The price of gas is apparently my sleep. And my sanity.
If Brendan were waking up at night because he was hungry, I wouldn't be nearly as upset and stressed as I am. But he's gone from waking every four-five hours at night to waking every one-two hours, and it's not hunger, it's definitely pain. He jolts awake and cries very angrily. If I try to "pump" his legs to get him to toot, he shrieks. I rub his tummy, pump his legs, and sometimes he'll toot, sometimes he won't. This all started between three and four months of age, and I thought it started around the same time as I started taking More Milk Plus capsules to boost my production (I've always struggled to keep up with him). So I stopped taking them, but it didn't stop the gas. I tried giving him gripe water, but that didn't help (actually it seemed to make it worse, but I can't say for sure). I've tried giving him Mylicon drops after each feeding, but it doesn't help either. Brendan's been getting some cereal since he turned four months, but we've varied the type of cereal (rice and oatmeal), the amount, what it's mixed with, and when he gets it during the day (and even if he gets it at all--there've been a couple days this past week when he hasn't had any cereal at all), and that hasn't affected the gas either. Yesterday he had formula during the day (we were traveling), and before I breastfed him in the evening I pumped some and dumped off the thinner foremilk, and he was just as bad last night as any other night. I tried laying off dairy products all weekend, thinking maybe something was passing through my milk to him, but it didn't seem to matter either. I just don't know what to do. He doesn't show any other symptoms to milk allergy, lactose intolerance, or an foremilk imbalance--no diarrhea, no green frothy poo, no vomiting, no eczema, not spitting up any more than usual...I just don't understand what has changed. He's sleeping worse now than he did when we came home from the hospital (and that's when he was practically starving to death because I wasn't producing any milk at all).
As terrible as it is for me to hear his crying, I'm incredibly selfish, because I'd do just about anything to get some $%#&@$& sleep. I've never been able to nap during the day, not even when I was little. If I do manage to sleep during the day, I wake up disoriented, achy, and basically feeling worse than I did before I took the nap. I'm not expecting a full night's sleep (although I wouldn't turn it down), but I'd love to get back to when Brendan when sleeping from 10-3, nursing for an hour, and then sleeping until 10 am. I'm also concerned because I am hoping to get a long-term sub job that starts mid-April, and if I get it I'm really going to need more sleep than I'm getting...
I just have this overwhelming feeling that I'm not doing it right. Between friends, former coworkers, and former students, I know about 15 people who had babies right around the same time I did, and it seems like everyone else "gets it" but me. When people tell me that their babies slept through the night at 3 weeks old (formula or breast), it just seems like proof that I'm doing something wrong. Everyone keeps saying "all babies are different", but it sure feels like we're the odd ones out. I mean, all babies may be different, but there has to be some reason some babies sleep through the night early and some don't. People have been having babies for thousands and thousands of years without drama, so why are we at five months with no schedule yet? Some days he naps for three hours at a time, some days I'm lucky to get him to nap for fifteen minutes. Some nights he'll drop off to sleep between 9-10, as soon as I nurse him, other nights he's still wide awake and full of it at 11. And regardless of when he goes down, some nights he's awake again in 45 minutes, and some nights he stays asleep for a couple hours. Some mornings he'll go back to sleep until 9 or 10, and some mornings he's up at 6:45 with no nap in sight. It sure makes me feel like there's some trick everyone else knows but me.
With the breast feeding vs. formula, I've started to feel like there's a mom on each shoulder, instead of an angel and a devil, whispering in my ears. On the breast feeding side, I know it's the natural option--"breast is best" and all that--and the least expensive, should boost his immune system, prevent some allergies, strengthen the bond between the two of us, help me lose weight (which totally ISN'T happening), etc., etc. Plus, I fought so hard to breast feed in the first place (since my milk came in so late, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to breast feed at all). But the formula side is accumulating some heavy artillery. It's more convenient--I wouldn't have to worry about pumping and storage (if I get this sub job, I'll only have two times during the day that I can pump--I can't guarantee they won't be back-to-back because I don't know what the schedule of the classes is--I've got to figure out where I can store the milk until the end of the day, and i don't know if I'll be able to pump the amount that Brendan will consume during the day). I wouldn't have to waste any milk, since I could mix the formula as needed and not have extra. I could give him a formula that would help with the gas and whatever might be causing it. And it might get me a full night's sleep sooner rather than later. It's just really hard.
