The experiments

We brought Max home and we've learned quite a bit:  First, we had no idea how much effort and planning it took to reheat spaghetti and eat it when you have a baby.  Or anything, for that matter.  Max is sleepier in the morning, so that's probably the best time to run errands, drink water, breathe, etc.  BTW, to those many, many people we have undoubtebly offended by not returning calls, forgetting our kid's name (as I did once when I was really tired), etc.  we'll get better at this.  

So here is a picture of Delia next to a happily sleeping Max:

The casual observer would simply see a generic photo of mother and baby.  A more alert reader may wonder why a hairdryer is next to Max.  An experienced parent would know there was trouble.  In fact, on this night at 1:20 am, Max would only be calmed by the sound of a hair dryer and Todd left it on several hours while he tried to sleep.  (Delia went to the other room.  She had way more success.)  "The Happiest Baby on the Block" said that white noise imitates what's in the uterus, which explains its soothing effect.  In this vein, here's another photo.

This shows Max listening to the soothing sounds from http://www.soundsleeping.com/, which has a mix of noises from a bonfire, rain, etc.  It seems to work, but in fact we've noticed whatever works today does not work tomorrow as Max learns our attempts to foil his crying.

I've (Todd) soothed him by looking at him, making eye contact and singing.  He will look at me, baby to father, for a little while, and then start bawling uncontrollably.  I should brush my teeth first.

Our first foray into actions that will land Max in Child Protection is to feed him every four hours or even longer - way outside very strict instructions from the nurses to feed every 2-3 hours.  Why are we refusing to do something that will clearly make Max eat more?  Below is the result of my attempt to wake Max for a feeding after about 3 hours.  I removed his swaddle so he can flail around, removed his clothes so he'll get uncomfortable and shiver, poke his lower back, etc. and in general followed the nurses' recommendations.  

    Not too effective.  Even when he does wake up, he'll feed maybe 10 minutes before falling asleep.  Then, given that it takes so long to wake him up, we'd actually have to start at the 2-hour mark to get him feeding in 3 hours.  So I think we'd just be training Max to eat lightly and develop insomnia.  If we wait 4 hours instead, Max wakes up more easily and is pretty ravenous.  He'll feed 30-45 minutes instead of 10 (so I think he's actually eating more.)  And we can sleep (hopefully).  His weight is good, he's soiling his diapers at about the right rate, and he's not getting jaundice, so we'll stick with the plan for now.