Sleep is everything

I'm finding that in newborn land sleep is everything for all members of our household.  Where Joshua is officially 10 weeks old, but was born 4 weeks early, we're doing a dance between his actual age and his gestational age.  His sleep is starting to regulate- normally a 4 hour stretch followed by a three hour stretch.  If I can actually sleep during this time, then all is well.  If not.... well... I'm finally gaining empathy with tired newborn moms who sometimes I would (and, yes, I was very bitter) wanted to tell to just buck up.  Ah- payback did come back to get me.

We have had some wonderful developmental milestone moments with our little sweet Joshua over the past week or so:

• He smiled his first reactionary non-gas smile at Paul (lucky guy).
• A few days after, he smiled at me.  
• A couple days later, he grinned at Paul, so now the score is Paul 2, Ruth 1.
• A few days ago, he discovered his fist and stared in awe at it and watched it move.  He hasn't rediscovered it, but it's there waiting to be found again. :)

Saturday was a wonderful reunion with my first church congregation when Paul and I moved to Oregon.  I couldn't believe how many great friends were there to celebrate with me and to meet Joshua.  Then, on Monday, Paul and I celebrated our 19th anniversary and our friends Rochelle and Brenda watched our little guy so we could go out to Olive Garden.  It is so wonderful to be surrounded by loving friends who are eager to get to spend some time with Josh.  Wednesday our little guy got to come with me to meet my HSD music colleague family at our monthly meeting.  There are sweet friends in that group who were there for me as we prepared for and lost our Samuel.  It was nice to rejoice with them over our new arrival.

Today was Joshua's two month wellness appointment and he's now at 7lb. 7.9 oz, and is 1 ft 7.75 inches tall.  He's not growing as fast as he was in previous weeks, so the pediatrician would like us to shoot for 20-30 oz./ day.  Right now, he's at about 18ish ounces, so he's got some munching to do and we've got some more toe-tickling to do to keep him awake longer during feedings.

He also had his 2 month immunizations which made this mother's heart a little nervous.  He, of course, let us know he was not happy about it, but calmed quickly.  It was nice to talk to my mom and hear from her that sleepiness was a side effect most of my siblings and I had after the vaccinations.  He's been either pretty drowsy or pretty upset this afternoon- not a lot of middle ground.   Here's hoping for a calm night and that tomorrow he's back to his happy self.

Out into the world

Last Thursday Joshua hit his 8 week old mark, and today is his two month birthday.  We started to adventure out into the world a bit.  Thursday,  I took Joshua to meet some of his Patterson Elementary family- hopefully his future teachers.   It was so good to be together with my colleague friends who have been waiting for him right alongside me.  I am so grateful for their love in my life.

Friday he was a trooper and accompanied me to the DMV, the bank,  and grocery shopping.  

Then Saturday night Paul and I had been asked to sing at our ward Christmas party.  We chose a Christmas lullaby and sang it to Joshua.  Then he got to see more of his church family the next day when we brought him there for the first time.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/11MEsZjI6HDvvo68AgqjrSFlvUbyQ_y9i/view?usp=drivesdk

It looks like his little body has handled it like a trooper and he didn't pick any germs up in the great, wide world.

Yesterday we started the day with a trip to the pediatrician. Over the last week, Joshua's belly button had begun to stick out.  When pressed,  it would release air and make a futz sound.  We're also having a hard time kicking thrush and he'd had diarrhea for a few days.  (Yep- you're getting all the baby details.)

At the checkup,  the doctor said that the belly button thing isn't a concern if it stays malleable and that it'll deflate and heal in time. In the meantime,  my son has a musical belly button,  lol.

We were given meds to kick this last remnant of thrush, and she said the diarrhea thing is pretty normal, so good news all around.

At his appointment,  Joshua weighed in at 6 lb. 11.9 oz.! Last week,  he outgrew premie diapers and most of his premie clothes, so we're officially now in newborn land. 

With Paul still working, I'm on the baby night shift.  I've been sleeping in the guest room and have had Josh with me in a -now don't laugh-, but in a shallow rubbermaid tub that I set on my hope chest.  It's been so awesome to have and so easy to carry wherever we're need it.  Anyway, we do diaper changes and feedings by the light of my old lava lamp which, by the way,  is a great thing to have for him to watch when he's having a hard time drifting off.

Two nights ago,  the bulb in my trusty lava lamp burned out, so I had to switch to lamp light.  Both of the other lamps, though I thought they were pretty gentle and mild,  were too much light and kept Josh awake.  It was decision time.

The official recommendation of the Association of American Pediatricians to prevent SIDS is that Josh sleeps in our room for 6 months to a year.  That seems like an awfully long time,  but if these were recommendations that would help keep my baby alive,  I felt that I would be unwise not to follow them. 

Over Thanksgiving break,  my sister and her wife came for a visit.  My sister in law has worked in NICU units and has an extensive infant care and development knowledge and experience base. After talking with her and discussing the other aspects of SIDS prevention ie. sleeping swaddled with no blankets,  keeping the temperature slightly lower,  clearing the crib of other toys, and always having him sleep on his back,  I felt ok thinking about transitioning Joshua to his crib a bit earlier than six months. 

With the lava lamp out, and little one unable to sleep be the other lamp light,  I decided to try the crib out.  We have been loaned an owlet sock baby monitor.   With that on,  I laid him down and retired to the guest room.  I'm sure he got more sleep than I did that first night because I stayed glued pretty close to the baby monitor, which gave me video and audio feed,  and the owlet readings on my phone which showed me heart rate and oxygen levels.   I seriously feel so spoiled and amazed at how many things I have around me that make caring for Joshua so much easier than newborn care has been in the past. I'm so thankful for them.

So last night was night number two in his nursery and he transitioned like a champ.  He slept for two hours,  then an hour and forty five minutes,  and then this last one was three hours.  Things are looking really good.