I am sure this is true of most newborns, but Gus only wants to be held. And he doesn't just want to be held, he wants to be snuggled 24 hours a day. Since being born, Gus has not tolerated sleeping one night by himself in his cradle (or bassinet at the hospital). While he requires to sleep with me at night, at least my little man sleeps. He wakes up to eat every 3-4 hours but goes right back to sleep. This past week, I attempted to put him to sleep in his cradle at night, but he would not tolerate it. It was as if I was putting him in a vat of acid. He cries the most angry pitiful cry you've ever heard. I even tried getting him to fall completely asleep, then placing him in his bed. He woke up within 30 minutes (instead of 3 hours in my bed). After 1 and 1/2 nights of trying this, I was so sleep deprived, that I just let him come back with me. Of course, I worry about co-sleeping, so I have set up his own "area" in my bed. He sleeps right by my head on a blanket. This way, I can keep all pillows and blankets away from him, and I don't have to worry about rolling over on him. Even though I don't touch him most of the night, it is where he likes to sleep. I guess he must smell me. Meanwhile, I have been trying to put him in his cradle during the day when he falls asleep. This too only lasts 30 minutes max.
Gus's butt looks better, but is not healed. The ulcer is slowly closing up. Through hypervigilance of his mom and grandparents, he never spends more than 2 minutes in a poopy diaper. Also, he gets a couple of "sitz baths" a day.
Finally, little Gus is starting to fill out a little. His cheeks are getting chubby (I always wanted a baby with chubby cheeks) and he is getting quite the Buddah belly. My parents good friends Kent and Mary sent me a really nice, awesome breast pump. It works great and I have tried pumping in attempts to start getting ready to return to work. I should say that I have tried pumping, but he eats every 2 hours during the day from both breasts. Unless I want to pump in the middle of the night, there is nothing left to pump. The few times that he only wants one breast, I get 3 to 3.5 oz from the other one. I swear he eats 6 oz every 2 hours. But he has a lot of filling out to do!
I posted some pictures of his chubby cheeks and even one of him sleeping in his cradle. This is a very rare sight.
My cousin insisted on falling asleep in her baby swing every night when she was an infant. When my Aunt and uncle couldn't get her into the swing anymore they had to start putting her to sleep in her crib. She screamed herself to sleep for several nights until she realized it wasn't going to her back in that swing. Babies are fickle creatures and they definitely have their own minds and thoughts and wants.
ReplyDeleteGus is filling out quite nicely. He is really starting to look like a little baby, not a wrinkly newborn.