Evan went to bed last night a little before 10:30. It's now 7:30 am and he's still sleeping! Woot woot! (Did I mention I have the best baby ever?) I think his longer sleeping at night nowadays comes from:
a) maturity and developing habits
b) massage therapy
c) staying up late watching BYU basketball games with daddy
Yesterday we finished the last of 3 sessions with a massage therapist from Evan's Early Intervention Program. When Evan is in a good mood he LOVES his massage time. We use food grade coconut oil so it's safe if he chooses to eat his hands afterwards. There are so many benefits to infant massage including promoting body awareness, improved sleep patterns, reducing stress hormones, relieving discomfort of gas, colic and constipation, and helping baby feel loved. We got into the massage program initially because I mentioned to our Occupational Therapist how Evan goes crazy every time we change his diaper. She suggested massage as a way to familiarize him with touch in a positive way so diaper changes won't be so scary. And now Evan loves diaper changes! Or at least he doesn't scream during them which is a large improvement. I kinda want to teach an infant massage class to other mothers because I feel really lucky that we're in a program where it was introduced to us.
On that note, it's actually really cool to be involved in an Early Intervention Program as a new mommy. (and...the screaming child has awoken. No fear, I can type one-handed while he eats) We have in-home nurses and therapists who give advice and provide help for all areas of Evan's development. I'm sure I could have survived on my own but I'm so glad I've had their guidance. We're especially looking forward to Aquatic Therapy which he can start when he's 6 months old.
Later today we have a bladder study at Primary Children's. Basically, they stick a small catheter into Evan's bladder and inject some blue-dyed fluid. They use an x-ray machine during the whole thing to see if the bladder and sphincter muscles work as they should when the bladder gets full and to see if there's any reflux into his kidneys. When we did this study before in San Francisco we were told everything looked perfect and we didn't need to cath Evan. We're hoping for the same results this time though I tend to be pessimistic and assume something will go wrong. That way I can be pleasantly surprised if it's good news. We're still waiting for our oxygen results too. I'm not getting my hopes up there either.
Oooo... does massage therapy go for mommies too?? :) But that sounds like something I should start doing on my little guy as well. He's still struggling with good sleep and cries for diaper changes too. And he's almost 11 months! Wow. I should have gotten on board with that a long time ago! :)
ReplyDeleteI hear you--Isaiah always wants me to practice massage on him but unfortunately I doubt it has the same effects. :)
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