11 weeks and growing

Cole turned 11 weeks old yesterday. (Every Thursday brings a new week). I can't believe he'll be 3 months old in just two weeks. It really is crazy how time flies. We went to the doctor and the nurse said he was 12.8! Insanity. He'll be able to fit into those swimmie diaper shorts we have for him by next week. I think that means it's time for another try in the pool.

Cole is extremely interested in his surroundings. What he loves most is to be taken outside to explore nature. If he has a bout of inconsolable crying in the house, sometimes all I have to do is take him onto the front porch and he quiets down considerably. He is napping right now (why else do you think I'm writing this?) but I think when he wakes up I will share with him a photo album of our honeymoon. He loves looking at pictures of daddy and I.

I took Cole to the doctor yesterday because over the past week he has been spitting up a LOT more than  normal and sometimes it seems as though he spits up the entire contents of a meal. This is extremely frustrating for me because it means he gets hungry sooner and it makes me feel that all that time I spent with him nursing was wasted. And a lot of effort as of late goes into my nursing. He gets so active when he's on the boob that I have to keep his head tight onto my body or else he'll pull off suddenly either because he has gas or because he's interested in the patterns on the couch. I went to a breastfeeding support group on Wednesday and the lactation consultant there said she was very concerned for my nipples because Cole keeps pulling on them and making them extremely sore. He's also very keen on sucking for the past few days because he is teething. Now I know it sounds odd that a baby so young can teethe, but that doesn't mean he's going to get a tooth in tomorrow. It just means his gums are getting sore etc, and he is desperate to get something in his mouth to relieve that soreness. He has been gagging himself as of late in his numerous attempts at getting his entire fist into his mouth.

Of course when I brought the issue of teething up to the doctor he immediately dismissed it and said he was too young - but he's not- he's just 2 weeks shy of three months and that is the age the doctor said babies could start teething. Sometimes, I wish the doctor would take a look at his age before seeing him.
It seemed like everything the lactation consultant told me on Wednesday, the doctor contradicted on Thursday, and I left his office extremely frustrated. (It was the lactation consultant who confirmed my belief that he was teething.) Getting back to the issue of spitting up - the doctor said he thought it was best to wait and see if his system matures soon and if the spitting up is still bad then there are ways to treat it. The doctor was reassured by Cole's good weight gain, so it must not be the entire meal he vomits- although it certainly seems so.

So I've learned that when it comes to raising babies the people offer the most unsolicited advice or anecdotes about sleeping. Sometimes it's nice to hear it, others not so much. The worst was our family doctor offering advice when I did not ask for it nor expect it, thereby blindsiding me. All I have to say is, if you don't plan on helping me get my son to stay asleep after a middle-of-the-night -waking, then you know where you can take your advice.