I am not having a good day. Last night I didn't get a minute of sleep. Isaiah's sleep has been going downhill instead of getting better, which I was expecting it to do since he is over 5 weeks old now. Instead, he either sleeps for really short periods of time, or he's super super super grunty and I can't sleep at all. His grunts are so loud on those nights that even if I turn the monitor off, I can still hear him from across the hall even though I have a loud fan on right next to my head. His grunts are LOUDER than his cries. So how am I supposed to sleep? Seriously?
Last night I had him in bed with me for all but one stretch of his sleep. If he is in bed with me he will go 2.5-3 hours between nursings. If he's not, he'll be up crying like 10 times. But when he's in bed with me I can't sleep. However, last night he was so loud that I couldn't sleep with him in his own room anyway. So in bed with me he stayed. So, yeah, NO sleep for me.
And seriously, not only is Isaiah an insanely, incredibly loud sleeper, but after 12pm, if he is awake, he is MISERABLE. I hoped it would start getting better, but it's only getting worse. I'm starting to wonder if there is something actually wrong with him, something he won't be growing out of soon. Like reflux. He arches his back and cries like he's in pain, especially right after nursing, plus a whole bunch of other things that are symptoms of reflux. Unfortunately my doctor is the opposite of a pill pusher, so getting reflux meds from him to try might be really really difficult.
On top of all that, Noah is being a whiny pain in the butt today, which is really bad timing considering I have no patience from the no sleep thing.
I feel burnt out. I need a good night's sleep. I need someone to sit with Isaiah and put their hand on his tummy or head anytime he sounds fussy, and only bring him to me when he really needs to eat. I need the fan on high, my door shut, and I need to not have the monitor on. Justin can't do this because he can sleep right through Isaiah screaming his head off, so I'd never be able to fall asleep because of wondering if Isaiah is awake and crying or not.
If tonight goes like last night, I might actually see if my mom or mother in law are willing to do this for me. At least so I can get 4 or 5 hours of sleep.
Who am I kidding? I don't think I'd ever actually ask them to do that.
Showing posts with label Grunting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grunting. Show all posts
Monday, October 29, 2012
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Isaiah is One Month Old!
Isaiah was 1 month on October 22. I wanted to write an extended post like I did with Noah, but with 2 kids, one of whom doesn't nap, and the fact that I have to go to bed as soon as Isaiah goes to bed, I really don't have time for an extended post. Here's an update on my littlest man:
-He got weighed at the midwife's on October 22, his one month birthday, and he was 10lbs 9oz (naked). He gained 3.5lbs in 3 weeks. Hopefully he'll slow down a bit this coming month! It's crazy to me that some people give birth to babies that are his current size.
-He is now 22 inches long (he grew 2 inches).
-His head circumference is close to 15 inches now.
-Isaiah is exclusively breastfed, of course. Just from the right side so far, (Noah has the left side, because the letdown on the side is crazy). No bottles, and I don't expect him to ever have one.
-He's still super grunty, groany, moany, and shrieky, but I may be seeing slight improvements in that area.
-To attack the gruntyness (I know that's not a word), Isaiah is seeing the chiropractor, now on a weekly basis instead of every few days, and I bombard him with homeopathic colic remedies. He doesn't have actual "colic" (crying 3 hours a day, 3 days a week, for at least 3 weeks), but his gruntyness stems from gas and all those remedies are geared toward gas. I think I see some improvements when I give them to him.
-He takes the "witching hour" very seriously. Well, witching "hours". From about 4pm (or whenever he wakes up from his last nap) until he goes to bed sometime after 8. He won't go down for another nap after that, although he does have short 10 minute snoozes in our arms. Thankfully he is quite content if he is being held and walked around, so we don't have to listen to screaming as long as we're doing that. We're doing quick and easy suppers and either take turns eating or I wear Isaiah in the Ergo and eat my dinner off of the kitchen island while bouncing around between bites. This is a tiring phase, but thankfully we know from experience that "this too shall pass," and that makes it a lot easier to deal with.
-I do a LOT of babywearing with Isaiah - more than with Noah. This is out of necessity, seeing as I have a toddler to take care of as well. But Isaiah loves it. I find he is more content on the days that I wear him a lot, not just when he's being worn but also when he's not being worn. He's more chill.
