Calum turned one month old on Wednesday, October 10th. He seems to have changed so much since he was born, but I know we really are just getting to know him, his personality, likes, and dislikes.
Calum eats every three hours. He is already drinking 4 ounces per feeding. He came home drinking 75ml (less than 3 ounces) and he now takes about 130ml (over 4 ounces). He is a growing boy! His pediatrician says this is okay- I guess because of his size. I knew the amount would increase, because he received just IV fluids for most of his NICU stay. They were gradually increasing the amount of milk he drank during the last two days he was there.
We have started having one less feeding a day- that is at night. He will sleep for one long period at night- about 5 hours- so instead of eight feedings in a 24 hour period, we are now doing seven. He is on a schedule and does well with it.
We are working on getting Calum on an eat-wake-sleep cycle during the daytime, but this is proving difficult. Sometimes he wants to sleep all the way from one bottle to the next- after eating you can’t keep him awake for anything. Sometimes he wakes up thirty to forty-five minutes before his next bottle and is hungry then. But, overall, we are getting better with this and it is working well.
I am also working on putting him down at set times for naps. He goes down for his nap while awake. Although I love holding my baby, and can easily hold him until he falls asleep, this was causing a lot of issues, including a very fussy baby- all day long. Hearing your baby cry himself to sleep is absolute torture, but he is getting better with it and I have found it makes for much better days for us all- when it works. I have found a couple of times that he will get so wound up by crying that he can’t calm enough to fall asleep. On those occurrences, I can pick him up and within about a minute he is calm and sound asleep. Sometimes I put him down and he babbles to the ceiling fan until he falls asleep- no crying at all. Most days this works very well. Structure is hard to accomplish- very hard- but it seems to have great payoffs for everyone’s attitudes. Calum is a lot less fussy throughout the day.
Other info about Calum:
Calum is receiving just breastmilk. He is being bottle-fed. Being in the NICU did not lend itself well to establishing breastfeeding, but our system seems to be working well. Another thing Calum picked up in the NICU is a love for his pacifier! Goodness knows he does love it! Better a paci than his fingers. I can take the paci away at a later time, but sucking those fingers would be a hard habit for us to break.
Calum came home from the hospital wearing 3 month clothing and size 1 diapers. I had to pack all his newborn clothing up and I still need to take the newborn diapers and exchange them. He is already too long for some of the three month outfits.
Calum does not overly care for his baby swing right now, and out of all the bouncy, vibrating, lounger type seats we have, he LOVES the one we got at the consignment sale the most! He doesn’t even like for it to vibrate or play music. He just likes to sit in it. Go figure!
He gets the hiccups about five times a day- seriously! He gets them very often and keeps them for extended periods of time. This is nothing new. He had hiccups all the time before he was born. I remember wondering when I would feel hiccups and then I realized I had been. People kept telling me they would be short and fleeting. Not his! His would always last about 20-30 minutes. They still do. Luckily they do not make him angry. That would make for some pitiful days. He really doesn’t seem to notice them.
Calum, like many babies I am sure, loves to stare at the ceiling fans, light fixtures, and the columns in our great room. The other night we were eating dinner and Calum was in his bouncy seat on the floor near the table. He started crying. I picked him up and he kept crying. I switched his position and cradled him in my arm, where he was looking up. That did it- he stopped and proceeded to stare at the chandelier for the next twenty minutes, until I moved us away. As much as he likes the fans and other fixtures, the chandelier is his favorite.
Here he is, on his one month birthday!
Our friend, Danielle, took this picture when she came to visit:
