The Zonks...Plus Probiotics

I know this will probably jinx it and ruin it all, but Liam slept for five and half hours straight last night! That's his longest stretch to date. There has been maybe one time when he slept for five hours, but he usually only lasts 3.5-4. Of course, after about 4 hours, I woke up frequently to make sure he really was still asleep, so I didn't reap the benefit. Oh well, I'm hoping for a repeat.

Also, yesterday I started putting him down for naps in his bed when he was drowsy, but not asleep. I normally have to wait for him to be fully asleep to lay him down. I decided to try this and see if it worked, and so far it has! I keep the door cracked so I can peek in on him, and the apartment is so small I have no trouble hearing him if he complains. He only fussed once yesterday evening (turns out he was still hungry), but every other time he has fallen asleep on his on with no fussing and definitely no crying. It's worked so far today as well.

This is all great, even if it only lasts just these couple of days. I feel like Liam hasn't slept well the past couple of weeks, at least during the day. I mean, there would be hours-long stretches when he'd be awake. During that time he would get somewhat fussy, but usually not all-out crying. I think stomach pains kept him awake. I could tell he was tired, but he just wouldn't sleep much. Sometimes he'd take little short naps, but nothing significant. Relief would finally come after a couple of days of that pattern. I think he was just so worn out that he'd have a day where he finally slept like a normal baby to make up for all he missed.

Zonked out on daddy.

As mentioned in a previous post, we are still trying to get rid of thrush. I am taking medication for it because I have some pains normally caused by thrush. Liam is getting purple mouth to try and get rid of it. I even called the pediatrician about it this week to see if there is something else we can do and the nurse told me to just keep doing the messy gentian violet. Thankfully, it is just in his mouth and not in his diaper area as well, which can happen. I did some research online to try to find the causes of thrush. The one that may be the probable cause for our thrush is that I had to get antibiotics during Liam's labor and delivery. Antibiotics just kill bacteria, with no regards to that which is the good kind or that which is the bad kind. They all get zapped. So an imbalance can occur in both the mother and child where there is not enough good bacteria to control the growth of yeast, and thrush is essentially a yeast infection. Will had talked to a coworker whose child had thrush and he mentioned that what finally kicked it for them was giving the baby probiotics: good bacteria. Then it all made sense. Liam most likely doesn't have enough good bacteria in him to fight off the thrush. So I've been giving him some infant probiotic powder in one bottle a day since Wednesday. He's due for another purple mouth tonight, so I'm curious to see if the combination will work. I definitely don't expect it to work immediately, but I'm hoping to see some progress. Probiotics are also helpful with infant stomach issues, and I can definitely tell his tummy hasn't hurt as much the past day or so, hence being able to sleep well. He's also been more amiable when he's awake, so we've been able to play more and he has actually let me read to him for a good amount of time. I've gotten lots more smiles and cute noises too! Maybe we're on to something with these probiotics.

Little man is growing up so fast! He'll be 7 weeks old tomorrow, and then in another week I'll be able to say he's two months old. TWO MONTHS. It's flown right by.