Don't wake the baby.

While in hospital the mid-wives kept commenting on the fact that Maya was jaundiced. I couldn't see what they were talking about, but every single nurse would tell me that Maya had jaundice and I had to feed her more often to get rid of it. Then Maya started losing weight, which all babies do, but she lost just over 10% of her body weight, which is more than they are supposed to lose. So again the mid-wives told me I needed to feed her more often and wake her regularly for feeds. The problem with waking her for feeds was that she wanted to stay asleep and wouldn't feed properly.

Our paediatrician on the other hand told us that she was a big, healthy baby to begin with and that she could stand to lose a few more grams than other babies. He also told us that she was barely jaundiced and it wasn't really a problem. But the mid-wives continued to tell me that she was losing too much weight and was too jaundiced and I had to feed her more! So I guess a paediatrician is more qualified but when you have one doctor versus every nurse, it felt like the majority was right. I left hospital feeling like a failure and continued to regularly wake and feed Maya.

Finally after many frustrating feeds of waking Maya up and then struggling to keep her awake I decided to drop the schedule and feed on demand. This felt risky but I had to try it. And what happened? Maya would wake for a feed when she was hungry, so she stayed awake and actually ate more, which has resulted in a very good weight gain. Today she was weighed and she has finally passed her birth weight! :) 4.2 kgs!