We're Home!

Vanessa, Jonah, and I are finally home after a few rough nights at the hospital. The first night was hard because the doctors and nurses kept dropping by. During the second night, Jonah was not a happy man. We got into a bad cycle where we would feed, burp, and change him, but he would still not be fully content. He would generally sleep for 30 minutes or so after feeding, but would then wake up crying loudly being virtually inconsolable. During this time, we would do everything we could think of to calm him down. Unfortunately for Jonah (and his parents), nothing would calm him down. During a few of these bouts, we called nurses in to see if they had any suggestions. Their suggestions were fairly helpful, but nothing seemed to prevent Jonah from going into his crying fits. He was feeding well, so the nurses figured he wasn't hungry. He would generally cry for a little over an hour, eventually wearing himself out and falling to sleep. Needless to say, Vanessa and I were not doing well when Jonah would cry and cry. We were very nervous because his crying during his fits was so frantic--much different from his normal cry.

Yesterday morning we were getting everything ready to head home. Terri, the nurse who was checking us out, happened to be there when Jonah became inconsolable. She jumped right in to try to help calm Jonah down. After trying a few things, she had the idea that, while he is feeding well, perhaps he's not getting enough food. Vanessa's milk hasn't come in yet so Jonah was only getting colostrum (this is all new to me). Terri suggested that we give Jonah a supplement of formula after he breastfeeds. Sure enough, this totally calmed Jonah down and he has not had a crying fit since. Vanessa and I just about cried when we saw how content our little man was after getting some more food. Even though Jonah was breastfeeding well, he was still hungry. Poor little guy.


Supplementing with formula is interesting because the preferred method is not to use a bottle, but to use a syringe (with no needle) and a finger. I stick my finger in Jonah's mouth and then slowly deliver the formula into the side of his mouth. From Jonah's perspective, apparently this feels much like breastfeeding so he shouldn't have any problems primarily getting breastfed but also getting formula supplements.

You will all be happy to know that last night (our first night back at home) Jonah did MUCH better. His sleep pattern is still quite erratic (he'll nap for 3 hours, then 1 hour, then 2 hours, etc.), but he was much happier than during his first two nights. He would cry, of course, but he was never as frantic as he had been during his previous fits. Thank God for that, because I'm not sure how much more mom and dad could have handled.


Both Jonah and mom are sleeping soundly right now. I'm sure we'll have much more to post soon, but for now, we are simply trying to figure out how to keep our little man happy. Thanks everyone for the prayers and words of encouragement. We sure need them!