I'm sorry to just kind of go off, but I really feel like I'm just a meltdown away from thrusting him into the arms of the first person I see and running off screaming into the woods somewhere.
Pool Time
Monday, March 21, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Everybody's sleeping but me
A friend of mine who had a baby in January just posted that her baby slept from 9:30 last night until 7:30 this morning. When I expressed my envy, she was shocked to hear that Brendan's not sleeping straight through the night. Another of my friends informed me that her baby (a month younger than Brendan) was sleeping through the night from about 3 weeks old.
What the hell am I doing wrong? I'm doing demand feeding, basically because most everyone says that the Babywise method (or any other method involving scheduled feedings) leads to babies who are undernourished, dehydrated, and failing to thrive. And yet people keep asking me if I'm letting him "cry it out" at night. It seems like the two things are incompatible; how can I feed him when he wants it during the day and yet deny him a feeding at night? I've been hoping that one night he'll just, I don't know, not wake up until morning. Without my having to ignore his crying. Because I can't stand the crying, let me just say. It raises my blood pressure and makes me feel frantic, like I should be doing everything possible to get him to stop crying. If I let him cry, I generally end up crying myself. I've tried not responding to him right away at night, but he seems to get more and more agitated and awake, rather than giving up and going back to sleep. He doesn't seem to be into self-soothing. Now, there are times when I put him down while he's still somewhat awake, and he'll sort of croon to himself for a while and then fall asleep, but that doesn't seem to apply to when he wakes up, just when he's falling asleep after a feeding. Also, I think one cause of his waking is gas, and I don't know what to do about that at all. I've tried Mylicon, and it doesn't seem to do much good. I tried gripe water, and it seemed to make things worse.
So I don't know what to do. I feel like I must be doing things wrong, since everybody's babies are sleeping through the night but mine.
What the hell am I doing wrong? I'm doing demand feeding, basically because most everyone says that the Babywise method (or any other method involving scheduled feedings) leads to babies who are undernourished, dehydrated, and failing to thrive. And yet people keep asking me if I'm letting him "cry it out" at night. It seems like the two things are incompatible; how can I feed him when he wants it during the day and yet deny him a feeding at night? I've been hoping that one night he'll just, I don't know, not wake up until morning. Without my having to ignore his crying. Because I can't stand the crying, let me just say. It raises my blood pressure and makes me feel frantic, like I should be doing everything possible to get him to stop crying. If I let him cry, I generally end up crying myself. I've tried not responding to him right away at night, but he seems to get more and more agitated and awake, rather than giving up and going back to sleep. He doesn't seem to be into self-soothing. Now, there are times when I put him down while he's still somewhat awake, and he'll sort of croon to himself for a while and then fall asleep, but that doesn't seem to apply to when he wakes up, just when he's falling asleep after a feeding. Also, I think one cause of his waking is gas, and I don't know what to do about that at all. I've tried Mylicon, and it doesn't seem to do much good. I tried gripe water, and it seemed to make things worse.
So I don't know what to do. I feel like I must be doing things wrong, since everybody's babies are sleeping through the night but mine.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Branching out and going bad
Well, several new things have happened in the past week. First and foremost (for me) we got a gym membership, so I finally got to go work out. I went swimming a couple of times. It's certainly not enough to get me to lose weight on its own, but if I can get in some other workouts too, and cut back on the crap I've been eating, maybe I can lose weight. I weighed myself at the beginning of the week, and was horrified to see that I was 221. That means I gained back some of what I lost after having the baby. Not good at all. I need to find some kind of food routine: cut back on the amount of cereal I have in the mornings, and maybe just have Carnation Instant Breakfast or something for lunch, and then REALLY cut back on the amount I eat for dinner. I need more veggies too. I notice we eat a little healthier when my father-in-law is here, so I guess I need to do some better meal planning when he isn't.