-He is hit and miss for naps. He'll have a couple of good ones if I hold him for long enough after he falls asleep. He will NOT go to sleep on his own anymore. That was done back at 2 weeks old. I do allow him to fuss to see if he'll fall asleep on his own, but the fussing always turns to crying and I am not going to let a newborn cry it out.
-Things change on a bi-weekly basis, but lately during the day Isaiah takes most of his naps on his tummy in the bassinet of the pack and play in our living room. He used to take them swaddled in his crib, but that stopped working out so well.
-Night time is frustrating. It's hard to get him down for the night. He either doesn't fall asleep for hours, or he does fall asleep but wakes up within 5-20 minutes of us putting him down. And he doesn't just fuss, he CRIES. Last night we had to put him back to sleep about 10 times.
-Once he's "down for the night" he generally sleeps for 2 to 2.5 hours, sometimes reaching 3 hours, but never longer than that. Last night he had two "stretches" of sleep that were only 1.5 hours. Boo. He normally sleeps for at least 2 hours though, so I'm hoping those super short stretches were just flukes. I am waking up to nurse him either 3 or 4 times each night. 3 times doesn't bother me. 4 kind of does.
-(Sometimes I wonder if God gives me crappy nights like last night just to make me appreciate the other nights more, since it's fairly easy to wish your child would sleep longer than 2 or 3 hours at a time. However, 2-3 hours feels pretty good compared to 1.5 hours!)
-He's had 2 haircuts already. His hair is quite light, like a light light brown or dark dark blonde.
-His blue eyes are lightening, so I'm pretty sure they'll stay blue.
-His skin tone is darker than Noah's was at this age, so he might have his Daddy's dark Italian skin.
-He loves when I wrap him in a towel and hold his head over the sink to wash his face and hair. He closes his eyes and looks so content.
-He gets all his baths in the kitchen sink. Whether he enjoys it or not depends on the day.
-I wash his face and hair everyday, but actual baths only happen a couple of times a week.
-Isaiah started smiling on his one month birthday. We only get a few smiles per day at this point, but we'll take them:)
-He is mostly wearing one-size diapers now, on the smallest settings. He doesn't wear the Kissaluvs fitteds anymore because he pees right through them. Anything from the bumGenius family (4.0, Elemental, Freetime, and Flip) fit him nicely back at 8lbs. Thankfully I have a big stash of these, because none of the Kawaii pockets fit him, even the Pure and Naturals, which are supposed to fit from 6-22lbs. They're way too big around the waist.
-Isaiah absolutely hated diaper changes for the first couple of weeks and would scream the whole time. He's chilled out in this area now, thankfully!
-He has a very strong trunk and neck, and holds his head up very well. He's also pushing off things with his legs now.
-Both of Isaiah's testicles were undescended when he was born, which stressed Justin and I out majorly (the cause of Justin's infertility is an undescended testicle that wasn't corrected until he was 5). However, they both descended by the time he was 2 weeks old. HUGE RELIEF! It must have just been because he was 18 days early.
I just realized I've been really bad at taking pictures lately. I think it's because Isaiah is at the stage where if you put him down he is not happy. That doesn't give a lot of opportunity to take pictures! These are the ones taken within the past few days:
Okay, that wasn't as bad - by bad I mean short - as I thought it would be. Now I'm off to feed myself and Noah before Isaiah wakes up, which could be any minute now.
-He got weighed at the midwife's on October 22, his one month birthday, and he was 10lbs 9oz (naked). He gained 3.5lbs in 3 weeks. Hopefully he'll slow down a bit this coming month! It's crazy to me that some people give birth to babies that are his current size.
-He is now 22 inches long (he grew 2 inches).
-His head circumference is close to 15 inches now.
-Isaiah is exclusively breastfed, of course. Just from the right side so far, (Noah has the left side, because the letdown on the side is crazy). No bottles, and I don't expect him to ever have one.
-He's still super grunty, groany, moany, and shrieky, but I may be seeing slight improvements in that area.
-To attack the gruntyness (I know that's not a word), Isaiah is seeing the chiropractor, now on a weekly basis instead of every few days, and I bombard him with homeopathic colic remedies. He doesn't have actual "colic" (crying 3 hours a day, 3 days a week, for at least 3 weeks), but his gruntyness stems from gas and all those remedies are geared toward gas. I think I see some improvements when I give them to him.
