baby language

So my mother bought us a DVD for Christmas that we've just got out and started watching again. It's called Dunstan Baby Language. The theory is that babies have a universal language they speak, and that they have different cries you can identify. Now that we've been home with Sophie for a couple weeks, we think we can hear some of them. Mostly "Eh" (I need to burp) or "Eairh" (I'm gassy). The "I'm hungry" we don't get too often, since she is fed every 3 hours, and "I'm sleepy" she pretty much takes care of whenever and wherever. Still, it's a fascinating concept and hopefully it will help us keep her from being so frustrated. We had already figured out that pretty much every time she fusses is because she has tummy pains, and this is more confirmation. If it weren't for that, she'd hardly ever cry, I think.

But when she does get cranky, it's tough. Like the nurses and doctors always told us, there is nothing wrong with her lungs. Amazing how someone so small can be so loud. We usually get a little warning, though. She turns red very easily (a trait she gets from her mother), usually before the crying actually starts. I've posted before and after pics, which I'm sure some will think is mean of me. But for the most part, she is really pretty easy going. Thursday she was either sweet or sleeping for 24hrs straight.

And it is rare that she doesn't sleep most of the night. Or even if she's awake, she won't make any noises all night. We'll go in to check on her at 2am or 4 or 5 and she might just be hanging out, looking around, listening to the radio. The nurses suggested we leave a radio on in her room with her at nights. In the NICU, babies get used to the constant noise of all the monitors beeping, alarms going off, and other babies crying. In fact, it's all they have known since birth. So when they get home, the silence can actually bother them. We usually have it on the classical music station or cd, but Stephanie is also introducing her to NPR, to my chagrin. (Although after midnight it changes to the BBC World broadcast, and Sophie and I like to listen to that. The funny thing is: Stephanie can't stand BBC.)

We also went to the orthopedist this week. He didn't schedule an hip ultrasound beforehand, though, which surprised us. Then pretty much the only thing he did when he came in the exam room was look at her and say, "Hmm, let's get another hip ultrasound and see you back in 2 weeks." Well, gee, thanks for making us come out to hear that. I guess the one good thing was that he did change out and adjust her harness (seen on the left) for the spare one we brought home with us, so we can wash the nasty one she's been wearing. We aren't supposed to take her out of it, so she can only have spongebaths for now. But she does seem to like them, so that's good. She gets 2 or 3 a week. One of the night nurses at the hospital had Sophie quite a few times, including the night we "roomed in". This nurse is older (it seems like nurses are either young and right out of school, or they've been doing it for 20+ years) and from somewhere in the UK and has a neat accent. She would give Sophie a bath and say, "So-phie, do you want to go to the bee-you-tee par-lor?" before washing her hair. So now we say that to her with our best attempt at the accent, and it cracks us up.