Another new thing that happened this week--today, actually--and that is the introduction of a new food. Brendan's been doing really well with the rice cereal, and we had increased his amount to two feedings each day, one around lunch and one in the evening. He makes a tremendous mess when he eats, and to help him get used to swallowing I've been feeding him on his lounger pillow rather than sitting all the way up. I should bring the high chair we inherited from my sister-in-law up from the basement and start getting him used to it. But anyway, since he has been doing well with it, I figured we should consider introducing another cereal. My husband brought home baby oatmeal (no, the oatmeal isn't a baby; it's single grain and tiny so it's easy for a baby to eat; it looks like cream of wheat) this afternoon, so we mixed it up and gave him a bowl of it for dinner. He made a face at first, because I guess it was a different flavor that what he was expecting, but he ate the whole thing willingly enough. I'm hoping the oatmeal is popular with him. According to some things I've read, rice cereal can contribute to gas and constipation (he's been really gassy lately, and he's still been doing the "poop every three to four days" routine, but from what I've read, oatmeal will have a bit of a laxative effect and also cause less gas. Maybe now he'll stop waking up three or four times each night and go back to the one to two times that we were doing. Or, God willing, sleep straight through the night for once. It's now been over a year since the last time I slept straight through the night (one of the first symptoms of pregnancy I experienced was having to pee in the middle of the night), and I'd absolutely to get a good night's sleep someday soon.
The next new thing is also gym-related: Brendan got to go to childcare at the YMCA (our gym) for the first time. He wasn't thrilled either time: apparently, the first time he cried pretty hard for a little while (they actually came looking for me, but didn't see me in the pool) and then gave up and fell asleep. The second time, he was awake when I dropped him off and so the girl was going to take him out of his carseat, but he threw an absolute hissy fit, so she popped him back in his seat and he fell asleep. He needs to get used to people other than me, because he seems to be growing more and more attached to me. He'll often cry when other people are holding him and stop when I take him. I can certainly understand why; after all, I'm the one who provides all his food, and I'm the one who puts him to bed at night. I'm almost always the one who gives him his bath. And in the evenings I'm usually the one who plays with him; everyone else eventually puts him down so they can do something else. I'm with him all day long, and I'm the one who gets up with him at night. So it doesn't surprise me at all that he wants to be with me. But people (namely my in-laws and my husband) have started to make joking comments about how I've spoiled the baby. After all, I go and pick him up when he cries, rather than letting him lay there and get progressively angrier and angrier. That must be spoiling, right? Anyway, I know everyone is joking, but it's kind of hurting my feelings. I am NOT spoiling him. I don't think it's unreasonable to pick up a crying baby. He's crying for a reason, whatever that reason may be, and if he feels secure because he knows someone will take care of him, then he should be less likely to cry unnecessarily. So I'm really teaching him when to cry and when not to. Also, it's not like I snatch him up at every little squeak. At night, I only go in and get him if he's actually crying, as opposed to just making noises. Sometimes, when he's making noises, he'll go back to sleep. I only go in after him when he's starting to work himself up. During the day, I put him down so he can entertain himself. However, he can't crawl around or even sit up unassisted, so there's a limit to what he can do when he plays. So he gets bored. Rather than leaving him down until he starts wailing, I'll pick him up for a little while, then switch him to another activity. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes he'll take a nap, usually next to me on his Boppy pillow. I suspect when he's able to move around a bit more, at least sit up while he's playing, he'll be able to go longer and longer periods without my attention. But what it boils down to is, I'm not spoiling my baby, and I'm starting to resent when people suggest, even jokingly, that I am.
