Things you learn about a newborn

I mentioned sometime ago in a previous entry that I will post about new things you learn about a newborn. Here are things I may not have mentioned before, and according to my own little 'mommy brain'. It makes me feel warm inside remembering the times Kayden was just a teeny tiny little thing! Small and squishy!

Kayden at 5 days old
• Babies come out looking puffy. Their environment when in utereo is nice and warm, so they put on extra weight before they are born, to protect themselves from the cold outside. They then lose up to about 10% of their weight a few days after they are born. And if born via a natural delivery, their eyes are probably puffy too, because of the pressure their little heads go through during birth.
• Even without feeding right after they are born, babies may pass a black coloured, tar textured poo called meconium. It is from the liquids and other substances they take in while in utereo. I don't know why its black though?
• They then feed at very short regular intervals. It's their way of making sure that the supply is there because the more they feed, the more milk you will produce.
• A newborn's stomach is tiny. It is the size of a small coin, possibly just only about 2-3cms in diameter. At 3 months of age now, Kayden's stomach is probably only just slightly larger than the size of a ping pong ball.
• All babies stomachs look puffy. It is NOT wind as many of the older generation will tell you. Its alot of innards to fit inside a small body!
• They will recognize Mommy and Daddy's voice straight away and be able pick it up from a room full of people. They will probably calm down from hearing mommy or daddy's voice.
• The have 2 spots on their heads which are soft. Their skulls are not fully closed to allow their heads to fit through the birth canal during birth.
• Newborns are very noisy breathers! Their nasal passage ways are tiny so they sneeze alot due to the dust and fluff. Remember I did this?
• When you see a baby suddenly throw their arms out while they are sleeping, it is called the 'startle reflex'.
• When you put a finger into the palms of your new baby, he/she will always curl their finger on over it - the 'grasp reflex'.
• If you sweep your baby's cheek or near his/her mouth, they will turn towards it to suckle. - the 'rooting reflex'.

When I was pregnant with Kayden I read up alot on things before he was born, so I knew what to expect in the early days. Luckily I did too, there is just no time nor energy after baby arrives!

Kayden's already outgrown some of those newborn milestones. He's growing up too quickly!

Sometimes I wonder who was doing all the pushing and walking...

Routines at 3 months

I think at 3 months of age, Kayden has finally fallen into a routine.

8 am     : Nappy change, first feed of the day

8.30am : Back to bed for his morning nap, where he usually sleeps for 2 sometimes 3 hours. I either go back to bed or am up for my breakfast.

11am    : Feedtime again but this time he keeps up for abit more and I put him in his bouncer and its playtime with mommy.

12pm   : Ideally, it is nap time again. And I am able to have my lunch while watching daytime TV.

2pm    :  Kayden wakes up after a 2 or 2.5 hour nap and is up and very alert this time round. Nappy change and it is time for another feed. After that, I sometimes put him on his playmat and plays, or he is in his bouncer while I go around the house doing some household chores. But around this time is also when he gets grizzly and clingy. He may then transforms into a baby koala, meaning he insists on me carrying him for at least the next hour or so!

4pm     : Hopefully back in his cot for another nap. Sometimes he wants another feed at this time. By this time, I am usually exhausted and I may also go for a nap while he's asleep.

6pm     : Nappy change when Kayden wakes up, and if he's happy to be back in his bouncer I put on something on TV for him or put him on his playmat while I am in the kitchen preparing dinner for the evening.

7pm      : Dez is home from work and he gives Kayden his bath. I feed him and we have our dinner after.

8pm or 9pm : Bedtime for Kayden or he spends some time with us, or Dez and I watch some TV.

11pm    : Kayden is up again for his last feed of the day. Dez changes his nappy, gives him a bottle of formula and puts him back to bed.

12MN  : Dez and I go to bed.

4.30am  : My boobs wake me up and I attach myself to the pump while I surf the internet using my mobile (I need something to do during don't I?).

