Luke has liked to eat frequently, which makes night time rather difficult with a lot of lack of sleep. He usually wakes up and is hungry after two hours, which I could occasionally push to three hours (and that is from start of feeding to start of feeding, not actual time sleeping, which is much less). Now that he's two months old, I wanted to try to get him to go a little longer at night between feedings if possible.
So on Saturday night I decided that instead of picking him up right away when he started getting fussy about wanting to eat, I would just try to soothe him (such as rubbing his tummy) and see if he would fall back to sleep. I didn't get to sleep the whole time (since I was soothing), but he managed to go a bit over four hours without getting up to eat. I was excited about that, especially if he could do it without me having to soothe him in the future.
But I was worried that it was a fluke. So last night I was happily surprised that he went almost four hours on his own (well, there was minimal soothing at a couple of points) and then another hour with me soothing him, for a total of just over five hours between feedings. I'm really hoping that we've hit a turning point and he'll be able to go longer at night.
I actually wonder if he figured things out yesterday because in the evening in the few hours before bed, he seemed ravenously hungry, like he knew that he needed to really fill up before bed time. He gulped down quite a bit and still wanted more. And he didn't really spit up very much, so I guess he really did want it all. So perhaps getting him filled up before bed is something else that I need to try to do to help him sleep longer during the night. So I'm crossing my fingers that he'll be able to keep going for those longer stretches.
And now the other topic: shots. Today was Luke's two-month checkup. He did really well. He's now 10 pounds 14.4 ounces and 22 inches (measurements from his one-month checkup were 8 lbs 2 oz and 20.25"). He's just above the 25th percentile for full-term babies and just above the 50th percentile on the chart for early arrivals, which is a more accurate measurement for him. Everything else the doctor checked looked good.
Then it was time for his vaccinations: two shots and one oral vaccine. I fed him right before he got the shots (supposedly breast milk has analgesics and so can help with pain) and J held him during the shots. He got one in each leg. He did start crying (with a little screaming) with the first shot but he calmed down after a short time. On the car ride home, he was so sleepy but he kept trying to keep himself awake. Once we got home, he took some short naps, but around mid-afternoon, he started to get really cranky and didn't want to lie down in the pack-n-play or even sit in his swing. He was okay if I held him (though he'd throw in a little cry every now and then). So I decided to go ahead and give him a dose of Tylenol. I think it did help a little but he still just really wants to be held right now, so J and I are taking turns this evening.
I'm not sure what this will mean for his sleeping tonight. Hmm...perhaps the two topics aren't so separate after all. Anyway, here's a picture of Luke today. You can see the band aid on one of his legs. He has another on the other leg. (And the onesie is appropriate, given his mood today.)
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