Hiccups

When Megan started taking formula from a bottle she would get the hiccups. Actually, it happened every time my husband fed her which I thought was hysterical. He thought it was pretty funny, too. She sounded like a squeak toy-it was cute. She is almost 6 weeks old now and she still gets the hiccups, but not nearly as often. In the hospital, the nurse told us that they bothered us more than they bothered her and that she could sleep right through them. She was right. Little Megan would sometimes hiccup her way to dreamland. Which brings me to wonder: at what point do we learn to be bothered by the hiccups?

A few nights ago Megan got the hiccups again. She was starting to drift off and I thought nothing of it because of my previous hiccup training. I noticed, though, that she wasn't falling right off to sleep. Her tummy was full and her bottom was clean, and I know she was tired, but she kept getting woken up by this strange, sudden expulsion of air that came out with a cute, little squeak noise. Every time time it happened her eyes would open slightly. I don't know if out of annoyance or surprise, but they definitely kept her from her dreams.

Why after 5 weeks of happy hiccups was she suddenly annoyed by them? When did she learn that they bothered her? At what point do we decide that something bothers us? I think the answer is in our natures. I think we just figure out what we like and don't like. No one necessarily has to tell us that we like something. Oh sure, we can be influenced to like something, or for something not to bother us. We can learn to like something, or dislike it. We can even learn to sleep through the hiccups.

My nearly 6 week old baby is learning these things. She is still amazing. She is learning that her mama's kiss can make her feel better. She is learning that sleeping on bosoms is much nicer than her bassinet. She is learning that when she cries mama or daddy will come to her rescue (we've learned the "I need you" cry). She has also learned to control her hiccups.