WEEK 32

On Wednesday night, after the dream feed she only woke up once during the night and then slept through to 6am. That was a good night! Sometimes she is able to feed in normal cradle position on the left again, but usually it is still just too uncomfortable and I have to hold her in football position on that side.

Siana kept spitting out her meds and was refusing to swallow any of it. I tried different mixtures with gripe water, with my milk etc, but nothing was working. Then I just gave up and prayed for her instead. Should have done that from the beginning. Immediately after the prayer began swallowing all her meds perfectly as if nothing’s wrong!

On Friday night Mike took me out to Vaudeville to celebrate our 10 year anniversary since we first started dating (been married for the last 4 and half of those). Mike’s mom babysat. It was so nice to have a night out alone with Mike. We had so much fun. Then, just as we started driving home at 11, Mike’s mom phoned and, with Siana screaming in the her arms, she politely asked when we’d be home. Mike raced home. When we got there Bev was in the dark hallway gently rocking and singing to Siana who was completely calm. I realized I had forgotten to tell Bev that when she wakes up for her 10am feed, she must hold her on her right side, not her left. Oops.

The next night we went out to Madam Zingara (haven’t been out in ages and now its twice in one weekend!). My mom got back from Dubai on Friday so she babysat on Saturday. Siana stirred a bit, my mom gave her a bit of milk (holding her on the right side) and she went straight back to sleep. Yay! It was such a fun night! We all dressed up for it and our table won the prize for best dressed!

On Sunday she finally started rolling from her back onto her tummy by herself, and the very next day, she started sitting independently too! Go Siana! Then, on the same day, I gave her her first solids – soft boiled organic egg yolk. She didn’t hate it, but didn’t love it either. I think it’s going to take some getting used to. She didn’t seem to have any adverse reactions to it. But on Tuesday she had lots of winds and crying and was constipated, so I didn’t give her any egg yolk. But I had pizza on Monday night and it seems that there is a bit of a pattern with a fussy Siana each day after I’ve had pizza – even though it’s gluten free, perhaps there’s MSG on it. Then today (Wednesday) she made a huge, very smelly poo! So I gave her some more egg yolk.

Mike has been rather apprehensive about bathing her lately because he’s afraid she’s going to cry. So now, the two of us bath her together each evening – a bit of family time. Now that she is able to sit, we let her sit for a little while and splash around and play with the bath toys a bit first (obviously with our hands ready to catch her if she falls over) before she lies in the bath chair to be washed. She absolutely loves it! I must get her a bath ring!

WEEK 25

 

We had a picnic at Kirstenbosch Gardens on Sunday with my whole family (mom and step-dad, dad and step-mom, my brother and his family, and of course Mike and Siana) to say good-bye to my sister, Anneli and her husband, Quintin. It was such a beautiful day!

My neice, Saskia, is 5 years old and is completely fascinated by Siana. She wants to watch me feed her, change her nappy, put her to sleep, everything. But, because Saskia’s mom has a friend with a baby of a similar age named Lucy, Saskia keeps getting confused and calls Siana, “Lusiana” :0)

I breastfed Siana on a bench in a secluded area with the feeding cover on (and Saskia watching intently) and then, when it was time for a nap, I put her in my wrap around sling facing me, gave her her dummy and went for a walk until she had drifted off. She took about 10 minutes to fall asleep and then stayed asleep for about 40 minutes. It’s not as long as she would have slept in her cot at home, but it’s far better than nothing, and it’s really nice to be out of the house! She won’t sleep in her pram because the seat doesn’t go all the way flat and the position in holds her in aggravates her reflux! Makes having a life outside of my home a little challenging… But at least the sling works! What a relief.

This week something happened that made me feel like the worst mother in the world – again! I propped Siana up on the couch with some pillows around her for support and then sat in front of her to play with her. Then, she spat up a bit and I didn’t have a burping cloth with me, so I quickly slipped into the kitchen to grab the one on the kitchen counter and in that second, Siana managed to fall off the couch, onto the carpet! I don’t know how, but she did! I felt so terrible! She cried for a bit but thank goodness there were no bumps or bruises afterwards. Wow, these things really do “happen so quickly” – as our mothers tell us. I’ll never do that again!

