Times are changing

My youngest daughter, who I call Sweetness, is 26 years young, so it has been a long time since I took care of a baby. One thing I've noticed having The Little Prince around is that almost everything that I did 26 years ago is now "out." I'll begin with feeding, although I may be comparing apples to oranges when I write about taking care of a baby who was overnight in the hospital after birth to a baby who spent 85 days in the hospital.

With Sweetness, it was feeding-on-demand. When she was hungry she let me know and she got fed. The Little Prince is on the NICU schedule. Every three hours the nurses checked his vital signs, changed his diaper, and fed him. Most of the time he was getting fed through a feeding tube that went directly to his stomach. Then, when he learned to suck and swallow, he was bottle fed … whether he was hungry or not. Dr. Mc and Big Daddy were told to follow the same three hour feeding schedule. I was feeding him at 5 p.m. yesterday, but he really wasn't hungry. I suggested that they feed the baby on demand instead of force feeding him. The last thing I would want is a five-year-old who had to be fed at 11 p.m., 2 a.m. and 5 a.m.! The McZams have a visit with their pediatrician today and this will be a topic for discussion.

Today I'm creating downstairs de-cluttering. While the garage apartment was going through de-cluttering some of the items made their way into the house. My goal this weekend is to do some de-cluttering in the house to pitch or donate items so there will be a place for the treasurers that came from the garage apartment.