5am      : I slump back into bed until Kayden is up again.

********************************************************************

So you see, 4 to 5 hour sleeps is the best I get! I said my goodbyes to my 8 hour night sleeps shortly after I fell pregnant. I don't see us reuniting at least till June, where I may wean Kayden off, but I'll see how we go then.

Showers of blessings...which he didn't share...

And thank god for that! It was the first morning of Chinese New Year and I was all dressed and ready to head out for yumcha with the family. I usually have us all ready, Kayden's nappy bag packed and then leave it to the last 15 minutes or so before I do one last nappy change before we step out the door.


I have just finished wiping him down and only turned sideways to place the soiled nappy into the bin. It was a mere 2 seconds later when I turned back, to see my son with a stunned look on his face.


Somehow, he had managed to wee onto himself! His face and body wet from him giving himself a golden shower!! I know that urine is sterile, but it still didn't stop me from giving out a loud yelp which brought Dez running into the room. Smelling like pee isn't the best baby scent, especially on the first day of new year! So we made a mad dash to give him a quick bath.


Funny now, when I think back about it! And oh boy, what a story we have for his 21st birthday speech! Haha!

Kayden at 3 Months

Kayden is 3 months old. He now weighs 6kgs and is 60cms tall. My newborn is not so new anymore! I used to get  the"what a tiny little baby!" comment from other moms in the parents' room. Now, I get the "he's big for a 3 month old!".  Indeed, Kayden is alot taller (I find it weird to say longer, even though he's not standing) and bigger in comparison to other 3 month olds I see.

The poor little man is suffering from cradle cap at the moment, I call it cradle crap. A dry crusty layer that forms on the scalp because of excessive oils or something like that. It does no harm to babies, and was told it shouldn't bother him. But my poor baby is obviously bothered by it. His face full of scratches when he misaims, trying to reach for the top of his head.  3 to 6 months it may last for, the doc says. So lots of olive oil before bathtime to help soften it, but only to come back again the next day, argh!

He is quite a chatterbox! When left in his rocker, he babbles to himself, sometimes for a good half hour or so. And he babbles right back when being spoken to.He does the "auuughhhh" and the "aughh gooos" to anything in sight!

2 weeks ago, Kayden also discovered his hands. He waves it in front of his face with his eyes transfixed at it! It was hilarious when I once caught him dozing off in his rocker still with his arm held up to his face! Funny as!

He has also finally started to sleep longer hours at night. Once or twice a week, he surprises me and sleeps all the way through! But I still crawl out of bed in the middle of the night anyway, breastfeeding moms will know why!

He loves his cot mobile! It is just a simple one, its not battery operated so it doesn't turn unless we do it for him. And when we do, the little fella looks at us, and almost always gives a wide grin as if to say "Thanks Mom/Dad!",  before resuming the conversation with his pals!

I love my little man!

Harumi's carrot and tuna salad

When I saw this recipe from The Little Teochew I was itching to make it. And I am so glad I did, it was so yummy! I love tuna, and I love salads, perfect for the hot weather we have in Melbourne this week too! It is named Harumi's salad because the original recipe hails from Harumi Kurihara - the Martha Stewart of Japan! Interesting, you learn something new everyday. I might do a little bit more research on her later..
I ate this as a main meal, but you could probably portion it as an entree or a side salad. So depending on big you want your portion to be, it could serve either 1 or 4.

Recipe

(Original recipe from Harumi Kurihara and adapted from The Little Teochew)

2 carrots julienned

90g canned tuna (I used Sirena brand and drained most of the oil)

50g finely sliced onion (I had a lonesome red one sitting by itself)

1 tsp finely minced garlic

oil for frying

Dressing: (mix all of these first before dressing the salad)

*2 tbsp white vinegar ( I only had red wine vinegar so I used that, tasted fine!)

