When James was born, I was worried that he’d take a long time to catch up to where he would have been had he come on his due date. Apparently, these fears were ungrounded azithromycin 250mg. If anything, James has been doing better out than in.
This week, at his pediatrician visit, we learned that our little boy had gained a full pound in eight days, putting him at 7 lbs 6 oz. In utero, he’d be gaining only a half-pound per week. He’s doing so well, in fact, that his doctor decided James could visit every two weeks — even though initially he’d been expected to see the doctor weekly for the first month or even longer.
Because he had so little body fat initially, we waited until James was nearly three weeks old to give him his first bath so that he’d have time to add a little insulation. Monday night, as we bathed our boy, we noticed that not only does he have some brand-new thigh rolls, but he is the size of a normal newborn now. Every day, his premie clothes get smaller on him and his undershirts — which are the 0-3 month size — have gone from enveloping him to fitting perfectly.
One of the best things of all this week has been James’ newest (OK, maybe his only) skill — lifting his head a bit while he’s being burped. When he was born, our wee boy was completely floppy and it was hard to tell if he had any neck muscles at all. Now he can hold his head erect for a few seconds before it flops over. It’s not much, but we’re proud parents nonetheless!
James is spending more of his daytime hours awake and alert, and his cries, which were kittenlike a few weeks ago, are stronger now. He is sleeping more at night, although he goes through frequent cluster-feeding spells where he eats voraciously day and night, which we’re presuming is how he managed to gain a pound in the last week.
He still doesn’t do much other than eat, sleep and poop (eating and pooping more so than sleeping), and since he doesn’t have colic I’m not really sure what to do with him. It’s lovely having a baby who just lies there staring around at things and it sure makes caring for two kids a lot easier, but I feel like I ought to be teaching James tricks or something. It’s a bizarre feeling having two little ones and yet having so much downtime with them. I had geared up mentally for another three months of endless colic and misery, and James is so placid and easygoing that I feel kind of lost. What do other moms of normal newborns do?
Instead of rocking a screaming baby for hours on end, I can lay James down in his bassinet or the Pack ‘N’ Play and spend some quality time with Maddi, or I can snuggle my contented new baby against my shoulder and just be. It’s definitely taking some getting used to, but I certainly don’t mind getting used to it!
And here they are: Pictures of little James at three weeks old (or two weeks, six days, in the case of the bath pic). Look at those chins!