-He takes the "witching hour" very seriously. Well, witching "hours". From about 4pm (or whenever he wakes up from his last nap) until he goes to bed sometime after 8. He won't go down for another nap after that, although he does have short 10 minute snoozes in our arms. Thankfully he is quite content if he is being held and walked around, so we don't have to listen to screaming as long as we're doing that. We're doing quick and easy suppers and either take turns eating or I wear Isaiah in the Ergo and eat my dinner off of the kitchen island while bouncing around between bites. This is a tiring phase, but thankfully we know from experience that "this too shall pass," and that makes it a lot easier to deal with.
-I do a LOT of babywearing with Isaiah - more than with Noah. This is out of necessity, seeing as I have a toddler to take care of as well. But Isaiah loves it. I find he is more content on the days that I wear him a lot, not just when he's being worn but also when he's not being worn. He's more chill.
-He is hit and miss for naps. He'll have a couple of good ones if I hold him for long enough after he falls asleep. He will NOT go to sleep on his own anymore. That was done back at 2 weeks old. I do allow him to fuss to see if he'll fall asleep on his own, but the fussing always turns to crying and I am not going to let a newborn cry it out.
-Things change on a bi-weekly basis, but lately during the day Isaiah takes most of his naps on his tummy in the bassinet of the pack and play in our living room. He used to take them swaddled in his crib, but that stopped working out so well.
-Night time is frustrating. It's hard to get him down for the night. He either doesn't fall asleep for hours, or he does fall asleep but wakes up within 5-20 minutes of us putting him down. And he doesn't just fuss, he CRIES. Last night we had to put him back to sleep about 10 times.
-Once he's "down for the night" he generally sleeps for 2 to 2.5 hours, sometimes reaching 3 hours, but never longer than that. Last night he had two "stretches" of sleep that were only 1.5 hours. Boo. He normally sleeps for at least 2 hours though, so I'm hoping those super short stretches were just flukes. I am waking up to nurse him either 3 or 4 times each night. 3 times doesn't bother me. 4 kind of does.
-(Sometimes I wonder if God gives me crappy nights like last night just to make me appreciate the other nights more, since it's fairly easy to wish your child would sleep longer than 2 or 3 hours at a time. However, 2-3 hours feels pretty good compared to 1.5 hours!)
-He's had 2 haircuts already. His hair is quite light, like a light light brown or dark dark blonde.
-His blue eyes are lightening, so I'm pretty sure they'll stay blue.
-His skin tone is darker than Noah's was at this age, so he might have his Daddy's dark Italian skin.
-He loves when I wrap him in a towel and hold his head over the sink to wash his face and hair. He closes his eyes and looks so content.
-He gets all his baths in the kitchen sink. Whether he enjoys it or not depends on the day.
-I wash his face and hair everyday, but actual baths only happen a couple of times a week.
-Isaiah started smiling on his one month birthday. We only get a few smiles per day at this point, but we'll take them:)
-He is mostly wearing one-size diapers now, on the smallest settings. He doesn't wear the Kissaluvs fitteds anymore because he pees right through them. Anything from the bumGenius family (4.0, Elemental, Freetime, and Flip) fit him nicely back at 8lbs. Thankfully I have a big stash of these, because none of the Kawaii pockets fit him, even the Pure and Naturals, which are supposed to fit from 6-22lbs. They're way too big around the waist.
-Isaiah absolutely hated diaper changes for the first couple of weeks and would scream the whole time. He's chilled out in this area now, thankfully!
-He has a very strong trunk and neck, and holds his head up very well. He's also pushing off things with his legs now.
-Both of Isaiah's testicles were undescended when he was born, which stressed Justin and I out majorly (the cause of Justin's infertility is an undescended testicle that wasn't corrected until he was 5). However, they both descended by the time he was 2 weeks old. HUGE RELIEF! It must have just been because he was 18 days early.
I just realized I've been really bad at taking pictures lately. I think it's because Isaiah is at the stage where if you put him down he is not happy. That doesn't give a lot of opportunity to take pictures! These are the ones taken within the past few days:
Cuddling with Daddy:
Tummy nap!:
Okay, that wasn't as bad - by bad I mean short - as I thought it would be. Now I'm off to feed myself and Noah before Isaiah wakes up, which could be any minute now.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
I Think I Figured Out the Grunting
I am 95% positive that I know why Isaiah grunts so much (and, in retrospect, why Noah grunted so much). I actually figured it out last week.
