Double Take

Jeff took the first shift last night holding Henry while I finished writing the exam that I'll be giving tonight in research methods. Around 4:30AM, I took Henry. He'd only eaten 10 mls since 2:30AM, but he seemed really sleepy. I put him on my chest and laid down on the couch. Jeff helped me put the Boppy pillow (curved shape pillow that runs along the waist to make feeding more comfortable) around Henry for extra support. Henry slept soundly until 6:15AM. I think that he would have slept longer, but Bits the kitten had joined us. She nestled on top of my shoulder. She very much wanted to give Henry at bath, but I wouldn't let her. Although she's an incredible feisty kitten, she is also extremely affectionate and loves to lick everyone (people, dogs, cats, etc.). Once Henry is a bit stronger (a year or so from now), I won't be quite so protective. But unfortunately cat mouths aren't exactly hygienic locations.

Jeff did some tummy time with Henry while I got his bottle ready. Henry still hates tummy time, but he's getting stronger, even from the scant amounts that we do. He did about 10 minutes this morning, and another 5 minutes this afternoon. He's doing a good job picking up his head and pushing off with his arms. He rolled over once. We aren't as excited about this since talking with Dr. Tsai. She said that with some milestones, if babies are doing it early, it usually means that they aren't doing it correctly with the appropriate muscle groups. The reason that he's able to roll over is that he stiffens his legs, which causes the body to roll. What we want him to do, however, is to use his trunk muscles. If he learns to cheat, he'll be less inclined to use and develop the appropriate muscles later on. She also warned us against letting babies stand on their legs with their own body weight at this age. She said that this also promotes muscle cheating. It could short change his development down the road. There is a time line for everything, and from what I gather, it is best that they do things in the appropriate sequence. Henry's use of his arms to push up is appropriate and a very good thing.

My dad came in the morning to hold Henry. My mom came around 12:30PM. She is holding him now.

The exciting news of the morning was that Henry weights...drum roll...7 lbs 7 ozs. On the first weighing, he weighed 7 lbs 7.5 ozs. We did a double take on that one, because we couldn't believe that he'd gained 3 ozs in one day. He had a good eating day yesterday, but nothing above the ordinary. Our recheck had him at between 7 lbs 7 ozs and 7 lbs 7.5 ozs. We're going with 7 lbs 7 ozs (taking the conservative estimate).