Another new thing that happened this week--today, actually--and that is the introduction of a new food. Brendan's been doing really well with the rice cereal, and we had increased his amount to two feedings each day, one around lunch and one in the evening. He makes a tremendous mess when he eats, and to help him get used to swallowing I've been feeding him on his lounger pillow rather than sitting all the way up. I should bring the high chair we inherited from my sister-in-law up from the basement and start getting him used to it. But anyway, since he has been doing well with it, I figured we should consider introducing another cereal. My husband brought home baby oatmeal (no, the oatmeal isn't a baby; it's single grain and tiny so it's easy for a baby to eat; it looks like cream of wheat) this afternoon, so we mixed it up and gave him a bowl of it for dinner. He made a face at first, because I guess it was a different flavor that what he was expecting, but he ate the whole thing willingly enough. I'm hoping the oatmeal is popular with him. According to some things I've read, rice cereal can contribute to gas and constipation (he's been really gassy lately, and he's still been doing the "poop every three to four days" routine, but from what I've read, oatmeal will have a bit of a laxative effect and also cause less gas. Maybe now he'll stop waking up three or four times each night and go back to the one to two times that we were doing. Or, God willing, sleep straight through the night for once. It's now been over a year since the last time I slept straight through the night (one of the first symptoms of pregnancy I experienced was having to pee in the middle of the night), and I'd absolutely to get a good night's sleep someday soon.
The next new thing is also gym-related: Brendan got to go to childcare at the YMCA (our gym) for the first time. He wasn't thrilled either time: apparently, the first time he cried pretty hard for a little while (they actually came looking for me, but didn't see me in the pool) and then gave up and fell asleep. The second time, he was awake when I dropped him off and so the girl was going to take him out of his carseat, but he threw an absolute hissy fit, so she popped him back in his seat and he fell asleep. He needs to get used to people other than me, because he seems to be growing more and more attached to me. He'll often cry when other people are holding him and stop when I take him. I can certainly understand why; after all, I'm the one who provides all his food, and I'm the one who puts him to bed at night. I'm almost always the one who gives him his bath. And in the evenings I'm usually the one who plays with him; everyone else eventually puts him down so they can do something else. I'm with him all day long, and I'm the one who gets up with him at night. So it doesn't surprise me at all that he wants to be with me. But people (namely my in-laws and my husband) have started to make joking comments about how I've spoiled the baby. After all, I go and pick him up when he cries, rather than letting him lay there and get progressively angrier and angrier. That must be spoiling, right? Anyway, I know everyone is joking, but it's kind of hurting my feelings. I am NOT spoiling him. I don't think it's unreasonable to pick up a crying baby. He's crying for a reason, whatever that reason may be, and if he feels secure because he knows someone will take care of him, then he should be less likely to cry unnecessarily. So I'm really teaching him when to cry and when not to. Also, it's not like I snatch him up at every little squeak. At night, I only go in and get him if he's actually crying, as opposed to just making noises. Sometimes, when he's making noises, he'll go back to sleep. I only go in after him when he's starting to work himself up. During the day, I put him down so he can entertain himself. However, he can't crawl around or even sit up unassisted, so there's a limit to what he can do when he plays. So he gets bored. Rather than leaving him down until he starts wailing, I'll pick him up for a little while, then switch him to another activity. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes he'll take a nap, usually next to me on his Boppy pillow. I suspect when he's able to move around a bit more, at least sit up while he's playing, he'll be able to go longer and longer periods without my attention. But what it boils down to is, I'm not spoiling my baby, and I'm starting to resent when people suggest, even jokingly, that I am.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Semi-solid
Well, the boy had his four-month checkup this past week. He was 15 lbs 6 oz, and 25 inches long (although I think he's a bit longer; he was squirming quite a bit while she was trying to get the measurement). Both of those are 75th percentile for his age, so he's a pretty good size I'd say. He got more vaccinations, and this time he seemed to react a bit more to them. Last time he just slept a lot and seemed out of sorts; this time he seemed to run a bit of a temperature, which I know is not uncommon, and really seemed to not be feeling well. Thankfully, by the next morning he seemed to be over both the fever and the grumpiness.
