18 Day Old Update

• Henry had a doctor's appointment yesterday. Since birth, he has grown 1.5 inches and 9 oz over his birth weight. He has gained 12 ounces since his last appointment 9 days ago, which is very exciting. Since I am breastfeeding exclusively, I am always worried that he is getting enough to eat (since you can't see how much he is eating like you would with a bottle.) I have been feeding him on demand since he was born, which is pretty time consuming. Since I want him to gain weight, I really don't mind. He is so young, and there will be ample time in the future to get him on a schedule. Generally he wants to eat every two to two and half hours, and he takes about 20 minutes per feeding. Lately, he has been "cluster feeding" where he wants to eat every hour for about 15 minutes over a few hour period. We may try to offer him a bottle at around 3 weeks (breastmilk, not formula) to get him used to it. I have heard that babies generally are not all that receptive to the idea at first!
• Just as I suspected, he was diagnosed with thrush, which is a yeast infection in his mouth. He had white patches on his tongue on Monday, which have spread to his lips and cheeks. It is so sad to look at, but I have been told that it is not really painful. He has to be on an oral antifungal solution for 14 days, and I have cream that I need to use. They need to treat both of us otherwise we will just pass it back and forth during feedings. The doctor said that it is hard to predict where he got it. It could be caused by the fact that he was exposed to the antibiotics that I was on while I was in the hospital, but that is unlikely. She just said that babies are very "yeasty creatures" which I thought was funny and that this is very common. It could have also presented itself as a diaper rash. However, it does give some explanation as to why my normally sweet boy has been so crabby the past few days. The yeast in his mouth can also be passed into his intestines, which causes gassiness.
• He passed all of his newborn screening tests and his next visit is when he is one month old.
• Thanks to Merri for reminding me about the techniques to calm a baby that are in the book Happiest Baby on the Block. I had read parts of this while I was pregnant but had not picked it up recently. I tried them on Henry yesterday, and he was out like a light in about 2 minutes! It involves the 5 S's (Shushing, Swaddling, Sucking, Lay on Stomach or Sideways, and Swaying). You do all of these simultaneously, and it reminds the baby of being in the womb and calms them. It is shocking at how well it works.
• Henry absolutely hated wearing his Bumblebee Halloween costume, which I suspected he would. He flips out when anything is put on his head and gets hot very easily. He wore it for a total of two minutes, just long enough to take a few pictures in it and with his Grandma Marlene and Grandpa Joe who had come in just to see him dressed up. He looked more like an angry hornet! Somehow I don't think these were the keepsake photos that they were expecting!
• Henry had his first real bath on Tuesday (we needed to spongebathe until his cord stump fell off.) He loved it! So cute, didn't cry one bit.