Our Little Whopper
Nov 14th, 2006 by Tana
I weighed Joey last night when I was at Milkworks for their breastfeeding support group: he weighed 10 lb. 4 oz. Mind you, he was 8 pounds at birth, they’re supposed to get back to their birthweight in two weeks and gain 1/2 ounce to 1 ounce every day. He was three weeks old yesterday, and believe me, he looks nothing like the baby we brought home. Even pictures taken just a week ago look like he’s a different person. He’s starting to develop rolls on his little arms and legs. They’re just so cute at this stage!
Yesterday, Oprah had on this gal who claimed she understood baby language. She says there are five words that newborns use.
neh means they’re hungry
owh means they’re sleepy
heh means they’re uncomfortable
eair signals lower gas pain and is often accompanied by leg movement
eh means they need to be put up so they can burp
Traci (my sister) called me to make sure I was watching Oprah and to find out what I thought of it. We actually get to see Oprah twice where we live and I had missed the first ten minutes of it on the first showing so I made a point to see the segment again on the second showing.
The jury is still out on whether or not this gal is right. When they showed tape of babies making those sounds, they were very familiar baby sounds. But as far as figuring out how your own baby sounds when making those noises…we’re still working on that. You have to hear the noise, guess at which one you think it is, and then see if you’re right. Right now I think I’m best at the eair and eh noises.
What they didn’t talk about on Oprah (and I’m wondering if it might be on the video you can purchase beginning on November 22nd) is what to do when you hear the particular noises. With the eh noise, she said put them up on your shoulder so they can burp, which makes sense. But what do you do when they make the eair noise? That’s the one I hear most often and I’m not sure what to do about it. Sometimes it takes a few minutes before you hear the noise they make when passing lower gas.
Needless to say, it has made me more aware of what little noises Joey makes and what they might mean. We’ve been doing the swaddling thing for unconsolable crying three nights in a row now so I’m especially curious to see if there is a “clue” he may be giving us that we’re simply missing before he gets all wound up. Check back in a few days and I’ll let you know how it’s going.