Tag:baby underweight, more calories, not gaining weight

Our little prince is now 14 months old. Went to his doctor 2 weeks ago and was told that he is underweight.

At 14 months old, he only weighs 7.85kg, up 0.85kg since February 2008. 0.85kg over a period of two months is nothing to shout about. He should be weighing at least 9 to 10kg by now. The doctor is very concern about his weight gain. He is on solid food with cereal for breakfast and porridge for lunch and dinner. We cook the porridge with either meat, potato, carrot or spinach. And he is eating well with a big bowl of porridge per serving. The only thing he does not like is drinking milk. He prefers breast milk as he was fully breastfed since birth, but at this stage there is not enough breast milk to keep him satisfied.

The doctor advised us to fry the meat and other ingredients with good cooking oil first before putting them into pot to cook his porridge. This will add more calories and hopefully he will gain weight. If after a month of trying out this method, and he still does not gain weight, he would have to go for medical check up to determine the cause of not gaining weight.

Beside not gaining weight, he is fine and very active. He is a fine little boy and we have a tough time keeping up with his activities. How we wish he grows up faster so that we can have more time for ourselves. But on the other hand, we treasure your baby look and baby talk. You are our joy.

Tag:antibiotic, baby, fever, medicine, sick, sore throat

Our little prince is turning one year old next week.

He has been very good all this while. Only visit the doctor for his regular vacination. But recently about two weeks ago, he was not too well, with fever and sore throat and hoarse voice. It must have been a very stubborn bacteria infection which just refuse to clear even after two courses of antibiotic. He still has a little bit of hoarse voice.  He must have gotten it from my wife who was not well with more or less same symptoms just a few days before he was down with fever.

We have been having a hard time feeding him his medicine. It is breaks our heart  to see him cry every time when he sees the medicine. He seems to understand our conversation when it comes to feeding medicine time. If he can run, I think he would have run away from the medicine.

His doctor took his blood for some tests to check for any infections yesterday. He did not cry when the doctor poked his hand to draw the blood. Out of curiosity, he just watched the whole event without a sound. What a brave boy. Daddy is so proud of you. The result came back today and all is well. But he still have to continue with his antibiotic for a few more days to ensure that the bacteria is totally destroyed :-(  How I wish he doesn’t have to continue with his antibiotic. He has been on it for the past week. Guess for his own good, we have to bear with the sight of him refusing the medicine for a few more days.

He is a very active boy, climbing up and down all the time when he is well. It breaks our heart when he is not well. Do get well soon son.

Tag:8 months old, active, babies, playful

My little boy turns 8 months old today. Can’t believe it. 8 months has passed since the day he was born. And not to mention, the 9 months of anxiety before he was born when we were told of the risk of a Down Syndrome baby. God is good and He blessed us with a perfectly normal and healthy baby.

It is a great joy to see how he has grown. He smiles a lot and very playful. He loves to go for a walk outside. Whenever I have the time, I would bring him for a walk either before I set off to my office or in the evening when I come back from work. He would be leaping for joy (of course he couldn’t leap yet but he would be kicking his legs and hands actively) whenever I carry him knowing that it is time to go for a walk. As if he knows how to read the time, when it is the usual time to go for a walk, he would be restless and whining. When carried, he would reach his hands for the door.

At this stage, he still prefers breastmilk to formula milk. Good thing that he is okay with milk bottle now (he rejected the bottle when mummy goes to work after maternity). We have been slowly exposing him to formula milk bit by bit because the breastmilk supply is getting low. Hoping that by the time the breast milk runs out, he would have not problem switching to formula milk.

With the little baby around, he dictates the time we sleep, the time we wake up and all our other activities are scheduled around his timing. Well he is the big boss after all
But we thank God for him, our bundle of joy.

Tag:babies, babyfriendly, bonding, breastfeeding, hospitals

It has been six months since our baby was born. Time really flies. It was not too long ago, I can still remember it very clearly in my mind my wife was pregnant. And it was still fresh in my mind on the 26th February 2007, our baby boy was delivered. He was so tiny with eyes hardly opened. Sleeping most of the time. Cried only when he wanted milk. It was a vast difference compared to his sister. Our first baby girl was born seven years ago. She cried the loudest in the nursery. Her cries can be heard doors away. I believed the difference was due to breastfeeding. Our baby boy was encouraged to suck the breast the moment he was born. Our first baby did not have the privilege because as a first time parents, we did not know the importance of breastfeeding and did not know how. Breastfeeding baby feels more secured and will have less incidence of being colicky.

The hospital in which the baby was born made a lot of difference. It was the the main factor which determined the success rate in breastfeeding a baby. Our baby boy was born in a hospital that encouraged breastfeeding. There was a full time nurse specialised in breastfeeding going round teaching the new mothers how to breastfeed. The hospital in which our first baby was born did not take any initiative to encourage breastfeeding. So it is good to choose a hospital which encourages breastfeeding and baby friendly.

