What Should I Be Doing With My Newborn, Seriously

I'm currently in Week 3 of my wife being in hospital for various pregnancy-related reasons as we await the birth of our son. The delivery is scheduled for Tuesday, which will be at 36 weeks - early, but still late enough where he should be fine and healthy. However, I've been having to basically be a single dad for the last three weeks for our almost five-year-old daughter with the added bonus of trekking over to the hospital every night to see my wife.

On a related note, I've gained 10 pounds and been drinking like it's my job every night when my daughter finally goes to sleep at 10:30 p.m. Huzzah!

 

I'm sorry your wife has been going through so much. The last couple of months of my pregnancy were tough. I wasn't hospitalized for anything, but I was extremely uncomfortable. Pre-E, mega swelling, simply walking was very painful, then there were some complications with the delivery. I can honestly say that I'm already forgetting how bad all of those tough parts were.

I wouldn't worry about the 36 week mark. I was born at 36 weeks, and nearly half the babies in my birth group were that early and had no complications, just a little on the small side. I had the stubborn baby that was taken by force at 41 weeks.

Someone must have tipped him off that it was going to be much colder on the outside. The little stinker can't stand to be undressed. He acts like diaper changes are torture. All of the force from pitching a fit usually makes him pee with a force that makes his daddy proud.

 

One thing that does have me worried is that he has to have surgery. The idea of him being under anesthesia really has me worried. I'm not worried about the actual surgery itself. It's very minor. One of his testicles hasn't descended and they just need to go in, pull it down and basically tack it into place. Having it done prior to six months reduces his chances of testicular cancer later in life, so I don't want to delay it. I'm just hoping and praying that by the time we go to Nashville for the consultation it will have come all the way down or at least almost. The other one wasn't in place when he was born either but it is now, so I'm holding onto that hope.

 

(((( HUGS ))))) I've had friends with kids who have had that surgery and all did great.

Please keep us posted. Congratulations on the birth of your lil guy!

 

My kid had to have her tear ducts popped as an infant. I don't like anything coming near my eye now; I can't how scary that would be for an infant.

 

At age 2 my kid needed to have a tear duct stent and ear tubes put in. They were done in one surgical procedure (ENT put in the tear ducts and then the ophthalmologist put in the tear duct stent) to avoid having to go under anesthesia twice. He was inconsolable when he came out of the anesthesia, but about an hour later he was fine.

 

By 9 months, our daughter was under general twice -- both for tests on her neck. It is way harder on the parents than on the infant.

 

In honor of KG, I thought I'd add a couple to the SportsJournalists.com baby offensive line: Carsyn was 9 lbs. 2 oz and Cullen was 8 lbs. 12 oz.

We have big babies.

 

My 100 lb. friend (pre-pregnancy) gave birth (naturally) to an 11 lb. 2 oz. baby. He's 11 now and normal sized. She was the most uncomfortable looking pregnant woman I've ever seen. She truly looked like she had a basketball under her top.

 

Thanks to everyone who suggested earlier this year/last year that I get my son into speech therapy and the Early Intervention programs.

He's been in speech therapy for a few months now, and the difference is notable. He's still way behind in his communication skills, but he's making steady, slow progress. He starts early childhood special education pre-school in August, right after he turns three.

Right now, his diagnosis is "small child with developmental delay," but we are taking him in for a full autism test in September. The school psychologist said we should be prepared for either diagnosis, because it's pretty close. His social skills are still just fine for his age, but he has some weird personality quirks and is developing slowly in general. She gave him the M-CHAT screening test, and he had no critical flags but three borderline flags, which was the minimum to trigger a full testing.

Having seen how his speech therapist works with him, I've pretty much thrown away any thoughts of homeschooling. Blown away by how well a professional can teach him, and teach me to teach him.

 

Glad to hear you are happy with the process. The older I get, the more I understand the having the pros do their job almost always is the best choice.

 

My newborn is now a 1-year old.
Tonight was the first night she ever woke up in the middle of the night. Cause? Teething.
She got her first three in OK, but now we think some of the back ones are trying to come in and she was pretty miserable. To add to it, she hasn't been eating that much with the teeth coming in - or at least not what she usually does - so at 2 she woke up and was pissed. I gave her a sippy cup of milk and in between sips she screamed. It was a blood-curtling cry. Made me hurt inside.
After about an hour - probably how long it took for the medicine to kick in - she relaxed. Just got her into her crib and she's going back to sleep.
Where was Mrs. Rhody? Sleeping. She can owe me one.