He must be going through a growth spurt right now, because he's doing what they call "cluster feeding", where he eats a number of times in a short period. All the literature says it's pretty common, and while I feel like I must not be making enough milk, the books also say that part of the reason for the multiple feedings is because suckling is soothing and helps him calm down. He does fall asleep much more easily at the end of a feeding while still attached to the breast, rather than when I put him down when he's still fairly awake. He might wake up a bit when I put him down after feeding, but generally if I gently hold his arms still for a minute or two, he's down and will stay asleep for a few hours.
Unfortunately he's also eating more at night, which is wearing me OUT. I am so freaking tired I can't see straight. Several nights straight I've just broken down at some point and cried while feeding the baby. One night I'd already been up with the boy four times, got back in bed and happened to glance at my alarm clock, to discover it was only 1:30 am and I'd only been in bed for two hours. That was one of my "break down and cry" moments. I think Brendan has had gas for some reason lately, and the gas pains have woken him up a few times. I've been trying to let him cry a little bit before going in after him, in the hopes that he'll go back to sleep. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But it still doesn't help my sleep pattern, because I lay there listening for the sounds of stirring. Combine my ready-wakefulness with my husband's snoring, and I've got a recipe for no sleep at all. It definitely is wearing me out. A friend of mine with a newborn is having her son do a sleepover with someone else (I think it's another family member, but I'm not sure from her Facebook post), and was looking forward to going to bed at 8 pm for a change. I'd love to do something like that, but at the same time I think I'd be so worried about the baby and whether or not he was having a good night that I probably wouldn't sleep well. I'd rather he just start sleeping through the night here.
One thing I'm hoping will help him sleep better is the introduction of solid food. Our pediatrician said it was OK to try him with rice cereal, so we've given him some the last couple of nights, mixed with breast milk. I can't tell if he likes it or not. He squeals the whole time he's being fed, and I'm not sure if it's happy squeals or angry squeals. It's easier to get more of the cereal into his mouth (rather than all over his face) if the baby is reclined in his pillow rather than sitting in his Bebepod, at least for now. He's getting better at not thrusting his tongue forward and pushing everything out of his mouth, but he needs a little more practice. He also seems to get annoyed when he has to sit up for long periods of time. We're working on it. Right now he's only getting one feeding of cereal, in the evening, but after a week or so we'll probably step up to two. I need to look at some of the "solid food schedules" to see what the recommended procedure is for the introduction of various foods. I do know the basic progression is cereals, veggies, fruits, and then meats, but I don't know if there's a specific order that is best to follow. We'll see.
I'll be happy to feed the kid whatever it takes so I can get some SLEEP! I realized that it's been a full year since the last time I had an uninterrupted night's sleep, since the first symptom of pregnancy I noticed was having to get up and pee in the middle of the night, when I was about a month along. That is way too damn long to go without sleeping straight through the night. I'm due, dammit!
He must be going through a growth spurt right now, because he's doing what they call "cluster feeding", where he eats a number of times in a short period. All the literature says it's pretty common, and while I feel like I must not be making enough milk, the books also say that part of the reason for the multiple feedings is because suckling is soothing and helps him calm down. He does fall asleep much more easily at the end of a feeding while still attached to the breast, rather than when I put him down when he's still fairly awake. He might wake up a bit when I put him down after feeding, but generally if I gently hold his arms still for a minute or two, he's down and will stay asleep for a few hours.