Baby friendly hospital encourages breastfeeding. The moment our baby boy was born, he was taken away for injection and given other necessary medical care. Immediately after all the medical care were given, he was brought back to his mother and was encouraged to suck the breast. The feeling of being held by the mother created a deep bonding between the mother and the baby. The baby felt secured in the arms of his mother. The baby was with the mother for as long as it needed to make the baby felt secured and comfortable. Then he was taken away to prepare him for his first bath. After the baby was cleaned, he was sent to the mother and remained with the mother unless he needed to change diapers. The bonding between the mother and the baby grew stronger by the hour.

The scenario in a non-baby friendly hospital is very much different. The moment the baby was born, she was taken away for the necessary medical care to be given. After that she was sent to the nursery and remained there until feeding time. If the mother decided not to breastfeed (and most of the time it is the case because of no encouragement from the hospital), the nurses will feed the baby at the nursery. The mother may not get to see the baby unless upon request. The bonding between the mother and the baby was not developed. The baby will feel less secured and tends to cry more.

So it is advisable to choose the right hospital. Plan in advance. Check with a few hospitals. Enquire on their services and baby care facilities before you decide. Don’t miss the chance to create the bonding between the mother and the baby. Once missed it, it is gone forever.

Tag:baby, bottle feeding, breastfeeding, newborn

Our baby was delivered at a hospital that encourages breastfeeding. Right from the moment the baby was born, he was brought to his mother after he was cleaned up. This helped to develop a bonding between the mother and the baby. The baby was encouraged to suck the breast right from the start. Amazingly, the baby has an inborn talent of sucking the breast.

Breastfeeding requires skills and perseverance. It was not easy to get the baby to latch on properly. When the baby could not latch on properly, he would struggle and cry. A lot of perseverance  was need to succeed in breastfeeding. After many attempts and weeks of practice, the baby suck well but still occasionally, he refused to suck from a particular breast. He seems to have preferences. But perseverance paid off. He was fully on breast milk.

After two months of maternity leave, my wife has to go back to work. So we have to stock up bottles of breast milk for the baby when my wife was at  work. The expressed milk was put into freezer and thaw by soaking it in warm water before giving it to the baby using milk bottles.

Nightmares began when the baby refused to drink the milk from the bottle.  We tried so many kind of teats and bottles but he rejected all of them. He would rather go hungry without the milk for the whole day. After a few days of refusing bottle feeding, he was dehydrated and his urine turned pinkish in colour. The pinkish colour was due to the uric acid crystals in the urine. A sign of dehydration.

Finally, a friend recommended the Mother Care milk bottle with Nuby teats which feels like and shape like a mother’s breast. We bought a set of two bottles which cost more than any other normal bottles in the market. Amazingly, our baby liked it and began to drink well. What a relief and it was definitely a money well spent and our problem was solved. And he is still drinking from the Mother Care bottles now at six months old.

For those who faced similar problems with their baby, try Mother Care bottles with Nuby teats. It is worth paying for.

Tag:AmnioCentesis, baby, down syndrome, miscarriages, prayer, pregnancy

I would like to share this story to encourage those who are going through tough times like what we have gone through, when my wife was pregnant with our second child.

Due to her 2 earlier miscarriages, the doctor has been monitoring this pregnancy very closely. She had to go for check up every week and given her weekly injection and taking Aspirin daily for the first three months of her pregnancy.

After the first trimester, the doctor took some blood to test for triple antigen. After two weeks the results were out and we were told that the baby has a high risk of Down Syndrome. We were advised to do the AmnioCentesis test to confirm whether the baby has Down Syndrome. If confirmed, the doctor advised us to terminate the pregnancy.

We were really upset and do not know what to do. We called some church friends and pastor to get some advice and prayer support. We were very touched by their concern and even our cell group members who have migrated to Australia called and emailed us to give some words of encouragement.

From the biblical point of view, forced abortion is as good as murder. It is terminating a life God has created. So termination of the pregnancy was not an option that we would like to take. As such we decided not to go for the AmnioCentesis. We trusted that God has blessed us with this baby and He will protect this baby from any harm or danger.

We prayed hard everyday and lots of church friends also prayed for us. We thank God for the peace He has given us in the midst of uncertainties. We would also like to thank all our friends who prayed for us daily. Without all the prayer support, I don’t think we could ever face the struggle on our own. In time like that we knew that we should draw strength from God. It was also a test of faith that has drawn us nearer to God. I must admit that in the busyness of our daily lives, we have somehow neglected our walk with God. God has brought us down to our knees to bring us back to His loving care.

It was the toughest 9 months that we have ever gone through. Every check up brought along feelings of anxieties. A great relief came about after every scan which showed that the baby was well.

On 26th February 2007, the baby was born perfectly healthy and normal. We can see the grace of God upon him. Everytime we looked at him, he reminded us of God’s great love.