Four months old

Today little man is four months old....and is starting to behave just like one. He is awake more often, lets everyone know he is hungry, and is very alert.

We have commenced 3-4 hourly demand feeding today. Rather than waking him for a feed third hourly, he is now calling the shots and can wake anywhere up to fours hours for a feed, and if not we will then wake him. This can also work the other way with less time between feeds...perhaps two hours. This change occurred today as he woke at 2am rather than 3am, demanding to be fed by nurse Dana, so she had to top him up with an extra 10 mls, pushing his feed to 59 mls instead of his usual 49 mls. The nurses think this is because he is getting more from a breast feed than a bottle.

I had my first experience of people making me feel like my choices were not quite right today. I know this is common amongst parents, especially first time mothers, and I didn't enjoy it one bit. We had his car seat fitted today, but a few comments have made me think this seat won't be suitable for him until he is another kilo or so heavier. We will try him out in it on the weekend and if this is the case, will hire a capsule for a month or so. I had done so much research on these products and felt a bit deflated with this backward criticism. These people are letting everyone know what worked for them, and bottom line is they haven't had a baby born at 23 weeks, so all rules go out the window. I've been given advice about swaddling, blankets, beds, and car seats all in the matter of a few hours. I'm sticking with our decisions......

Today one of the nurses that was at Jensen's birth, Alexa, was on so I asked if I could have a chat with her. As I have had to postpone our debrief meeting with the obstetrician again (it was booked for the day after we get home), it once again brought up the issue of should we go or not. I thought if I could ask some questions about the birth with someone I know, it might help make up my mind. I asked her to tell me what she remembered of the evening Jensen arrived.

She said the NICU team came into the birthing room when I was pushing. .. I thought they were all there when we arrived. The main thing I wanted to know was if Jensen was breathing when he was born. She told me he was. His heart rate was very slow, but that is not unusual for any baby straight after birth. She said he was very active, particularly for someone of his gestation, and this took her by surprise. She said he didn't need any form of resuscitation...usually such preemies need compressions, or adrenalin, none of which Jensen needed. He made a small noise, and was then intubated immediately. The doctor made a comment about losing the heartbeat, but she wasn't sure if the doctor had lost it, or the baby had. I did not hear this comment, but he was saying it to the NICU team. Alexa went home that night, never having been at a birth of a baby of such a young gestation, particularly one so feisty, and thank God and our angels for his feistiness......

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