Unfortunately he's also eating more at night, which is wearing me OUT. I am so freaking tired I can't see straight. Several nights straight I've just broken down at some point and cried while feeding the baby. One night I'd already been up with the boy four times, got back in bed and happened to glance at my alarm clock, to discover it was only 1:30 am and I'd only been in bed for two hours. That was one of my "break down and cry" moments. I think Brendan has had gas for some reason lately, and the gas pains have woken him up a few times. I've been trying to let him cry a little bit before going in after him, in the hopes that he'll go back to sleep. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But it still doesn't help my sleep pattern, because I lay there listening for the sounds of stirring. Combine my ready-wakefulness with my husband's snoring, and I've got a recipe for no sleep at all. It definitely is wearing me out. A friend of mine with a newborn is having her son do a sleepover with someone else (I think it's another family member, but I'm not sure from her Facebook post), and was looking forward to going to bed at 8 pm for a change. I'd love to do something like that, but at the same time I think I'd be so worried about the baby and whether or not he was having a good night that I probably wouldn't sleep well. I'd rather he just start sleeping through the night here.
One thing I'm hoping will help him sleep better is the introduction of solid food. Our pediatrician said it was OK to try him with rice cereal, so we've given him some the last couple of nights, mixed with breast milk. I can't tell if he likes it or not. He squeals the whole time he's being fed, and I'm not sure if it's happy squeals or angry squeals. It's easier to get more of the cereal into his mouth (rather than all over his face) if the baby is reclined in his pillow rather than sitting in his Bebepod, at least for now. He's getting better at not thrusting his tongue forward and pushing everything out of his mouth, but he needs a little more practice. He also seems to get annoyed when he has to sit up for long periods of time. We're working on it. Right now he's only getting one feeding of cereal, in the evening, but after a week or so we'll probably step up to two. I need to look at some of the "solid food schedules" to see what the recommended procedure is for the introduction of various foods. I do know the basic progression is cereals, veggies, fruits, and then meats, but I don't know if there's a specific order that is best to follow. We'll see.
I'll be happy to feed the kid whatever it takes so I can get some SLEEP! I realized that it's been a full year since the last time I had an uninterrupted night's sleep, since the first symptom of pregnancy I noticed was having to get up and pee in the middle of the night, when I was about a month along. That is way too damn long to go without sleeping straight through the night. I'm due, dammit!
Friday, February 11, 2011
Born to be riled
Well, we did three night of one-arm-swaddled, and then went ahead and left both arms unswaddled the last two nights. It does pose some challenges, since the boy likes to "flap", which wakes him up if he's starting to doze. It seems to help if I hold his arms still for a minute or two when I put him down; I guess it lets him get settled. He's less grumpy when he wakes up, at least, I guess since he's not having to fight the swaddle. I can hear him gurgling and cooing, and whining a little but not out and out crying like he has in the past. The biggest downside to being unswaddled seems to be that his little hands get cold, since they aren't all wrapped up. I tried putting baby socks on his hands, but he doesn't seem to like that, and he can get them off pretty easily. Last night instead of the HaloSack swaddle I put him in a Carter's bag sleeper made of fleece. I thought it might keep him a little warmer than the HaloSack, which is sleeveless and cotton. His room gets really cool at night; we set the temp in the house at 63, and I think it's probably more like 61 in his room. I should put a thermometer in there to satisfy my curiosity.
My next goal is to get him on an actual schedule during the day. Some days he naps, some days he doesn't. Sometimes it's a 15-minute nap, sometimes it's a three-hour tour.
My next goal is to get him on an actual schedule during the day. Some days he naps, some days he doesn't. Sometimes it's a 15-minute nap, sometimes it's a three-hour tour.
Monday, February 7, 2011
The right to bare arms
I haven't even bothered to weigh myself. I haven't made good food choices lately, eating the wrong stuff and a lot of it. I also haven't been working out at all. I suck. Completely and totally. It never really occurred to me how much easier it was to eat better when I was out of the house and working all day. Also, it's much easier to work out, because I'm out of the house anyway so why not swing by the gym? That sounds so stupid, especially since I have work out equipment here at the house: an elliptical machine, some hand weights, even Wii Fit. But it's also terribly easy to sit on the couch, watch TV, and check Facebook compulsively. I'm lame.
