he grunts and lifts his head to turn to the other side he’s more comfortable with when he’s on his tummy. and happily goes back to sleep.

now he’s taken to pacifying himself by sucking on his fist till the whole thing is slimy wet with saliva.

beats having him cry out for a pacifier to be stuffed into his mouth. :)

i’m getting used to his patterns and behaviour now, and they don’t frustrate me as much as it did the past few weeks. he also seems to be getting used to me, calming down when i take over while he’s crying.

he looks at his surroundings very interestedly with his big, round, sometimes unblinking eyes. those eyes follow you when you walk around.

he stops a while to eavesdrop when people are talking while he’s feeding. he especially loves having people talk to him.

if there’s one thing i’ve never been particularly good at is to baby-talk. but out of neccessity, i’ve picked it up like a third language, and have to think fast to ramble on and on to him about anything under the sky. he’d move his arms and legs excitedly and sometimes coo on cue.

remember i mentioned about being worried, and even unreasonably angry, when he vomits? it took time for me to get used to it, thinking that he’s rejecting my milk coz he doesn’t like it, and that he’s wasting precious breastmilk (at least it’s not expensive like formula, phew).

but my SIL assured me that it’s a passing phase, even she went through it with dadam for months and sought a doctor’s advice since she got so worried herself.

so now i:

a) make any diaper changes before a feed,
b) keep him upright for at least twenty minutes when he’s done feeding,
c) don’t put him down too quickly or let him to move too much right after he’s fed,
d) keep him warm especially on rainy days,
e) have lots of tissue at hand,
f) put a bib on him when he’s wearing nice clothes,
g) put a towel on my shoulder when burping him when i’m wearing nice clothes.

putting him to sleep at night is another thing that used to frustrate me, coz he sleeps snugly in the day and frets at nighttime. some say it has to do with the time of the day he was born (ie. 3 in the morning), some say it has to do with my being active at night when i was pregnant.

so now i:

a) keep him awake in the evening,
b) walk or rock him around the house,
c) pat pat pat his bum,
d) pass to daddy to entertain him,
e) pass back to me when he’s bored of daddy,
f) feed and feed and feed,
g) read a book so i won’t get bored while feeding him,
h) put him in a swaddle when he’s drowsy (so he won’t protest!), and into the basket.

voila!

and if he wakes up at 3 – 5am, i’d nudge his daddy’s ribs VERY hard so he’d wake up and change the diaper. then i’d feed him while lying down, so we’d all fall asleep together in bed.

meanwhile, a lot of advice has gone out the window.

the one about not patting and rocking the baby to sleep (heck it, it works).

the one about not picking the baby up too often when he cries (hey, it’s supposed to promote trust).

the one about not letting him sleep in the same bed as you (breastfeeding while lying down is a win-win situation for baby, me and daddy).

sometimes, i guess you just let your instincts take over and pick up whatever works for you.

the past few days when the husband and i were left to our own devices, we bathed the baby. without any, er, other adult supervision.

i admit i’m still chicken about handling him by myself during bathtime, even though he’s got one strong neck on him. i can cut his tiny fingernails, i can change his diapers, i can sit at home with him all alone the whole day, but ask me to bathe him and i go “uh uh”. so far, i’ve merely played assistant to my mum or my masseuse during baby’s bathtime.

so the first time the husband and i bathed him, he promptly sprayed his pee all over the bathroom before vomitting in the bathtub. he must have enjoyed torturing us, coz he was wakeful yet quiet throughout the whole affair. he loves bathtime.

the next few times were still a little awkward (hey, NEITHER of us has ever done this before in our entire lives!) but baby managed to come out clean and nice-smelling somehow.

and hey that’s not the end of it! there’s still the diaper cream, minyak telon, baby powder (on his body and neck only please, not the face and bottom), his clothes, his hair, his socks, his mittens, his swaddle…

yes, it takes two of us to fuss over him. heh.

***

the other thing that i CAN (or rather HAVE to) do by myself is feed him.

breastfeeding on demand (letting him feed whenever he wants, for as long as he wants) IS demanding. my life now revolves around his need to feed.

sounds simple enough? not so when he’s going through his third-week growth spurt and requires frequent breastfeeding, which can be every freakin’ hour during some parts of the day! but as exhausting as this is, i take comfort in knowing that his frequent feeding means he’s helping me to bring up my milk supply. furthermore, his body’s learned to sleep longer at nights now (hurrah!), to let mummy rest more. he knows there’ll be lots to drink in the morning.

“Breastmilk is metabolized and the stomach is empty in the newborn after about an hour — sometimes up to two hours — after a feeding. Because stomach cramps from hunger are a new thing for baby, any discomfort is interpreted as pain and a threat to survival. When adults get hungry, we start a complex process of planning where our next meal is going to come from. For babies, because they do not have any associations built up in regards to meal planning, they become fretful and cry. As the newborn matures and becomes more confident in his environment, he or she may be able to delay gratification because he knows that a full stomach is soon ahead. A baby who is required to wait for a scheduled feeding, may delay that trust or confidence.”
- http://parenting.ivillage.com

i also never got round to limiting the amount of time spent on each breast coz, well, its just troublesome to watch the clock. plus i discovered that the fatty hindmilk is the important bit, so the baby should empty each breast before switching side. the baby has his way of telling me he’s had his fill by simply unlatching himself and pursing his lips ever-so-tightly if i offer it to him again. cool, huh? :)

i also notice that the baby seems to favour one breast over the other. he’d nuzzle restlessly and scrunch up his face and drink for a shorter time on the less favoured breast. thankfully, i’m not alone in this.

“Some babies may prefer one breast – maybe your nipple or areola is larger on one side. But to keep up your milk supply in both breasts – and prevent painful engorgement in one – it’s important to alternate breasts and try to give each one the same amount of nursing time throughout the day. Why? Because if you continue to allow your baby to feed primarily on one breast, or on one for longer periods than the other, your body will produce more milk for the favored breast and less milk for the other.”
- http://kidshealth.org/parent/growth/feeding/breastfeed_supply.html

i think there’s some truth in the first line – there IS a difference in nipple, er, length (the asymmetrical freak that i am). it could also be because he’s more comfortable facing my other breast, or the way i hold him on one side. if only he could TELL me.

and here’s some interesting breastfeeding myths for all you breastfeeding mothers or mothers-to-be out there: http://www.lalecheleague.org/NB/LVAprMay98p21NB.html

almost one month down… how long more can i last this feat?