*1 tbsp mustard ( I used wholegrain mustard)

*salt and pepper to taste

*splash of soy sauce

*1 tsp honey ( I tasted the dressing before and after the honey. Like Ju, I think the honey is needed to adjust the tanginess of the vinegar.)

1. Mix up all the ingredients for the dressing.

2. Heat some oil up in a saucepan. Lightly stirfry the garlic, onion and carrots. The carrots should still be crunchy. Just cook to remove the rawness of the vegetables. Remove from heat.

3. Drain the tuna, add the vegetables and dress the salad.

4. Chill and serve.

When the tree fell down...

Ok. It wasn't a tree, but it was a very BIG branch! We live in an extremely green area with lots of trees in our suburb. Many of the trees have been around for god knows how long. So, naturally, alot of the trees are tall and have extremely big and heavy branches. We came home one evening to find a note on our gate from a very kind neighbour who said she had witnessed a branch fall from a tree belonging to a restaurant on the other side of our fence fall into our backyard! It was late, so we couldn't see a thing. But the next morning, to our horror, this was what we saw.

The branch was obviously getting too heavy, and with the winds we had that week when it happened, it was no wonder this happened. It was no one's fault really. But I was annoyed because we are actually in the midst of selling our property and our perfectly manicured hedging is now all ruined! So were the fence and lattice.

But it was a relief when the owner of the restaurant took action almost immediately when informed about the damage. Within an hour of a quote, the tree people came, chopped off the monstrosity into blocks and took it away. And then it looked like this...

Open inspection was in a day and it wasn't a great way to showcase our backyard (which is big, and honestly part of the feature of our property). The fence guy who got the job from the restaurant owner didn't have enough materials to start work right away, but toddled off to get some wood from somewhere ( I suspect Bunnings from around the corner), came back to our place and quickly patched it up for us. It isn't the best job, but it will have to do for the time being!

*Inhale*. *Exhale*. Things happen for a reason.... happy thoughts... happy thoughts...

Just chilling out

Having a moment

People ask me how I am coping everytime they see me. I say fine and mean it too. Most of the times anyway. But with a new baby to cope with, things aren't always rosy. 

Right after Kayden was born, I was lucky enough to have my parents and aunt to help me out around the house. But they have since gone back home, and hubby has returned to work after the holiday season break too.

Sometimes I think "hey! I've recovered from the labour! I can jump, I can bend down,  and I can somewhat run again!". So I go about doing all the housework despite warnings from my mom and aunt (they were here to help me out during confinement) totally forgetting that the doc said it takes up to 3 months before I may fully recover from it all.

There was a night feed where I felt nothing seem to be going the right way. I was exhausted and Kayden was struggling as I was feeding him. Naturally all that wriggling brought up quite a bit of his feed which spilled onto his clothes, my clothes, the chair and the floor. Then I saw annoying baby spiders in the corners of the room as I was burping him. And just as I was putting him back into his cot, his cot door slided up and I was having difficulty pushing it back down, so I pushed and I pushed and all that noise woke hubby up and he came into the room.

I broke into tears. Nothing is going right!!! Everything is just wrong wrong wrong! Why is he puking so much? Why are there so many spiders in his room all of a sudden? What is wrong with the stupid cot door! Waaaa!!!!!

But my lovin husband immediately hugged and consoled me, telling me it is all part of having a new baby. There are many other first time moms out there who are trying to cope with it all too. I also know it is also due to my hormones settling down after the pregnancy.

Feeling reassured about it all, we both went back to our bed. Leaving Kayden soundly asleep in his cot, after all that commotion from before. He didn't stir one bit! Ahhhh... life of a baby...

Bath time

It has been just over 2 months since Kayden was born. I am still learning how to care for him and I think I have a touch and feel for most things so far. Except for the one thing. His bath! I have had a bad back for the past couple of years which required regular visits to the chiropractor's. I have only bathed him possibly just 5 times or less so far. Bending over while carrying him strained my back too much, so we are still thinking about solutions on how to improve this!