But enough about me. My husband is out of town for a couple of days, and my father-in-law isn't staying with us this week, so I figured it was a good night to experiment. When I put the baby down at a little after ten, I only swaddled one arm, his left one, since it seems like he has better control of his right, and also since he tends to rub his face with his left. Instead of sleeping for 3-5 hours, like he typically does, he only slept for 2 hours. I fed him and he fell back asleep pretty quickly, so I just swaddled the one arm again and put him back down. Again, he only slept for two hours, then woke back up. That time, I went ahead and swaddled both arms. He didn't sleep that much longer with both arms swaddled, three hours instead of two, then woke up again. After I fed him, I left both arms unswaddled, put him back in his crib, and went out to walk the dog. We weren't out of the house more than ten minutes, probably not even that long, and when I came back the baby was still awake, so we went ahead and got up. He's now snoozing on his boppy pillow next to me. Anyway, the result of the experiment seems to be that he goes to sleep easier with an arm unswaddled, with less fighting, but he doesn't stay asleep as long as he does when both arms are swaddled. So it doesn't really seem like there's an appreciable benefit to leaving one arm unswaddled, at least, not yet. It could be, though, that the more often I leave him partially swaddled, the more he'll become acclimated to it, and then it won't wake him up so easily. He'll get used to it. I will try it again tonight and see how it goes. I'd like him to get used to being unswaddled, so that I don't have the huge fight on my hands that I seem to have every night these days. It wears me out.
I had a bad parent event the other night. Brendan was fighting going to sleep, pretty hard. I finally plopped him down in his crib and walked out of the room. I needed to reset my internal thermometer; I was getting really frustrated and angry. I doubt that I would ever "snap" and resort to physical violence, but I wanted to yell at the baby to shut up. I figured it was better to leave the room and count to 100. I know it's better to do that than the alternative, but I would have liked to think that I'm not likely to get frustrated and angry like that. Oh well.
One more milestone to report. Brendan sat up briefly the other night. Saturday night, I think it was. I put him in the middle of his boppy, and he held his balance for about 30 seconds before tipping over. We'll keep practicing. I know it will be months before he can get up into a sitting position on his own, but it's nice to know that he's developing the strength and balance to do it. He's still not rolling over consistently. Sometimes he'll roll over right away. Other times he'll lay there and cry and get really upset. It's like he's forgotten that rolling over is an alternative. I'm sure he'll get better at it as we keep practicing.
But enough about me. My husband is out of town for a couple of days, and my father-in-law isn't staying with us this week, so I figured it was a good night to experiment. When I put the baby down at a little after ten, I only swaddled one arm, his left one, since it seems like he has better control of his right, and also since he tends to rub his face with his left. Instead of sleeping for 3-5 hours, like he typically does, he only slept for 2 hours. I fed him and he fell back asleep pretty quickly, so I just swaddled the one arm again and put him back down. Again, he only slept for two hours, then woke back up. That time, I went ahead and swaddled both arms. He didn't sleep that much longer with both arms swaddled, three hours instead of two, then woke up again. After I fed him, I left both arms unswaddled, put him back in his crib, and went out to walk the dog. We weren't out of the house more than ten minutes, probably not even that long, and when I came back the baby was still awake, so we went ahead and got up. He's now snoozing on his boppy pillow next to me. Anyway, the result of the experiment seems to be that he goes to sleep easier with an arm unswaddled, with less fighting, but he doesn't stay asleep as long as he does when both arms are swaddled. So it doesn't really seem like there's an appreciable benefit to leaving one arm unswaddled, at least, not yet. It could be, though, that the more often I leave him partially swaddled, the more he'll become acclimated to it, and then it won't wake him up so easily. He'll get used to it. I will try it again tonight and see how it goes. I'd like him to get used to being unswaddled, so that I don't have the huge fight on my hands that I seem to have every night these days. It wears me out.
