Small baby not gaining weight

I’m currently in the NICU with my now week old baby he was born at 37 weeks on the dot he had a knot in his umbilical cord and was born at 5 pounds 3 ounces he is now weighing 4 pounds 10 ounces and hasn’t gained any weight back the doctors put in a feeding tube 3 days ago but he still hasn’t gained weight he’s actually lost it we started to fortify his breast milk with formula to help him gain weight but the formula causes him to have such painful gas he can’t even eat from his bottle at all anymore so it mostly all goes in the tube but he’s constantly screaming and burning up all his calories I want to stop the formula but the doctors pretty much said I don’t have a choice in the matter I’ve honestly felt very trapped and unheard the entire time we’ve been at this hospital I’m doing what the doctors say because well I have to but nothing has changed it’s actually gotten worse I just feel so alone in this right now.

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My heart is with you! Have they tried different types of formula?

I'm so sorry! Most babies do lose at least some weight that first week so hopefully things turn around soon. My daughter struggled to gain weight in the NICU because they were putting way too much fortified milk in at a time. She didn't really pick up weight until we were home and we made the executive decision to take her off fortification (against the doctors orders). She was able to eat instead of spit it all up and her weight gain increased substantially. It's hard while you're in the NICU because they really don't give you much of a say. Get them to try different fortifications or try and breastfeed a little with each feed. Mine would only do it for 5-10 minutes but it allowed them to reduce the amount of fortified milk the tube fed her. Hang in there! It is really hard but praying you will find out what works for your baby soon

That’s pretty much exactly what I’m dealing with except it’s gas pains not spitting up but either way, we did switch to a soy based formula to fortify my milk with I have seen a little bit of a difference but he’s still struggling to eat on his own because he’s in so much pain as soon as we do get some weight back on him and go home I’ll be going back to strictly my breast milk. It took me screaming at a nurse to get out of my room for them to finally start listening to my concerns, I understand they have procedures and policy’s but nothing every baby is the same. This wouldn’t even be a big deal because as you mentioned most babies lose weight the first week but due to him already being so small it could be pretty dangerous for him if he keeps losing instead of putting on weight. Thank you for telling me your story it honestly helped me feel less alone in this!

@Mikkie the one benefit of the NICU is you can put them to sleep on their belly. That really helped my girl with her gas pains