Update

[mamajoan]

Isaac is two months old as of yesterday, and today he had his two-month well-baby checkup at the pediatrician's. His weight, to everyone's pleasant surprise, is up to a whopping eleven and a half pounds -- 11 lbs 9 oz, to be specific -- meaning he has jumped from the tenth to the fiftieth percentile in weight. His length is 22.5 inches (approx. 10th percentile) and his head circumference is 38 centimeters (between 10th and 20th percentile).

So, in short, he is doing great. I had a million questions for the ped, most of which I felt were in the "there are no stupid questions, but..." category. With regard to the colic, or whatever one chooses to call his screaming-at-night episodes, she said that we are not giving him enough time to work it out for himself -- if we only let him fuss or cry for a few minutes before picking him up, we should let him go longer. It's not "let him cry it out," but at least, she said, we should give him up to 15-20 minutes before we decide that he's "inconsolable."

I'm still frustrated by the difference between "comfort sucking" and "using mommy as a pacifier," and how to tell the difference, and how to tell whether he's really hungry or just wants to suck... *sigh* but hopefully I'll figure it out somehow.

I won't go into all the details of the other things he's been doing and what the doctor said about them, but suffice it to say that he's perfectly normal and any worries or concerns that I have are also normal.

Isaac also got four shots (*wince*), which his ped apologized for repeatedly, as she thinks it's terrible that there are so damn many immunizations, but that's the way it is. He did not at all care for the shots, but of course within five minutes he had forgotten all about them. Unlike his mommy, who was still traumatized. ;)

Last Friday, we took Isaac to his first Red Sox game. We were pretty worried as he'd had a couple of really difficult days previously, but he did fine at the game -- spent some time calmly looking around at everything, then some time nursing, then some time sleeping. Of course, the Red Sox got their asses kicked, but we just told Isaac that it was his first initiation into the pain and heartache of being a Sox fan. ;)

New pix of Isaac at the ballgame, plus a few random other cute pix: click for pix.

Comments

[ww1614.livejournal.com]

Hm, I'm not a doctor. Well, I am, but not a medical doctor. :) But I wonder what your doctor means by suggesting that Isaac work it out for himself.

I have no problem with leaving the child to cry for your own sanity. If letting a child cry for 15 minutes is better for you than holding him for that 15 minutes, more power to you. I'm behind you 100%. But I'm not sure what a 2-month-old has to work out on his own. Much less a preemie-ish 2-month old.

Personal experience here--both kids had cranky periods in the second and third months. I went off to work with great relief when Sophie was 9 weeks old. I believe I started Zoloft for post-partum depression around the same time with Eric.

My friend Debra says, "This too shall pass." Doesn't make it easier while it's happening, but it does stop. Me, I'd lean to holding him if he's crying as long as I could stand it. Sometimes it's nothing you're doing or can do. But don't be afraid to put him down if you can't bear it any more.

I wish my life weren't so crazy at this point, but the good news is I'll be only an hour away once I get settled in. We move next Monday/Tuesday.

Are you into support groups? Do you need any good references for some? Single-parenting groups, online or real life? I'm hooked in with some people who do AP (breastfeeding and co-sleeping, etc.) and many are in your area.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

I expressed it badly -- we were talking specifically about going to sleep. My doc's point is that the baby needs to learn how to put himself to sleep, so you should put him down while still partly awake, and let him fuss a bit. She wasn't talking about just letting him cry when something is actually bothering him.

Re: support groups ... yeah, I do have one sort of (more like a "moms getting together to chat" group ... used to be a "pregnant chicks getting together to chat" group, heh) and I would probably be open to more. I've checked out a few single-mother groups but they mostly seem to be centered around bitching about the ex, asking how to handle it when the ex does such-and-such, etc ... not really applicable to me. :P

What I really wish I had more of right now is friends who can come over and watch the baby for a little while; if they have babies of their own, that's not so much doable. But connecting with other people who have babies Isaac's age could be helpful too.

[ww1614.livejournal.com]

I expressed it badly -- we were talking specifically about going to sleep. My doc's point is that the baby needs to learn how to put himself to sleep, so you should put him down while still partly awake, and let him fuss a bit. She wasn't talking about just letting him cry when something is actually bothering him.

He's still a bit young for that, in my not-so-medical opinion. It might work, but it might not. If it doesn't, you shouldn't blame yourself. He is still a real young-un. I don't know what's happening because I'm not there. I can only tell you about my experiences, which may be totally irrelevant because all kids are different.

Again, it really sucks that I am so busy right now. I can't even give you a phone number to call because I'll be on the road a lot and doing the single-parenting thing myself for 5 days starting tomorrow.

[sihaya09.livejournal.com]

Oh wow. I just found your gallery thing because I missed out on the whole you in labor thing over the summer. Isaac has the bestest mommy ever!

[attolia.livejournal.com]

You could try letting him suck on your pinky finger, pad up against the roof of his mouth. If he is satisfied with that, it is probably comfort he wants rather than food. My kids never took to pacifiers, but for the first couple of months, the finger soothed their sucking needs when they weren't hungry and gave my breasts a break.

Good luck!

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I do frequently try the finger, and he'll take it about 10% of the time, but the other 90%, he pushes it out with his tongue and looks at me like, "who do you think you're foolin'?"

[simplelyric.livejournal.com]

hopefully I'll figure it out somehow.

I hope so, too. ::crosses fingers for you::

That was another adorable round of pics. =)