Enzo At Two Months
Enzo is now eight weeks, one day old. What a long eight weeks and one day it has been.
The first week was relatively easy, in retrospect. Basking in the joy of a newborn, we were pretty excited and nervous all at the same time. He cried, we fed him, he slept. During this week we also had our first visit to the hospital (one of the top ten in the US, btw) because he had hyperbilirubinemia. He spent twenty-four hours in the hospital getting phototherapy to address this.
Week two started to get a bit more labor intensive. He started become a bit fussier and the sleep started getting random. Near the end of week three, we switch his formula from Similac Organic to Similac Sensitive (to help with fussiness and gas). The first two days of this showed some improvement, but then it dropped off.
At the beginning of week four, I returned to work. For the next two weeks we got very little sleep. He got to where he was sleeping a total of six or seven hours per day, and spent the rest of his waking moment fussy and unhappy. Frustration crept in quickly. Lack of sleep plus constant crying from your infant (and not being able to console him in any manner) does not make for a pleasant household. Not to mention not knowing what the problem is, but knowing he is in pain.
It is during this time of sheer exhaustion and frustration we became so irritated with him. It sounds awful to say that, but our exhaustion and frustration plus his constant crying and fussing brought us to that place. I still feel horribly about the stern words and glaring looks he received from me. Make no mistake, we love him dearly, we just didn't like him much, each other, or ourselves much during this time.
Our pediatrician diagnosed him with both laryngomalacia and GERD. We started him on infant Zantac. We also, per our pediatrician's recommendation, switch his formula again, to Similac Alimentum, a hypoallergenic formula. Within twenty-four hours of switching his formula, we had a different baby on our hands.
At the end of week six, a new evening sleep pattern began: We would feed him about 10pm or so and then put him down - he slept until 4:30am. Some nights he would even make it to 5:15am. I cannot tell you how happy this made us. During the day he was still fairly fussy, which constantly tested my wife's patience (and then mine, when I got home from work). 
Now, at week eight, he has broken the overnight sleep pattern and we're trying to figure out the new pattern and still maintain some semblance of our sanity. Yep, that's the great thing <snort> - his randomness and creating and breaking of patterns. What is soothing today may be antagonistic tomorrow.
If there is one thing that is absolutely true as a parent it is this: every pregnancy and every child is different. A lot of similarities between them, but still different and unique.
Since the Zantac has been of minimal help, our pediatrician has switched us to Prevacid, which, while only once a day, is a pain to administer. The tablet doesn't dissolve well, so it is a challenge to make sure he gets a proper dose. The Zantac was in syrup form that was easy to give to him.
He's going in for 'surgery' next week to get a laryngoscopy, a tracheoscopy, and a bronchoscopy. We're both a little nervous about the fact that he'll be fully anesthetized. Not to mention my general dislike of hospitals, and particularly seeing my son in one.
We would love for him to return to his (approximately) six hour overnight sleep schedule, but above that, we want what every parent wants for their child - the child to be healthy and happy. If he would feel better, he'd not be so inconsolable during the day.
The picture above was taken (using my HTC S620) on Labor Day 2007, one of his few good (i.e. mellow, dare I say 'happy') days since he's been born.