What’s on the menu?

I have two degrees in human development – which includes infant and child development. However, there are a lot of things they don’t teach you in school! Or in baby readiness class for that matter!

We have had Isaac home for two weeks now. He is amazing and we are enjoying every moment of having him in our lives. That doesn’t mean there haven’t been huge things to learn or hours and days of frustration and disappointment. I am amazed at all the things that doctors, nurses, and educators assume you know!

For instance, when you are in the hospital, at your nurse home visit, and at the doctor they always ask – how is breastfeeding going? Isaac has always taken well to breastfeeding. He latched on right away, the first hour of life in fact. When he eats it takes a good 45 minutes to get through the feeding and he is usually feeding well. Looking through the breastfeeding books I have he shows all the signs of doing everything right. So when asked this question my answer is always – “He eats like a champ”. Of course, they ask you about stools and wets – that was going pretty well too. But there is a whole slue of other questions they don’t ask, like “is he usually happy after he eats or fussy?”, “does he still seem hungry?”, “do you think he is getting enough milk?”

The one sign that they are getting enough would be weight – here is where we run into problems. Isaac was born 7lbs 14oz, he left the hospital at 7lbs 4.8oz and the next day at a pediatric appointment was 7lbs 3 oz. By week two (September 2nd) he should be back up to his birth weight. At two weeks he was 7lbs 5.5oz. Good that he hadn’t lost more but not good because he needed to gain. So starting last week we got put on a schedule of waking him no matter what every 3 hours and went back on Friday for a weigh in. So there were many sleepless nights. He is normally pretty good but night is a whole other story (which everyone told us was “normal” for a newborn). Starting at around 10pm he would eat and then fuss, scream and cry for a good 30-45 minutes while we tried with exacerbation to get him to sleep. Meanwhile, I am looking at the clock doing the math 45 min of eating + 45 minutes of crying = 1.5 hours of sleep. YIKES!

Well, the weigh in on Friday didn’t go well – despite the strict schedule. He still only weighed 7lbs 5.5oz. So we got put on the strict schedule with an added oz or more of formula after each feeding. So now our schedule looks something like – feed with mom for 45 minutes, take a bottle from dad, while mom continues to pump (in hopes of increasing supply). Still only 1.5-2 hours of sleep but he actually goes to sleep! That alone shaves off 5-10 minutes of crying by mom as she recovers from listening to her little one cry.

We have another appointment on Tuesday (Sept 9) to see if we have put on weight. We are praying. But we think that the adding an oz of formula is really helping. We see a dramatic change in him already. Not in weight (we don’t have a scale at home) but in satisfaction. We really didn’t think he was that fussy before but now that he is getting lots of food he is way more content and so much easier to get to sleep. It is like a whole new child! And whereas I am getting less sleep, at least I can go to bed with the knowledge that he is getting his needs met. I just feel completely sad that my baby was starving for 2 weeks! How upsetting!

So in two weeks I think I have learned more than in 6 years of college. Thanks Isaac! At this rate I should earn my Ph.D. by Christmas!