Babies are different. My babies are teaching me that lesson currently. I am constantly flipping back through Palmer's journal of feedings and sleep habits to compare to Tripp Martin's . We are 12 weeks in and I am finding I am wasting precious down time looking for clues in Palmer Doyle's past to help with Tripp Martin's future. They are two completely different boys. By 12 weeks Palmer had a belly the size of Santa Clause (and still could give Santa a run for his money), while Tripp is long and lean and has more in common with a string bean than that jolly ol' man. By 12 weeks, Palmer had thighs like this...
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| And let's not even mention the head girth to hold onto toddler size sunglasses |
Rolls for days. Tripper, while you can't even see the hint of a roll, can turn a pair of pants into high waters like nobody's business.
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| While I haven't edited and posted his 1 and 2 month photos, I have in fact taken them! Score 1 for mom of baby #2! |
The differences go on and on. Palmer would nurse both sides, every time, every 3-4 hours. Trying to get Tripp to finish a side is a game of it's own most days and would prefer a snack every 2 hours. So Palmer would be more of an all you can eat buffet guy and Tripp is more of a tapas man. Palmer cried...a lot. We dined over the soothing sounds of the vacuum on countless occasions . I spent weeks trying to coax out a giggle and would spend an entire day waiting for a smile to snap a picture. Tripp gives smiles at the cost of a mere "hello!" thrown his way. He giggles on command. And he doesn't even like the sound of a vacuum. Now the kicker, the area I'd like to find a commonality in my boys. Sleep. Nighttime sleep to be exact. One week from today Tripp will be 13 weeks. That is when Palmer changed our lives (and gave Tripp a chance at having one) when he started sleeping 10-12 hours at night, every night, and never looked back. Tripp has found a sweet spot around midnight and 3 a.m. every night. He'll even throw in an extra visit if you're lucky. We are no where near 10-12 hours of glorious sleep. The lines and bags on my face prove that. I am most certain it is a result of his snacking lifestyle. I pumped for a week and tried to jam more ounces in at each feed, stretched the feedings to 4+ hrs each, but 2 oz is really all he wants. More than that and I usually end up wearing most of it. And so, here I am, at a crossroad, a very fatigued crossroad. It's time for a change in strategy. My friends, it's time to bust out the rice cereal. The one thing the boys do have in common is the dreaded "R" word. Reflux. Both Zantac junkies. Palmer started the rice in a pumped bottle of milk around 8 weeks (hmm...maybe that's where the chunk started...). It was to help control his last feed of the day from creeping back up on him at night. I was mortified to feed my sweet little baby a substance out of a box. But now, on the second go around, I see that things like rice cereal and formula will not in fact harm my baby or cause him to be any less genius (because my breast milk was obviously going to breed a genius!) Chances are the rice cereal will help keep his food down while laying on his back and may help stretch that little tummy out to make him want more calories during the day which is the ultimate goal. So tonight we say, "Bottom's Up" on our first rice cereal cocktail for Mr. Tripp Martin. May the force be with us.
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| Yep. That about sums up the differences in the two. |