I want to try start going to the gym with Siana in the child-care section. They said that I can do a trial period to see if she copes (2 free sessions). But she’s starting to get clingy to mommy already! She often cries when someone else holds her. It’s only supposed to be at around 9 to 10 months that the clinginess starts! Well, no harm in trying.

When Siana is feeding, it’s so cute how her nose wiggles up and down like a little bunny. Unfortunately she is only able to feed on the left breast if I hold her in football position, otherwise it seems to be painful or at least very uncomfortable for her, and she ends up in tears. Well, at least I found something that works – even if it is only for 5 to 7 minutes at a time. She can feed in the normal “cradle position” on the right breast though. Strange.

Siana looks like she’s balding on the top of her head. She has an area from just above the one temple to the other where her hair is really thin, but it’s still its original thickness on the back and sides! Then there’s two thin lines of “balding spots” just below each temple. It looks very funny. My mom says it’s just because of her head growth being amplified in those specific areas. I hope her hairs grows in soon. In the meantime, thank goodness it’s cold enough to wear beanies ;0)

At bath time she has become more tolerant with being given an arm “massage” in bath when I wash her. She doesn’t resist anymore, but she sucks the fingers of other hand while I’m busy. That’s improvement! And now, instead of towel drying her normally, I use the towel to apply deep pressure throughout her limbs. Deep pressure is very soothing so I thought I’d try that. It definitely helps a lot! She’s a lot calmer :0)

WEEK 24

On Saturday I went to my step-sister’s wedding. I had so much fun dancing the whole evening with my dad, brother and sister. (My hubby doesn’t dance.) It was so nice to have some freedom – some “me” time. The next morning I woke up with LOADS of milk! And I’m still producing lots ever since! I think it really helps to distress a bit. My mom babysat Siana while I was at the wedding. Siana was being rather challenging. She didn’t want to go to sleep because it wasn’t me that was putting her to sleep. But, my mom coped fine and is happy to do it again.

I went to see the paediatrician. He said we need to put Siana on Losec for reflux. If it is reflux, she should be a happy little girl in a week, if it isn’t then he doesn’t know what’s wrong with her and we should just put her on solids and see what happens. I REALLY don’t want to put her on solids yet! She may be 5 and a half months old, but her gut is only 3 and a half months old!

I have to give her half a Losec in the morning and half at night. The paediatrician said I could just put the full tablet in double the water in the evening, give her half, and then give the rest in the morning. But by morning it has formed a whole lot of little pink balls! She won’t swallow that! So I’m breaking the little tablets in half instead. She really hates the taste of it and was spitting it all out, so instead of 5ml of water, I put it in 4ml water and 1ml alcohol free gripe water. Works like a charm. Getting it down that is. The Losec, however, didn’t work. It slightly decreased the amount of reflux, but it definitely isn’t gone. But I refuse to put her obviously sensitive little gut through solid food just yet. I’ve made an appointment with Dr Louise Lindenburg for next week Friday. She’s a GP and a Homeopath and she specializes in food intolerances and digestive disorders – especially in kids.

We went with my sister up Table Mountain. I hadn’t been since I was 10! I took the wrap sling. During her awake time she faced forward, bouncing her arms and legs about, wearing her new sun hat (which was way to big for her) that her Aunty Anneli bought for her. Then, when she got sleepy, I found a rock to sit on and feed her with my feeding cover over me (my mom had to help hold it down because of the wind). Then I turned her to face me and closed the sling up over her head to block out the light, sounds and wind, and she fell asleep against my chest. Worked really well.

Afterwards, we went to the aquarium. Siana really liked that! She was so peaceful, staring at the slow moving fish swimming around between the gently swaying seaweed. Then when it was nap time again, I took her to the breastfeeding facilities, fed her and turned her to face me in the sling again. No problem, she slept quite happily. Granted she only sleeps for about 45min to an hour in the sling (one sleep cycle), but she wakes up refreshed and quite happy.

Oh, by the way, Siana has now decided she doesn’t like her Pigeon dummy anymore – she only wants her Nuk dummies. She mostly sucks her fingers, but when she’s a bit over-tired, the dummy does the trick.

