Emma's First Bottle

While Emma has been nuzzling on Mom for the past few days, she hasn't yet started breastfeeding. We've met with the lactation consultant but given Emma's very preemie size, the team doesn't expect her to be able to properly feed for a while yet (it often takes a long time for preemies to coordinate the "suck, swallow, and breathe" sequence necessary for non-gavage feeding). Emma has "played" and sucked a few times, but it is quite effortful for her and she usually falls asleep pretty quickly.

As it won't be possible for Emma to be 100% breastfed while in hospital, she will receive some of her feeds by bottle. Today was the first day she tried bottle feeding.

As the photos show, she wasn't sure what to make of it at first, but managed a few good swallows (followed by a very un-ladylike burp afterwards) and was able to take about 5 mls (it doesn't sound like much, but it was quite an achievement for her!) before falling asleep. We'll keep trying, and as she gets bigger/stronger, she'll be able to take more each time.