The first month with Micah has been the sweetest and yet the most challenging and exhausting of any month I have had in a long time. He is such a cute little guy, but not the easiest baby.
I guess you could say he is a bit high maintenance. He wants what he wants when he wants it. It took us most of the first month to figure out what those things were:
He likes to be warm. When we put the space heater in our room near his bed on his third night at home, he slept 4-5 hours straight for the first time. When we put the soothie heat bag on his back or belly when he has a tummy ache, he calms down. He also likes the heat pad on his tummy when he is having a hard time going to sleep. Sometimes if we wrap him in an extra blanket, he will calm down.
He likes a bedtime. Once I started putting him to bed at the same time every night, he has slept almost a guaranteed 5-6 hours straight each night. Then he would sometimes wake up every one or two hours until morning, but he got progressively better during the month. By the end of the month, he would usually go back to sleep for another 3 hours after eating.
He likes his diaper off. He can be crying, and when we lay him down and take off his diaper, he will often instantly stop crying. Then he kicks his legs to try to keep us from putting it back on.
He likes music (most types). One of the first times I got him to go to sleep without nursing, he was fighting it and I turned my iphone music on to Coldplay, and he instantly quieted down and fell asleep. I thought it was kind of funny since Alex listened to a lot of Coldplay and other music of that style in the car while I was pregnant. I figured he was used to it from the womb.
He likes the car (as long as there is music playing). His first couple of times in the car, he didn't like as much, but after that, he usually always calms and goes to sleep in the car.
He likes his swing. This didn't happen until the end of the first month though. When he was 4 weeks old, he decided that he liked the swing. Funny thing was, I had tried him in it every few days and he would last sometimes a few minutes before crying, but sometimes he would cry right away. Then one day, I put him in it and went to turn the music volume up, but accidentally was pushing the wrong plus button and was increasing the speed. Strangely as the speed increased, he stopped crying. Aha! He liked it faster than speed one or two (which I had always put it on). Since then he has loved it. It's been a LIFESAVER!!
He likes white noise, and doesn't mind a dull roar, which is good since our house is rarely quiet. However, he likes the peaceful times at home with just Mom too.
He likes being held while he sleeps. During the first month, he would nurse and usually fall asleep. Then if we would hold him against our chest or in our arms, he would stay asleep for sometimes hours. He would sleep much longer than if he were in his bed during the day.
He doesn't like being touched too much. This has been a problem for Jarem because he always wants to touch and hug and kiss him, and Micah nearly always cries. Micah gets overstimulated easily. Many times we will try and try to calm him using all different positions of holding him and then we will lay him down on the floor or in his carseat and he will stop crying. Sometimes he doesn't like being held or touched too much.
There were times that we couldn't figure out what he wanted, and he would just cry a lot. During the first couple of weeks, the kids asked why he was always crying. During the day he would be pretty happy in the morning and then eat and sleep. Around the time the kids would get home from school, he would start his fussy period of the next few hours. We did learn at his two week appointment that he wasn't gaining enough weight, so we added 2-4 ounces of formula to his days and he was quite a bit happier after that (and put on the right amount of weight too)!
What I learned was that he was falling asleep too soon after starting to nurse, and although I was nursing almost every two hours for one hour each time (yes, that is what I spent most of my time doing), he still wasn't getting enough. He would be too tired and would continue to suck but was just moving his mouth without getting anything. Then, my milk supply started diminishing because he wasn't getting much milk. It improved once I was aware of what was going on. And now, I have realized that eat-play-sleep works better for him because then he is well rested before he eats.
He struggles a lot falling asleep on his own without nursing or being in the car, so the swing has been a real lifesaver for that.
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| In the waiting room at his first dr appt at 3 days old |
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| Sleeping in his cradle. He has done very well with that unlike some of our others. |
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| Eric sleeping with Micah |
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| Waiting at a dr appt, of which we had several to check his weight |
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| This is the day he fell asleep to Coldplay |
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| Awake and happy. He usually likes diaper changing time |
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| I love sleeping pictures |
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| Alex trying to calm him |
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| Alex keeping him from Jesikah |
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| Asleep on the floor |
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| Funny picture with one arm back |
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| Perfect example of Jarem touching him |
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| And Micah getting mad |
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| I love it when they sleep with their arms up above their head. He always does this. |
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| Alex takes every opportunity he can to hold Micah |
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| The day Micah gave me one of his first real smiles. He was 2 days shy of 4 weeks |
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| Jesikah feeding him a bottle. She got very good at calming him. |
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| Taking a nap with Micah. Some of my favorite times! |
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