I've been taking Ellie to the doctor every single week because she's been pretty stubborn about the growth thing... after that first week when she grew 18 ounces in 10 days, she stalled completely and stopped growing for a couple weeks. Sigh. BUT! Today, finally, my little Ellie bellie seems to be back on an upturn. She is over 9 pounds now, which still puts her way behind her siblings, but she's finally making some progress. She's the only baby that hasn't tripled her birth weight yet, but at least she's doubled it. The good news is that I don't have to go back until March 11th, which seems like an eternity. Dr. B. said I can come back sooner if I get a sense that she's slowing down again or she starts striking again, but if I have the sense that she's continuing to grow and she's continuing to improve, we can hold off for another 2+ weeks. Unbelievable.
Meanwhile, Abby and Sam continue to grow, but that's no shocker. Abby's got a new nighttime pattern for eating. She used to go to sleep after her 6 or 7pm feedig and sleep until about 2am and then eat and go back to sleep until about 6am. Lately, though, she's been waking up at 11pm starving (which is ridiculous, because we've actually started feeding her more than we had been). So we feed her at 11pm and then she either sleeps through the night or wakes up around 4, which isn't that far off of when we have to wake up anyway. But it's weird, and I'm not sure why she's changed her pattern. It's not that big a deal, but it's new.
Sam never stops eating. Dr. B. says that he's big enough that he should be able to sleep through the night now (calorically speaking), but every night at 2am, 4am, 5am, and 6am I have the same conversation with Sam:
Me: Dr. B. SAID you're big enough to sleep through the night!
Sam: Mommy! Please don't make me! I'm so hungreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I'm wasting away! I'll be so saaaaaad if you make me wait!
Me: But Dr. B. PROMISED ME that you're big enough to sleep through the night!
Sam (with the saddest look possible on his face, while screaming BLOODY MURDER): MOMMY! PLEASE! You wouldn't actually make me wait would you? I'm so hungry! Please don't make me! Please don't! I'm starving! Please!
Me: Well, I'm sure as heck not going to listen to screaming all night, of COURSE I'm not going to let you starve, no matter WHAT Dr. B. says.
Then after Sam's had his fill, Ellie and I go and have the opposite conversation:
Me: Ellie, Dr. B. SAID you're not big enough to sleep through the night!
Ellie: Mommy! Please don't make me! I'm so sleepeeeeeeeee! I need my beauty sleep! I'll be so saaaaaaaad if you make me wake up!
Me: But Dr. B. SAID that you need to eat more often!
Ellie (completely sleepy): *yawn* Please mommy, don't make me...*snore*
Me: huh? wha? What time is it? Can I go back to sleep now?
And then, it's usually time to have another conversation with Sam... But Dr. B. SAID you're big enough to sleep through the night!
Thank heavens J sleeps through the night!
Friday, February 22, 2008
Progress and Nighttime Feeding
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8 comments:
Gosh, triplets sound like fun. ;) I think it's hilarious that doctors say babies should be able to sleep through the night. All the research I've read says that at least half of babies don't sleep through the night during the first year of life. *Should* really means nothing when it comes to kids, I think! (Especially breastfed babies since breastmilk digests so quickly.)
P slept through the night for about1 month of his first year. It happened around 3 months. After that, when people asked when he'd started sleeping through the night and I said that he wasn't really, they were invariably shocked. I got tired of explaining the whole "breastmilk digests faster, baby eating on demand, etc." stuff, so finally I just started saying he'd started sleeping through the night at 3 months and stopped mentioning that he wasn't doing that anymore.
It was hard. It was really hard. I can't imagine three, but I am so proud to know you and how much you're doing for your babies. I tell my Bradley students that I know someone breastfeeding triplets and they are always impressed (and wonder when you sleep)!
please read Jenn at Amazing Trips as she is working on sleep training for her 7 month old. She has 3 YO Trips.
Ah the joys of triplet babies and their amazing tag-teaming abilities.
ack, your kids are so eloquent! :) sam sounds like he's been talking to my boys. giving them ideas. ;)
I am new to your blog (found you through Marie-Baguette), but just read through the past few entries, and, having had experience with FTT (and NG tubes, etc.), I have some strong feelings on the matter. If she is likely to need long-term supplementation, I would push for a g-tube. Now, I know that that is totally counter-intuitive, I mean it's SURGERY, but--BUT--putting in an NG tube is a brutal, nasty thing, and they have to be changed at least once a week, and that's IF the baby doesn't pull it out before a week. Also, there is the risk of the tube getting pulled partially out and then going into the trachea rather than the esophagus, which is why you have to check the 'placement' each time you use an NG tube, with a stethascope. Since your littlest little one seems to have issues tolerating volume, my guess is that they would want her on an overnight "drip feeding" to supplement her oral intake during the day, and I simply am not comfortable leaving the feeding pump running and going to sleep, when the baby could pull on it (they can even rub it out against the crib-sheet, trust me--at four months, mine had the fine-motor skills to pull an edge of tape and rip the whole shebang loose if not swaddled. I'd take the risk of anesthesia and (minor) surgery over the risk of aspiration pneumonia and almost certain death ANY day of the week--g-tubes reverse easily enough, you just pull them out and the hole closes within minutes. It's your call, and I AM a bit of an alarmist on the matter, but...anyway...let me know if you have any questions about what to expect should you go the tube-route (the good news is that then most insurance companies will pay for formula for the baby with the tube because if it is "injected" into them it is medicine, whereas if they are drinking the same stuff it is food) and good luck.
You are so funny. Good to start the communication with the wee ones early!
People keep telling me my baby can sleep through the night and doesn't need the food. Honestly, she's big for her age, has nice fat deposits, and I'm sure that it wouldn't hurt her body to do without that feeding. (She's almost 8 months old)
But - as parents, we also look to establish security for our child. If my baby wakes up and she's hungry, then she needs the emotional assurance that her needs will be met.
I decided that for my own sanity, I'd rather just feed her and put her back to bed than fight with her - however, triplets are more and harder, so you may need to make different decisions.
The Steeces had good sleep results with their quads. see: http://thelifeofsuz.blogspot.com/2007/12/lots-of-pics-to-catch-up-on.html
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