WEEK 23

I did an assessment with Siana this week and it turns out that she has already reached a 4 to 4.5 month old level (she’s only 5 months old!). The paediatrician said it would take 12 to 18 months to catch up but she’s already nearly there. I guess it’s kind of cheating that I am an Occupational Therapist and know what I need to do with her for the right developmental stimulation, but I’m still very excited!

I tried the 3^rd homeopathic remedy with Siana but there’s still no change. I think the homeopath (like everyone else) is struggling to find the route cause of the problem. I made an appointment with the paediatrician again for next week. Siana’s still waking up 2 to 3 times a night and seems to be getting worse with her feeds again this week! She’s mostly happy between feeds, but still cries, screams and “pushes” when trying to feed so she can only feed small amounts at a time and therefore has to be fed every 2 hours.

I have found that giving Siana deep pressure through her limbs really helps to relax her and put her in a good mood – sometimes she even gives a little “lekker kry” giggle of delight. I use widely spread firm pressure in her shoulders, arms, hands, hips, legs and feet, and she just loves it.

I took Siana for healing prayer last Saturday. Unfortunately there was no difference afterwards, and with all due respect to the big guy upstairs, I was rather peeved! He knows my heart, he knows I mean no disrespect, but I was really trusting Him to heal her! But then, this Sunday really opened my eyes. There was a guest speaker at my church who spoke about the troubles we go through in our family lives. She spoke about how, when we go through hard times and we pray for God to help us out of it, sometimes He does just that – He rescues us out of the situation right there and then. But other times He doesn’t because He has a bigger plan. He gives us strength and support, but allows us to go through these difficult times so that we can either develop character, become more dependent on Him, or so that we can gain experience and knowledge that will make us able to help others that are going through similar troubles later on. That made me realize that there is a purpose to all of this. It isn’t all for nothing. There is a bigger plan in all of this. I think my current experiences are going to be used to help other moms one day!

My sister arrived from America. It is so nice to see her again! She said that it is so weird to see me with my own baby. She brought Siana some Vans shoes and socks that are just adorable! She also brought her some gorgeous clothes and the most cuddly blankies I’ve ever seen. They are so soft! I’m glad Siana can finally meet her aunt.

WEEK 22 (14 weeks adjusted age)

I haven’t had internet the whole week, so that is why my blog is late. I felt like a cavewoman without internet! You don’t realize how dependent you are on technology until it’s gone!

Siana is now 5 months old (3 months adjusted age). She is reaching towards and grasping objects now with better control. But, she hasn’t got a clue how to let go yet. And every time she manages to grab onto something, it goes straight into her mouth. Very cute! Where we mostly use our eyes, babies learn about objects primarily through their mouth because of the very sensitive receptors in their mouths – especially those on the inside of their lips. I am so glad we grow out of that phase.  Can you imagine if, as adults, we walked into a shoe shop and stuck each pair into our mouths to see if we liked them or not! And can you imagine the mess at the fruit and veg stores?! Wow. There’s a thought.

Siana’s decided that her thumb is just not enough anymore. Instead she sticks 2, 3 and sometimes even 4 fingers in her mouth to suck on instead! It looks so funny! I have reintroduced the 9:30 dream feed and that seems to be helping because then she sleeps through until about 4:30am!

Unfortunately there’s no improvement with her “pushing” and tummy discomfort. The homeopath asked me to wait for yet another 3 days before stopping the remedy. But I’m losing faith in this one. I believe in homeopathy, I just don’t think that this is the right remedy. My hair is falling out again. Maybe I should see if there’s a remedy for that too.

My sister is arriving from America on Friday! I can’t wait to see her! I finally get to meet her husband (they got married in America) and she finally gets to meet Siana. AND I just realized that my first Mother’s Day is about to come up! Oooh exciting, what should we do??? Hmmm… :0D

WEEK 11 (3 weeks old)

 So our routine is now completely gone! She just cries ALL the time! She can’t feed properly, she can’t sleep properly, and is grumpy in between – probably because she’s so hungry and tired! The other day I had to run out the shower – naked and dripping – to attend to her FOUR times when she was supposed to be sleeping! I’m falling apart! I don’t know what to do. I don’t what’s wrong with her so I can’t fix it! It’s so awful that she’s so miserable at the breast. That’s supposed to be her favourite thing in the world! I know this isn’t about me, but it’s hard not to take it personally that my own baby is rejecting me when I try to feed her. I feel so hopeless!

