Sorry it has been a while since my last post. It is easy to get caught up in the cycle of "feed the baby, change the baby, soothe the baby, feed the baby, change the baby, soothe the baby." We're lucky if we remember to eat or squeeze in a 30 minute nap, let alone have time for much else. :) It's especially hard to type when one hand is busy with the baby. He's sleeping right next to me for now, so I'm going to try to squeeze in a quick update. :)
Espen is doing great health-wise. He saw the doctor again on Friday and is up to 10 lbs. 8 oz. He eats almost constantly! This morning, in one feeding, I kid you not, he ate 7.5 oz!!!! I can't believe his little tummy can hold that much!
Espen is a very calm, happy, sleepy baby during the day, but is a vampire baby at night. :) He has his days and nights confused and is WIDE AWAKE from about 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. He's also insatiable during those hours, feeding every 45 minutes or so. It makes for sleepless nights for mommy and daddy, but the past two nights have been a LOT better. All of this started about a week ago, and for the first five nights, all he did was scream from midnight on. Nothing but a bottle would calm him, and the second it was empty, the screaming would begin again. When we met with the pediatrician on Friday, he said that there is no physical reason for the crying, but that Espen was feeding off of our frustration at not being able to get him to calm down. We have been making a special effort to be calm and deliberate when we soothe him at night and it has made a big difference. Now there's just a little fussing... no more scream fests. Now we just have to get him to let us lay him down at night. He is calm and sleepy when we're holding him, but the second his head hits the crib, the crying starts. As you can imagine, this is not very conducive to our sleep patterns. :)
Another thing that has really helped with the soothing is that he is FINALLY breastfeeding!!! I am so excited! TRIUMPH! My mom suggested that maybe he was freaking out at the breast because he is so used to the feel of the rubber bottle nipples, and got me a "nipple shield," which is a silicone nipple that goes over the real nipple. (On a side note: I feel a little weird talking about my nipples on the Internet, but my feelings of triumph have momentarily stripped me of my modesty.) It's not a perfect solution as it's a bit messy and awkward, but Espen latched on immediately and seems very content when he's nursing. :) He tends to fall asleep mid-meal, getting milk everywhere, but he's happy. :) We're still giving him bottles of pumped milk because he falls asleep while nursing and then wakes up famished because he's not getting a full meal. Again, a work in progress. Anyone who thinks breastfeeding is easy and just comes naturally is crazy! Add pumping to the already packed cycle of breastfeeding, bottle feeding, changing his diaper, cleaning the pump parts, soothing him, changing his diaper again, changing his clothes because he peed on them, and putting him down to sleep, and there's really only about 5-10 minutes before the whole thing starts over again.
Espen is doing great health-wise. He saw the doctor again on Friday and is up to 10 lbs. 8 oz. He eats almost constantly! This morning, in one feeding, I kid you not, he ate 7.5 oz!!!! I can't believe his little tummy can hold that much!
Espen is a very calm, happy, sleepy baby during the day, but is a vampire baby at night. :) He has his days and nights confused and is WIDE AWAKE from about 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. He's also insatiable during those hours, feeding every 45 minutes or so. It makes for sleepless nights for mommy and daddy, but the past two nights have been a LOT better. All of this started about a week ago, and for the first five nights, all he did was scream from midnight on. Nothing but a bottle would calm him, and the second it was empty, the screaming would begin again. When we met with the pediatrician on Friday, he said that there is no physical reason for the crying, but that Espen was feeding off of our frustration at not being able to get him to calm down. We have been making a special effort to be calm and deliberate when we soothe him at night and it has made a big difference. Now there's just a little fussing... no more scream fests. Now we just have to get him to let us lay him down at night. He is calm and sleepy when we're holding him, but the second his head hits the crib, the crying starts. As you can imagine, this is not very conducive to our sleep patterns. :)
Another thing that has really helped with the soothing is that he is FINALLY breastfeeding!!! I am so excited! TRIUMPH! My mom suggested that maybe he was freaking out at the breast because he is so used to the feel of the rubber bottle nipples, and got me a "nipple shield," which is a silicone nipple that goes over the real nipple. (On a side note: I feel a little weird talking about my nipples on the Internet, but my feelings of triumph have momentarily stripped me of my modesty.) It's not a perfect solution as it's a bit messy and awkward, but Espen latched on immediately and seems very content when he's nursing. :) He tends to fall asleep mid-meal, getting milk everywhere, but he's happy. :) We're still giving him bottles of pumped milk because he falls asleep while nursing and then wakes up famished because he's not getting a full meal. Again, a work in progress. Anyone who thinks breastfeeding is easy and just comes naturally is crazy! Add pumping to the already packed cycle of breastfeeding, bottle feeding, changing his diaper, cleaning the pump parts, soothing him, changing his diaper again, changing his clothes because he peed on them, and putting him down to sleep, and there's really only about 5-10 minutes before the whole thing starts over again.
We did manage to squeeze in a bath on Thursday. (Which means he's due for another one today.) His very first tub bath! Espen liked the bath. He liked it so much he pooped.... four times! Thank goodness we got a lot of towels and washcloths at the baby showers, as he used a ton during his bath. Hopefully we will get better at the bath thing and not have to change the bath water so often. :) Any tips are greatly appreciated. :)
Well, I'd better get going. Grandma and Grandpa Vogel are coming to visit Espen today and Mommy needs to take a shower and put on real clothes instead of pajamas. :) Later!
3 comments:
Hey Spoony! I'm so glad Espen is doing well - my advice for the tub would be to get a tub sling - if your baby tub didn't come with one you can pick one up at Wal-Mart. They are great, because they are kinda cradled and suspended above the tub, so if they pee, you can just get a cup of clean water and keep on truckin'!!! Call if you ever need a sympathetic ear - i understand the busy thing!!!!
Lots of love,
Megan
On sleeping. Maybe the crib is too open of a space for him (coming from tight quarters ;) Try using your carseat. Some say that helps. Swaddle him too. Sometimes their arms and legs moving suddenly wake them up. Glad he's healthy. Sleep seems to get better after the 2 months shots and I mean after. Not the day of ;) Make sure to have baby tylenol for that one!
Amber
I agree wholeheartedly with Amber's comments! I didn't even think about the swaddling - we swaddled Elyse with those lightweight receiving blankets and she was very comfy. Also definitely give the .4ml of Tylenol before shots - it helps with the soreness! Go mommy Amber!!
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