I believe it's a combination of a super fast letdown and oversupply. These two things are connected, because an oversupply generally causes a fast letdown.
My fast letdown causes Isaiah to gulp a lot of air while he's nursing, creating a lot of gas.
The oversupply means he's taking in a lot of a foremilk. Foremilk is high in lactose. When a baby gets too much lactose in his stomach, it ferments and causes painful gas.
After researching it, this makes the most sense. We fit almost every symptom, including crazy fast weight gain for the baby - Isaiah was 8lbs 12oz, completely naked, on his due date (18 days old... he was 7lbs exactly when he was born). He was 7lbs 11oz at 12 days old. That means he gained 17oz in 6 days.
Ummm, yeah. Holy cow.
We're still seeing the chiropractor (had our fourth visit today), because while the spine issues aren't causing the stomach pain, the stomach pain is likely feeding back to the spine and causing issues there. The four spots on his spine that were out on his first visit keep being tight again on every visit, whereas every other issue he had has resolved. However, that section of his spine is improving (I even noticed this prior to the visit), so we'll continue with weekly chiropractor visits for awhile.
Basically, there's not a lot I can do. We both just need time. My boobs need time to calm down, so they're not letting down quite so fast and so that they're producing milk on a supply/demand basis instead of a "HOORAY! WE GET TO MAKE MILK AGAIN!!! LET'S GET 'ER DONE!!" basis. Isaiah needs time for his system to mature. He needs time before he'll be able to handle a fast letdown (ironically, usually this tends to happen around the time that you're not letting down so quickly anymore).
What I am doing is reclining while feeding him, so my letdown isn't attacking him as ferociously and he isn't gulping quite so much air. Block nursing is recommended in these situations, but I already feed him exclusively from my right side because my left side is almost twice as fast as my right side - 7 holes for the milk to come out of as opposed to 4. (Noah nurses on my left side 3 times a day, which will maintain that side's ability to produce milk until Isaiah is ready to take that side).
I'm not sure if either of those things are really helping, but at least I'm trying. I'm trying to remember when Noah grew out of the grunting, but I really don't remember. I can't wait for it to be done. Not only because it's so disturbing to my sleep, but because I feel bad that he's just so darn uncomfortable!
In the meantime, Isaiah is in his own room and we finally got a video monitor so that I don't have to get out of bed to see whether he's really awake or just being loud. Last night was our first night with it and man, it sure made my life a lot easier.
I believe it's a combination of a super fast letdown and oversupply. These two things are connected, because an oversupply generally causes a fast letdown.
My fast letdown causes Isaiah to gulp a lot of air while he's nursing, creating a lot of gas.
The oversupply means he's taking in a lot of a foremilk. Foremilk is high in lactose. When a baby gets too much lactose in his stomach, it ferments and causes painful gas.
After researching it, this makes the most sense. We fit almost every symptom, including crazy fast weight gain for the baby - Isaiah was 8lbs 12oz, completely naked, on his due date (18 days old... he was 7lbs exactly when he was born). He was 7lbs 11oz at 12 days old. That means he gained 17oz in 6 days.
Ummm, yeah. Holy cow.
We're still seeing the chiropractor (had our fourth visit today), because while the spine issues aren't causing the stomach pain, the stomach pain is likely feeding back to the spine and causing issues there. The four spots on his spine that were out on his first visit keep being tight again on every visit, whereas every other issue he had has resolved. However, that section of his spine is improving (I even noticed this prior to the visit), so we'll continue with weekly chiropractor visits for awhile.
Basically, there's not a lot I can do. We both just need time. My boobs need time to calm down, so they're not letting down quite so fast and so that they're producing milk on a supply/demand basis instead of a "HOORAY! WE GET TO MAKE MILK AGAIN!!! LET'S GET 'ER DONE!!" basis. Isaiah needs time for his system to mature. He needs time before he'll be able to handle a fast letdown (ironically, usually this tends to happen around the time that you're not letting down so quickly anymore).
What I am doing is reclining while feeding him, so my letdown isn't attacking him as ferociously and he isn't gulping quite so much air. Block nursing is recommended in these situations, but I already feed him exclusively from my right side because my left side is almost twice as fast as my right side - 7 holes for the milk to come out of as opposed to 4. (Noah nurses on my left side 3 times a day, which will maintain that side's ability to produce milk until Isaiah is ready to take that side).
