Today we visited the specialist for Jonathan because of his low weight. This first visit was essentially a consultation. Since the results were normal for all of the blood work and other tests we had previously done, he told us he probably isn't getting enough to eat. So, we have specific guidelines on what and how much to feed him and will head back in two weeks for a follow up visit. This makes sense to me. Since everything appears fine except for his weight, he wants to start at the beginning to make sure he's eating enough. That could be the easy solution to this problem.
What that means in practice is that we're going to have to measure and track the amount of milk he's getting. So, he's going to have to learn to take a bottle since that's the only way we can track the amount. I'm not sure this will be easy, since he hasn't wanted a bottle or formula supplementation in the past. However, if he gets hungry enough, he'll eventually learn (those were the doc's words, not mine). Stacey tried to pump tonight, and just like Julia, it just wasn't practical. She's not going to hand-pump for an hour just to get two measly ounces. We've tried different pumps, and like 3 years ago, it's not effective.
So, that means he's going to get weaned and go on formula. Somehow we're going to have to figure out how to get 720 calories of formula in him every 24 hours. That's 18 scoops of formula per day. Sorry to say it, but I don't think that's possible. We'll try our best, but I have a feeling it's going to be a battle.