I had a bad parent event the other night. Brendan was fighting going to sleep, pretty hard. I finally plopped him down in his crib and walked out of the room. I needed to reset my internal thermometer; I was getting really frustrated and angry. I doubt that I would ever "snap" and resort to physical violence, but I wanted to yell at the baby to shut up. I figured it was better to leave the room and count to 100. I know it's better to do that than the alternative, but I would have liked to think that I'm not likely to get frustrated and angry like that. Oh well.
One more milestone to report. Brendan sat up briefly the other night. Saturday night, I think it was. I put him in the middle of his boppy, and he held his balance for about 30 seconds before tipping over. We'll keep practicing. I know it will be months before he can get up into a sitting position on his own, but it's nice to know that he's developing the strength and balance to do it. He's still not rolling over consistently. Sometimes he'll roll over right away. Other times he'll lay there and cry and get really upset. It's like he's forgotten that rolling over is an alternative. I'm sure he'll get better at it as we keep practicing.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Super dooper pooper
No official weigh-in for me, because I haven't been working out or eating as well as I should. Haven't done much cardio, although I did crunches and flutter kicks today. I started on the elliptical machine this week, but I haven't done much (seriously; I started with one minute on Monday, two on Tuesday, three on Wednesday, and I need to do four minutes today at some point).
No official weigh-in for Brendan yet either, although he does have a checkup coming up sometime in the next few weeks. However, I did my unofficial "weigh myself holding him and then not holding him and do some math", and he's about 15 lbs. He'll be 15 weeks on Saturday. His weight puts him somewhere around the 75th percentile. Not too bad. Still, I kind of want to fatten him up a bit, and I've been feeling like I'm not producing as much milk as I need to keep up with him, so I've ordered some More Milk Plus, which is a supplement that contains fenugreek, a galactagogue that increases milk production. A good friend is using it and says it really helps. It's also been recommended to me by a number of people, so I figured I'd try it out. I don't have it yet, but I'll definitely blog about its efficacy.
Something unusual seems to be going on with the boy's digestive system. For some reason, he's not pooping regularly anymore. Over the weekend, he went two days without pooping. My husband even came home from the pharmacy with a laxative and a glycerine suppository in case we needed to "grease the wheels", so to speak, but he finally produced on his own (boy, did he. Yikes). But now, he hasn't pooped since at least Monday. He has farted off and on, although not more than usual, so I know things should be able to get through. I did give him a little of the liquid laxative this morning, only .25 ml. It says it should work in 6-12 hours, so I've still got four hours. I hope he doesn't exceed his diaper's capacity; he did move up to the larger size (size 2, 12-18 lbs) this week. If it's like it was last time, it'll be pretty impressive. Ew.
No official weigh-in for Brendan yet either, although he does have a checkup coming up sometime in the next few weeks. However, I did my unofficial "weigh myself holding him and then not holding him and do some math", and he's about 15 lbs. He'll be 15 weeks on Saturday. His weight puts him somewhere around the 75th percentile. Not too bad. Still, I kind of want to fatten him up a bit, and I've been feeling like I'm not producing as much milk as I need to keep up with him, so I've ordered some More Milk Plus, which is a supplement that contains fenugreek, a galactagogue that increases milk production. A good friend is using it and says it really helps. It's also been recommended to me by a number of people, so I figured I'd try it out. I don't have it yet, but I'll definitely blog about its efficacy.
Something unusual seems to be going on with the boy's digestive system. For some reason, he's not pooping regularly anymore. Over the weekend, he went two days without pooping. My husband even came home from the pharmacy with a laxative and a glycerine suppository in case we needed to "grease the wheels", so to speak, but he finally produced on his own (boy, did he. Yikes). But now, he hasn't pooped since at least Monday. He has farted off and on, although not more than usual, so I know things should be able to get through. I did give him a little of the liquid laxative this morning, only .25 ml. It says it should work in 6-12 hours, so I've still got four hours. I hope he doesn't exceed his diaper's capacity; he did move up to the larger size (size 2, 12-18 lbs) this week. If it's like it was last time, it'll be pretty impressive. Ew.
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