I'm not sure if either of those things are really helping, but at least I'm trying. I'm trying to remember when Noah grew out of the grunting, but I really don't remember. I can't wait for it to be done. Not only because it's so disturbing to my sleep, but because I feel bad that he's just so darn uncomfortable!
In the meantime, Isaiah is in his own room and we finally got a video monitor so that I don't have to get out of bed to see whether he's really awake or just being loud. Last night was our first night with it and man, it sure made my life a lot easier.
Finally, because he's just so freaking cute, here's my little monkey at 3.5 weeks old:
Being burped, of course.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
The Grunter
Ugh. I adore my babies to pieces, but why do I breed such LOUD grunters? Everyone thought Noah was the loudest grunter they had ever encountered. I am pretty sure Isaiah has passed him.
The chiropractor didn't work. We went back today for one more visit, but I'm convinced it's a waste of money in the grunting department. The spots that were adjusted last week were all tight again today (I could even feel a big difference before and after), but Isaiah has been as grunty as ever after both appointments, so I don't think that's what's making him grunty in the first place.
Isaiah is now in his own room, unfortunately. This is not very restful for me. His grunting is SO LOUD. It's the same volume as if he were screaming from hunger. Actually, I think it's actually louder. So I can hear all of it over the monitor, except the quieter, normal-volume newborn grunts, and since he's not in my room I have to actually go across the hall to see if he's awake or not. It's definitely not an ideal situation, but when he's in my room I can't get ANY sleep.
I seriously never know whether he's awake or asleep. He grunts SO MUCH. All the time. And it gets worse as the night goes on. Both Justin (who sleeps like a rock) and I were awake from pretty much 4:30am onward because the scream-grunts were incessant.
I just ordered a friggin expensive video monitor. At least that will save me from the many trips to his room in the middle of the night to figure out if he's awake or not.
The only patterns I notice are:
-The grunting is worse when it's been many hours since his last poop. I think this is why it's so much worse at night - he's usually not pooping at night anymore.
-It seems to be at its worst when he's lying on his back and swaddled. Unfortunately if he's not swaddled he doesn't sleep more than 10 minutes. He's not as grunty if he's sleeping in someone's arms or if he's lying on our chests.
I don't think there's anything I can do except wait it out. Today I'm attempting to go dairy-free, though. I really think it's a long shot in our particular situation, especially since I don't have a lot of dairy to begin with. I'm not sure how long I'll be able to keep it up, considering I'm not convinced that it's going to help. He doesn't have any other signs of a dairy sensitivity. But I'm sleep deprived and desperate. So I'll try it.
The chiropractor didn't work. We went back today for one more visit, but I'm convinced it's a waste of money in the grunting department. The spots that were adjusted last week were all tight again today (I could even feel a big difference before and after), but Isaiah has been as grunty as ever after both appointments, so I don't think that's what's making him grunty in the first place.
Isaiah is now in his own room, unfortunately. This is not very restful for me. His grunting is SO LOUD. It's the same volume as if he were screaming from hunger. Actually, I think it's actually louder. So I can hear all of it over the monitor, except the quieter, normal-volume newborn grunts, and since he's not in my room I have to actually go across the hall to see if he's awake or not. It's definitely not an ideal situation, but when he's in my room I can't get ANY sleep.
I seriously never know whether he's awake or asleep. He grunts SO MUCH. All the time. And it gets worse as the night goes on. Both Justin (who sleeps like a rock) and I were awake from pretty much 4:30am onward because the scream-grunts were incessant.
I just ordered a friggin expensive video monitor. At least that will save me from the many trips to his room in the middle of the night to figure out if he's awake or not.
The only patterns I notice are:
-The grunting is worse when it's been many hours since his last poop. I think this is why it's so much worse at night - he's usually not pooping at night anymore.
-It seems to be at its worst when he's lying on his back and swaddled. Unfortunately if he's not swaddled he doesn't sleep more than 10 minutes. He's not as grunty if he's sleeping in someone's arms or if he's lying on our chests.
I don't think there's anything I can do except wait it out. Today I'm attempting to go dairy-free, though. I really think it's a long shot in our particular situation, especially since I don't have a lot of dairy to begin with. I'm not sure how long I'll be able to keep it up, considering I'm not convinced that it's going to help. He doesn't have any other signs of a dairy sensitivity. But I'm sleep deprived and desperate. So I'll try it.
Because this picture makes me laugh.
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