Tummy Time

From Nathan:

I have decided it is time to speak on behalf of infants around the world regarding this blasted tummy time business. Contrary to popular belief, we are more intelligent than our adult counterparts and here is why. When we cry out, we have very good reason. Typically we are expressing that we are hungry, tired, wet, bored, cold, or want to be held. The cry starts when one of these occurs and ends when it is taken care of. We don't cry to other infants about what is wrong because we go directly to the caretaker who can help. We don't hide our emotions or keep our feelings bottled up inside. We wear all emotions on our sleeves. We eat when hungry and not just for the sake of eating. What is the point? Eating too much hurts. And on the rare occasion we do, we just puke back up the extra onto the person who fed it to us. And finally we give love back to those who show us love.

Now... this expose pertains to wearing my emotions on my sleeve when it comes to the ever so dreaded tummy time. Can anyone understand why in the world we should lay flat out on our tummies for an undefined period of time simply to learn how to roll over and gain strength? I can think of other ways to achieve the same goals without the drama. I understand that my mommy and her mommy and her mommy's mommy (and so on and so forth) slept in cribs on their tummies. However, someone along the way realized that sleeping on tummies had to be changed so we all began sleeping on our backs. We love it! We can breathe easy, we can open our eyes whenever we want and survey our area, we can suck our pacifier, we can use our heads to look side to side, and we can do 3 snaps in z formation. We spend numerous hours during the day on our backs. Then, it never fails, at some point during the day, an adult comes at us with the surprise of a stalking tiger and places us face down for tummy time. It always happens so fast that personally, I don't realize what is even happening until the head rush subsides. Once the blurred vision becomes sharp again we express our displeasure and cry. Meanwhile, our adult caretakers sit back and either ignore the situation or try to make it better by sticking toys and mirrors in front of our face. PUHLEASE! We are not dumb. We like what we like and conversely, hate what we hate. And we HATE tummy time. It's a pointless waste of 15 minutes. If you want us to roll over so badly then wait until we are old enough to do so. Tummy time proves nothing except that we have lungs to scream with and muscles to kick with. Anyway, sorry if this seemed brutal but it was time to speak out.

Kisses and Coos,
Nathan

2 Month Doctor Visit

As unbelievable as it may seem, our little baby boy is 2 months old! On Sunday the 21st, he officially turned 2 months old and we rang in the day with singing Happy Birthday. As cliche as it sounds... man how time flies.

Monday the 22nd marked Nathan's 2 month appointment. For this visit we were joined by my sister Lindsay, as she was in town visiting her new nephew. Nathan weighed in at 12 lbs, 2 oz as he is eating like a little monster. He measured 22 inches. His percentiles are increasing gradually as his weight and height are now in the 50th percentiles. He did great at the doctor and everything checked out as perfectly as can be. He received 5 immunizations that day with 4 of them being shots and 1 being a oral (liquid) one. The nice thing about infants getting shots is they can't anticipate the pain so they cry when the needle hits and shortly thereafter. Plus they can't hold it against you. Nathan was such a pro! I guess he figured after circumcision and tongue clipping, shots would be nothing... or at least I made peace with it that way. He was a little cranky that night but slept a bunch.

Nathan is still sleeping great. He's pretty much a regular 3-4 hour eater and then at night he is anywhere from 4-7... yes 7! Last week one morning, I woke up and he was in his bed just looking around. He hadn't eaten in 7 hours. I got him up and brought him in the living room. He sat in the recliner and just continued looking around. I knew he was hungry but waited very patiently for his food. That incident has happened only once but there's hope!

I visited with the lactation consultant again last week and together we decided for me to continue doing what I'm doing... that is pumping about 75% of his food and supplementing the rest with formula. The hour I saw her ended up being highly therapeutic and I am eternally grateful to her. She helped me feel comfortable with the decision I have made and helped me see that I am doing the absolute best I can. Much of raising Nathan is to be confident in the choices I have made for myself and my baby because in the end, the only person that knows my situation is me. She told me that it is still possible to teach Nathan to nurse however at his age, the only way to accomplish it is to withhold food all day until he would decide to nurse. That was the method used when she successfully got a 9 week old baby on the breast. After much thought and deliberation, I decided to stick with what I am doing now. Baby 2 will be different as I now know how difficult breastfeeding is and to seek out help within the 1st week if there are any problems.

Kisses and coos,

Toni and Nathan

I'm NOT Tongue Tied Anymore!

From Nathan...

