Understanding Davis

Wow, what a busy 12 days this has been, and yet what we've accomplished seems like so little, and so much at the same time. We had a really rough couple of days/nights after we came home from the hospital. Poor Davis had a lot of stomach problems of unknown origin. I was still feeling uncertain about breastfeeding (we had a rocky start, which I'll probably blog about at later date) and John and I really didn't know how to read his crying (wet diaper? hungry? tired?). He was also a happy little clam with the pacifier the hospital gave him, but only for a few days. The swing Josh and Courtney lent us worked a couple of times to soothe him..but just a couple of times. Since then I have cut out dairy, strawberries and am limiting the amount of acidic food I eat. (I tried strawberries again when they were too tempting and we had another bout of gas and inconsolable crying that day). We also started to notice something. Davis was fine after eating but about 10-20 minutes after we put him in his crib (almost asleep even), he would start with the wailing. Currently there are two philosophical extremes in the parenting world. There's the 'teach them independence from the start' and there's the 'treat the first three months like the fourth trimester'. As soon to be dual working parents, the independence theory seemed appealing. The central core of this is don't allow them to become dependent on something to fall asleep that you don't want to be doing forever (like rocking them to sleep, or feeding them to soothe them etc.). The second theory is based on the premise that babies really need a fourth trimester, so give them lots of skin-to-skin contact (sleep with them, wear them, etc.) and mimic the womb environment. Honestly, in the end I don't think you can choose your style (not at first anyway). Davis has chosen for us. He needs lots of cuddling and human contact. The night we first brought him into bed with us was a great night. Even better was last night when we swaddled AND brought him to bed with us. He slept for three hours straight (I feel like a whole new woman after three straight hours of sleep)! Also, no inconsolable crying. In addition to that, Davis sat in his swing all by himself for a good half an hour today (someone was nearby, but not holding him!). He loves to look around at the world. I don't know what's helped the most: he's simply maturing, his gas is better because he was intolerant to one of those things in my diet, and/or with all the contact we give him he feels secure enough to be alone now for a while.

Our other triumph was realizing that the newborn pacifiers are just to soft to soothe our little guy. Realizing how much he loves to suck on fingers, I decided to pull out the stiffer 3month pacifiers and he loves them! Now we have a method to help him soothe himself enough to calm down and that helps him get through whatever gas he's struggling with (which, now seems like a normal amount for a newborn).

Despite all the rough times, John and I are continuing to find ourselves absolutely amazed with how awesome Davis is and everything he does. Just before he falls asleep he gets a little smile on his face. When he wakes up he loves to stretch all his limbs out in every direction. Grandma M thinks he looks like John when he yawns. He snorts when he really gets crying. He loves his carseat (once you start moving) and the moby wrap (an alternate to a sling or front pack). He also loves to watch his mobile and talk to his friend Peter the Penguin. He likes to be bounced on the big rubber ball while you sing silly songs. We are very blessed.