, 2019

Every Baby Is Different - Coen's Story

Breastfeeding Stories


This post is sponsored by Evivo but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

Our fifth baby was a BIG surprise! My husband and I adjusted quickly to the news, and figured what’s one more when we already had four?!?  Our kids ranged in age from 5 through 14, and had been through it all, including a very surprising post-birth diagnosis of Down syndrome. We were experienced parents, and nothing could throw us off our parenting game. Of course we had this under control! 



Or so we thought. Everybody assured us that baby #5 would be the easiest one, but they were wrong. Baby #5 turned out to be a very fussy baby who had feeding issues. It was our first unhappy baby, and we were feeling very stressed. He cried for hours each day, and nothing we did helped. For the first time ever, I was an exhausted new mom, and I felt a tinge of postpartum depression sneaking in. 


Sometimes as a parent, you just have to follow your gut. I KNEW there was something wrong with my sweet baby. I successfully breastfed three other babies, including one that I was told couldn’t breastfeed because of his diagnosis. I was an experienced breastfeeder, and I wasn’t doing anything different. It was up to me to figure out what was going on.

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Coen immediately took to breastfeeding after birth. I mistakenly believed our breastfeeding journey was going to be flawless. He dropped a full pound in the hospital, and over the next few weeks, his latch worsened, and he was struggling to gain weight. We went to the pediatrician on a weekly basis for weigh-ins, and it took him a full month to reach his birth weight. 



During that first month, we worked with a lactation consultant, and attempted to supplement with bottles of pumped breastmilk and formula. I was producing milk, and he had just as much difficulty drinking from a bottle. It seemed like he was in pain as he ate, and I felt like a failure because I couldn’t fix it. He was like a wild animal as he nursed. He thrashed around, yanked away from the nipple, and kept crying out.


When Coen was 1 month old, we added acid reflux medication to the mix. Coen was still struggling to eat, and each day, he cried for hours on end. The pediatrician thought he might be having issues with acid reflux, but we tried medication for a full month, and it didn’t make a difference. At his 2 month checkup, his weight was still very slow, and he was dropping on the percentile chart. I asked if he maybe had a lip tie, so she referred us to an ENT. 


Much to our surprise, Coen actually had a posterior tongue tie, which can cause feeding issues! Our older daughter had an anterior tongue tie, which was very visible. It didn’t even look like Coen had one, which was why we never suspected it. The ENT clipped it in the office, and within a few days, his latch became stronger. It took a few weeks to settle into a better nursing pattern, but his feeding issues eventually began to improve, and he cried less. 

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Despite having his tongue tie fixed, and nursing better, Coen’s weight gain was still slow. He was over 10 lbs when he was born, and at his 4 month checkup, he was only in the 10th percentile. He seemed very healthy, but something was off. With the guidance of his pediatrician, we agreed that it was time to slowly introduce solids, as well as a daily probiotic, and to increase his reflux medication. It was at that point when everything began to fall into place!


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One month later, Coen is eating like a champ! He took to solids right away, and eats from a spoon so well. He nurses more frequently than before, and nurses like a pro! We joke that he’s making up for lost time by breastfeeding around the clock, and waking me up every few hours during the night. Coen is sleeping better, he no longer screams for hours at a time, and we maintain his daily probiotic and acid reflux medication regimen. He’s still under the 10th percentile for weight (but over the 95th for height), but if you saw him eat now, you would never guess that he ever had feeding issues!

Seeing my beautiful baby so miserable broke my heart, and I knew I had to fight for him to figure out what was wrong, and make things better for him. In the end, it worked out, but it took several stressful months to get to this sweet, happy place. I believe Coen had a lot going on that made him so fussy. It was a combination of the tongue tie, acid reflux, a little bit of colic, and poor gut health contributing to his unhappiness, but we found ways to help! Now I have a happy, smiling, laughing, cooing baby...most of the time!

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Did you know that 9 out of 10 babies born in the US have a lack of good bacteria needed for a healthy gut? Babies in developed countries were born with B. infantis, which is a good bacteria that babies need for the development of a healthy gut, but this good bacteria disappeared. The first 6 months of a baby’s life are critical for proper immune and metabolic development, because too much bad bacteria in the gut early in life can lead to asthma, eczema, allergies, Type 1 Diabetes, and obesity. That’s why it’s so important to introduce B. infantis as early as possible!


Evivo Probiotic

Evivo is the first and ONLY clinically-proven baby probiotic that restores B. infantis for a healthy infant gut. Yes, there are other probiotics you can purchase, but Evivo is the only one formulated to be partnered with breastmilk. Evivo, which resulted from over a decade of research and clinical trials, is the only probiotic clinically proven to repopulate baby's gut with B. infantis 100% of the time!

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Evivo is now a part of Coen’s daily feeding regimen! I was super impressed that it arrived at my house less than 24 hours after I ordered it. It was still cold when it arrived, but I promptly put it into my freezer. Each day, I simply pour a sachet of Evivo powder into the small included bowl, add 3-5 mL of breastmilk to the powder, mix it well, then feed it to Coen using the included feeding syringe. It’s super simple, and I feel confident knowing he’s getting good bacteria introduced to his gut each day! 

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A healthy diet, a healthy gut thanks to Evivo, and showering Coen with a whole lot of love leads to a very happy baby! It took a lot of work to reach this point, but we made it, and our sweet boy is THRIVING!


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Learn more about Evivo, and how you can help keep your baby healthy for life with Evivo probiotic! Use these coupon codes to save on your order:
  • $10 off: BLOGV568B
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3 comments:

  1. Aw, these pictures are too cute. I'm glad that you were able to finally figure out how to help your little one! It's horrible when babies are hurting or not feeling well and you can't figure out what to do.

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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  2. It's one of the hardest things to see our babies go through tough times. I'm so sorry you also had to go through some struggles with weight gain. I've definitely been there with our son and it can be such a trying time. I'm so happy that both of our little guys are on the right track now! You are an amazing mama, and you are right, sometimes you need to just trust your gut.

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