Infant care is intense!

Eli turned ten weeks old yesterday. I think it's a good time to pause and write down some thoughts about what life with him is like in these early days. As we've written down several times here, Eli is a very big boy. Keeping in mind the rate at which he's been gaining weight so far in his short life, I'd imagine he's about 18 pounds today. Just a guess. The average weight gain for breastfed babies is between 5-8 ounces per week at Eli's age; by my estimation, Eli had been gaining at a rate of 18-ish ounces per week for a while, and might be still.

What this means for me, it seems, is that he's most definitely not adhering to the average infant pattern of eating about every three hours. During the day, I'd estimate that he nurses about every 1.5 to 2 hours. Our first stretch of nighttime sleep with him might last 5-6 hours, which is quite a gift indeed (nothing to complain about there!), but after that he's often awake to eat every 1-2 hours, just like the daytime. So, for example, last night he nursed and went to sleep at 8:30 PM, and woke again at 1:30. After that, it was 4:00, 5:00 and 6:30 AM. He's sleepy during each of these wakings and doesn't want to be up for very long, so they aren't very disruptive to family sleep, thank goodness! :) (Although, on the other hand, if I could convince him to stay awake and eat more, perhaps it wouldn't be so frequent ... hm.)

Eli rarely cries, but he makes his desires and needs known in other ways. He's a skilled communicator and is not subtle, which makes him pretty easy to read. A question I'm pondering these days is this: is this Eli's pre-determined path through his early infant-hood (very rapid growth, frequent eating, strong attachment to Mommy), or is it a way of being that's arisen from the fact that it's possible? In other words, if I stuck to a strict feeding schedule of every three hours or didn't carry him and wear him on my body much of the day, would he adapt, or would he be undernourished? I want to make clear that I'm not second-guessing the path we're following--Eli's needs are making it a necessary and rewarding path full of cuddles with a very healthy baby. I'm just pondering the path that early infant development follows, and the relationship between baby biology and different parenting styles.

But here's the payoff: often, for about 30 seconds before he begins nursing, he just stares up at me and smiles. He could latch on and have his food right away, but more pressing for him is the bonding experience and the connection with Mama. He's intense in what he takes (milk, calories, time, etc.), but he's also very intense in what he gives.

I'm trying not to use too much hyperbole here, but the energy consumption and expression of need by this little guy feels very strong. It makes me think of a baby blue whale or a burning star or something along these lines ... how's THAT for hyperbole?! :)