Gassy Baby

It's common knowledge that newborn babies are gassy, and Max is definitely no exception to that. He is one very gassy baby and I recently learned that premies are more gassy than full term babies. That is because we put food in their system way before their bodies are ready. Basically we messed with his GI system so he is very gassy and his system will eventually become normal within the first year. I was also told that we will experience his extreme gassiness for the next 8 weeks and then he should be a regular gassy baby. I don't mind him farting all the time, but I do feel bad for him because obviously his tummy hurts a lot and he is constantly fussy over it. No, he is not colicky, but the nurse told us this is just normal premie behavior. 

We learned all of this information from the nurse that came and checked on him last week. Max is enrolled in a state program for premie babies to ensure he is developing properly. This was something the NICU nurses encouraged us to sign him up for. A nurse will come to the house every other month to check on his developmental skills to make sure he is progressing and if he gets too far behind in something we then can get him help right away. At first we thought this would be too intrusive and was not interested, but the nurses insisted its a great program and we can end it whenever we want. Well we had our first visit last week and I learned a lot from the nurse and I am glad she visited us. 

The first appointment was more of a "get to know you" meeting and then going forward she will test Max on his skills to see how far along he is. She weighed him and he came in at a whopping 8lbs 12 oz. WOW! He gained a pound in a week. We also discussed his feedings as he sometimes nurses and other times he will only take a bottle and this can get frustrating. I mentioned how it would be nice if he could just nurse all the time and do so without being fussy. I learned that we were confusing his gassiness with hunger. Premies will root when they are gassy since their tummy's hurt and they are confusing that with hunger. She informed us to soothe him first before trying to feed him. Do this for at least 20 min and if nothing is working then he probably really is hungry. She also informed us that he should really only be eating every 3-4 hours so that should help us figure out if its gas or hunger. No wonder why he as been gaining weight fast as we were feeding him all the time whenever he was rooting. Based on the new found information I have been very successful with nursing him at every feeding. It has been much better and less tiring on me. 

I am very glad we signed up for this program and going forward we are able to make sure Max develops properly. We will see nurse Jackie again in two months.

All pooped out from the Badger football game on Sarurday!