Monday afternoon, mommy and grandmother took me to the Children's Hospital in Oakland to meet with Dr. Wesman who is a pediatric ENT. I'm not sure what ENT stands for but I trust that mommy does. We sat in the waiting room and mommy fed me from a bottle. I overheard her telling grandmother that she wasn't sure if I'd be able to eat ok after the procedure because I may be very sore. I became scared because not only did I not have the slightest idea what ENT meant but now I may be very sore and not be able to eat!! Oh no! What was mommy doing to me. I decided to play it cool. I am a boy after all. So... Dr. Wesman came out of the room and the first thing I thought was OH NO! I have to stop eating now. My favorite past time has come to an end. Mommy picked me up and all 3 of us walked into his office. I entered a big exam room with bright flourescent lights and a big blue chair. Mommy was instructed to sit in that blue chair with me and grandmother sat across the room. She kept an eye on my lay z boy recliner, otherwise known as my car seat. Dr. Wesman approached me and mommy with a giant silly silver disc looking thing over his eye attached to a head band. He opened my mouth and pressed my tongue up with a wooden stick thingy. I was SO confused but again, trusted my mommy as she held me. I heard the doctor say yep, he's got a tongue tie. Then he pulls out this stick and explained that I would get a topical anasthetic that would taste like banana. Hmmmm, what in the world is that! I know what milk is but banana? So he stuck the stick under my tongue and rubbed around with this banana stuff. I did not like him being so intrusive. People should only have access to my tongue when it involves food. Anyway... suddenly I lost feeling in my mouth and it was a little euphoric. Next thing I know, the doctor is telling my mommy that his assistant will be coming in to stabilize my head! Oh no! I hate being still. Part of being little ole me is that I can move around a lot and nobody cares. So... in walks this 6 foot tall women who smells like she fell into a vat of coffee. She puts her hands on both sides of my head to keep it still. Meanwhile, mommy had to hold my arms and legs steady and still by my side. The doctor said that although this procedure was quick it needed precision. Still... I trusted my mommy. The last thing I saw before everything went weird was the doctor coming at me with his shiny silver disc thingy over his eye and a sharp pair of tiny scissors. Then clip. My mommy was tearing up because I think she was scared I would be in a lot of pain. But... I wasn't! All I wanted now was to eat. The doctor left and said to wait 10 minutes in order to make sure there wasn't blood or any problems. Thank goodness that was over. I still don't know what all the fuss was about. On our way out, my mommy paid and I had to endure another person telling me that I did not look like a 7 week old baby... that I was big. Geez... I have the rest of my life to be told I'm chubby. Can't I at least enjoy being a chubby baby? So... off to eating again! Finally, mommy let me finish my bottle as we waited our 10 minutes. After that, we left the hospital and went on our merry way. I caught wind of my mommy telling grandmother that she hopes I will nurse easier now. Oh boy... you mean I actually have to work for my food??

Kisses and coos,
Nathan

Superbowl 2010

February 7, 2010 marked Nathan's first Superbowl! He pulled for the Colts, along with the rest of us. Here is a cute little video (without sound) which marks the occasion. Plus I've attached some pictures of him in his football outfit. It's a little big but oh well! Still cute.

Kisses

Toni

Nathan is 6 Weeks Old... and ready for a Procedure

Nathan is 6 weeks old... I know... time flies. Things have been going AWESOME at home. I love love LOVE staying at home with him and we have the best time together. The most fun I have is when he discovers new things and for an example, I have included a video of when he made eye contact with the mobile above his swing. These are his first little friends... a green turtle, blue whale, and orange goldfish. He just loves to gaze up at them while he is swinging away. I wonder what he is thinking.

His sleep patterns are still really good. He sleeps more at night than during the day (woo hoo!) and only has me up twice through the night. During the day he pretty much eats very routined... every 3 hours. He eats a TON so I'm sure that helps him sleep longer too. We think he is beginning to have meaningful smiles now instead of just the smiles resulting from gas (maybe baby gas pains aren't pains at all... otherwise, why smile??). A couple of nights ago, I got up to feed Nathan and Dan was up watching TV. When I was done, I handed him to Dan and Nathan just looked at him in the eyes and smiled really big! And he held the smile for a while too. I can't wait to get a picture when the expression becomes more regular.

We are convinced now that his hair is strawberry blonde, at least for the time being. I would love it if it stayed that color. This child is full of recessive traits and it's so neat!!! His eyes are still very blue and that is why all of the pictures of him with a flash give him red eye.

Last week I saw a lactation consultant because I realized I finally needed help with nursing. Come to find out, there is a physical reason why Nathan can't do it correctly. He has a short frenulum or "tongue tie." It occurs in about 40% of babies. The frenulum is that tiny piece of skin under your tongue and is probably located at the middle of the underside of the tongue. Nathan's is at the front of the underside so he cannot stick his tongue out past his lower teeth. The remedy, or procedure, is to clip it. As ultra painful as it sounds, it is necessary. Many children who don't have it clipped end up with a speech impediment, particularly in pronouncing the L and T sounds. So... it's off to the ENT I go. Nathan's doc said it won't hurt too bad because Nathan's isn't very thick. I don't know... still sounds painful to me. After the procedure is done and he is healed, I will go back to the lactation consultant to help train Nathan to stick out his tongue all the way. Apparently even when the frenulum is clipped, babies don't realize they can stick out their tongue.

Enjoy the video I've attached.

Kisses,

Toni