So hubby now gives him most of bath, it is great bonding time for father and son. He used to scream and squirm but now, the little man is as relaxed as he can be whenever he is in his little tub. He gives contented little sighs and kicks around,in the water and coos. He only lets out a little cry of annoyance when he is lifted out!

My happy Mr Chucker

Oh yes, he chucks up that much we usually have more than 1 piece of hanky/cloth on standby!

Happy New Year 2010

Greeting from hot and sunny Melbourne! It has been hot most of this week! My favourite way to start the new year! Whatever you are doing, I hope you are doing something nice with your loved ones!

Eat, drink and be merry! Happy new year 2010, from my family to yours!

Kayden 8 weeks - 2 months

Kayden is 2 months old! He now weighs 5.2kgs, that's almost a kilo since we weighed him at his health check 3 weeks ago. But I am not expecting him to keep gaining weight like this. Most breastfed babies gain lots during the first couple of months, then the weight gains slows down.

He has since hit several milestones of his age too. Mr Bobble Head is able to lift his head up momentarily when perched up on my shoulder. He smiles spontaneously (he smiles to himself or to the toys on his cot mobile) and responsively (when spoken to). Sometimes, I even catch him giggling in his sleep! Adorable when that happens!

My favourite would be that kayden has already started to 'baby talk'! He coos and babbles. We have 'conversations' in which he responds by going 'uhhhhhhh' 'ahhhhh' 'orrrrrrrrhhh' and then breaks into a wide toothless grin!

The not so favourite would be that he is already starting his drooling phase! Something I always thought would happen more at the 6 months mark where they are supposed to be teething (although some parenting materials I have read says it can start from the 3 month mark). U can see hin playing with the bubbles on his lips here!

Dirty laundry

Its amazing how much dirty laundry there is to do for a little person!!! The laundry rack is always being used these days. I have a little chucker on my hands. Kayden tends to throw up quite a bit of his feed most times. And not surprisingly, it ends up on his clothes. He goes through at least 2 to 3 change of clothes most days. Plus towels, handkerchiefs, socks and mittens!

On the side note, its true! That the sound of the kettle or washing machine lulls and soothes a baby to sleep. Some people even say that the AM channel of a radio station with that buzzing white noise does the trick too (if you can stand it). Kayden loves the sound of the washing machine doing its thing. He listens, and then dozes off.

Kayden at 7 weeks - Sleep deprivation

Kayden is 7 weeks old. And I am a walking zombie. Sleep? What is that? Gone were the days where I sleep for at least 6 hours! Going into REM mode for 2 hours is bliss these days! Kayden is still on 3 hourly feeds. It can take up to an hour or so to feed him at times. He suckles for about 30 minutes then I burp him. He tends to throw up abit of his feed most times, so I prop him up on my sholder for a little while more to make sure it all stays down. Otherwise, he will be grizzly again in 2 hours. And that, is exhausting. Because eg. it means, 2pm feed, finish at 3pm, and then at 4pm *waaaaa!!!!* and its feed time again. NOT fun. And makes mommy highly grouchy.



I have started him on formula feeds for night time in bid he sleeps longer (as formula takes longer to digest compared to breast milk). However, it still means that I am up hazy eyed twice during the night. Hazy eyed, legs, arms and eyes in auto pilot mode shuffling around and feeding him.

He has started sleeping for 4-5 hour stretches duringt he night this week. Its either the start of a sleeping pattern or that he is exhausted from all the X'mas festivities! The poor little man was so exhausted he managed to sleep through all the noise at the annual Christmas day dinner at a cousin's!


Edited to add: Oh my, I've read over this entry 7 months later. I was sleep deprived back then alright! All those spelling and grammatical errors! Haha! 

Merry Christmas 2009!

Merry Christmas 2009 everyone! Best wishes for a joyous and feastful season.


My exhausted santa's little helper was exhausted after LOL!

Kayden 6 weeks

Baby Kayden has been keeping his mommy extremely busy! I am sneaking this post in before his next feed!

Firstly, a quick update from my previous post. As you can probably see, Kayden is no longer jaundiced. YAY! Another visit to his paeditrician told us that all is well, he just had prolonged neonatal jaundice. However, during the visit he had the snuffles, his doctor suspected he might have a blocked nasel passage further down in his throat, and so the poor little man had to have a catheter stuffed right into his throat via his nose. The doc assured us it was nog painful at all, the catheter was extremely soft and smooth, it would just be uncomfortable for him. But, it was so painful to watch! Hubby couldn't bear to see it close up so I had to hold his head still while the doc did her thing!

Our delightful little mini is now 6 weeks old and weighed 4.3kgs at his last checkup. I use past tense because he seems to weigh heavier than that now. It won't be too long before I am going to struggle carrying a wriggly baby in my arms.


He still wakes up for his feed every 3 hours or so. But, he is now starting to stay awake longer where he looks around the room. He looks at me with his big round eyes and is starting to respond to our little conversations by smiling! It is rare but when he does that toothless grin, it melts your heart!

Still jaundiced

As I posted in an earlier entry, Kayden was diagnosed with jaundice at 4 days old. He underwent phototherapy for 30 hours and seemed to be getting better. He is now almost 3 weeks old but still, I see the yellowness in his skin and definitely still in the whites of his eyes.

To top it off, he seems to be getting the sniffles and quite a bit of phlegm in his throat too. One night, he was even making those throat clearing sounds like an adult! My poor baby didn't sleep well that night.

His paediatrician has requested we go for his check up earlier, at 2 weeks rather than at the 6 week mark to check on his jaundice.

My only comfort is that he is still feeding extremely well, which helps to flush the bilirubin out of his jaundiced system. Still doing lots of wet and dirty nappies.

I wonder what his doctor will say? I get a feeling Kayden is going to need another heel prick, to do yet another blood test. I hate it when they do that to him, that pitiful cry that he makes and the whining he does after, is so heartbreaking! Hopefully the jaundice is not too serious, and he does not have to return to the hospital for more phototherapy. Of which, I might have to be warded too, so I can feed him during the treatment.

Hopefully we have some good news to start our weekend this week...

A different type of list

Some people have a little notebook that that jot down their baby's feed time, when baby does a wet/dirty nappy, just like at the hospital where they write it all down on the clipboard. So do I. But that's hardly interesting for u isn't it?


I have this sheet of paper stuck on my fridge ever since I got back to the hospital.







Its my drug list! I am on several analgesic (pain relief) ever since the delivery.I find it really hard to keep up with what I had. The pregnancy brain has been overtaken by the new mommy brain. So, to make sure that the drug doesn't wear off before the pain kicks in again, I had to keep track of what I have taken at what time! The drugs are to cope with the pain from the bruising and my stitches. I'm starting to come off it these days, but I was pretty much drugged up 24/7 at the very start.


Panadol is a must for my entree everytime, and depending on how I feel, Tremadol and Voltaren for breakfast lunch or dinner haha! I love it when the midwives used to come into my room and say, its time for your drugs! LOL!

My little piglet

Literally. What is the noise that pigs make? Grunts? Snorts? Whatever u call it, he makes that sound when he sleeps! Nobody told me until he was born, that babies are noisy sleepers!! He whimpers, sighs, sneezes, hiccups, stretches and then grunts and snorts in his sleep! Apparently most babies do!



I got frustrated and attempted to 'suck' out whatever was blocking his nasal passageway with this.

A baby mucous sucker.



But I found nothing! I was starting to wonder what was wrong, until the maternal nurse told me that it is normal, and babies do all that because their nasal passageway is so tiny. And they sneeze usually not because they have caught a cold but probably because of the lint from the linen.





But what about the hiccups? I forgot to ask. He STILL gets the hiccups! Its so cute to hear when he gets them, AND LOUD.