People can obviously see that I’m cracking because they keep offering to babysit but I CAN’T leave her now! I need to be able to feed her whenever she is able to get something in – which is a tiny bit every hour or two. And she screams just as much with a bottle, if not more, so it’s not nipple confusion. If I am struggling to read her body language to know what she needs, how much worse would it be to leave her with someone else! I can’t relax somewhere else knowing that my baby is screaming in the arms of someone that she considers a stranger!

And on top of it all, I feel so fat and ugly! I’ve got dark circles under my eyes, I’m breaking out in pimples and my hair is falling out! I decided to change my exercise approach. You see, apparently every 24 hours of breast feeding burns the same amount of calories as running a half marathon. But it does nothing for your tone! And after the Relaxin hormone caused all my muscles to become all flabby during the pregnancy (to make room for the baby growing inside), I think toning should be the focus. So I am now doing just toning exercises at home 3 to 4 times a week. The problem is that, although I start this just after I put her down for her morning nap, she is so unpredictable now, that I often have to run out of the shower because of her waking up before she’s supposed to! The Homeopathic Pharmacist recommended I cut out acidic food and see if she feels better. Didn’t realize how much tomato I ate! Let’s hope it works. It’s hard, but if it works, it is SO worth it!

Alison’s baby is sleeping through already!!! My word, lucky girl! I am insanely jealous. Well, since Siana is so challenging, maybe number two will be easy. Number two??? Man, I really hope I manage to eventually get to the point of wanting a number two. I always wanted a big family, but wow, this is really hard!

I decided that, since I know my husband is not going to sit and read through the baby books, I’ll read them to him. So, I scanned through The Baby Whisperer and Baby Sense (up to the Two to Six Week chapter) and marked the important points. Then, while he sat and sorted through his stamp collection (an old hobby that has recently struck his interest again), I read the important bits to him. As Siana gets older, I’ll read the appropriate chapters to Mike – according to her corrected age that is.

I got a very handy tip this weekend from a friend with a six month old boy. He said that you should keep a box of tissues on the nappy changing table so that when your baby makes big poos, you first give it a dry wipe before you use the wetwipe. Otherwise you end up using 10 wetwipes that just smear everything all over the place. I tried it. It works so much better! I bought those soft Calendula Oil tissues so that it’s gentle on her little bum.

WEEK 10 (2 weeks old)

It was my birthday this week. I had a few of my new-mom friends over for tea and cake. Unfortunately only a few could make it. My mom and my very pregnant friend, Kristin (that I met at ante-natal classes) were there too and we had so much fun.

Roxy told me about Pro-B2. It is infant probiotic DROPS! She has had her little Emma on it since day one because she read that there are vital probiotics in the birth canal that babies are supposed to get when they are born – which obviously doesn’t happen when you have a Caesarian (Emma was a few weeks prem too). It is believed that this could be one of the reasons why Caesarian babies are more prone to colic. So I got some the very next day. It is SO much easier than trying to give her powder that doesn’t dissolve! It smells like Citronella oil but she seems to like it. For the first 2 days on it she was an absolute angel! She slept well, fed well and was so happy, but then she went back to the crying again. Mostly at the breast that is. She seems to have some sort of discomfort whenever she tries to feed. She pushes herself away, flails her arms around, kicks and screams. Then latches on desperately, sucks a few times and then continues “fighting” again!

She’s really struggling to sleep during the day, but she sleeps fine at night – just waking briefly for feeds and then nodding off again. She seems to feed better at night when she’s sleepy too. Lynne from the baby clinic says that some babies go through a little phase like this and that it usually only lasts 3 to 10 days. In the meantime I should just do whatever it takes to get the milk in – whether it means feeding her every hour, or feeding her while she’s asleep etc. I had a check-up appointment with the Paediatrician. He said that it might be reflux and prescribed Losec. But it really doesn’t fit the profile. I mean, she could be fighting at the breast and then I can put her down on her back on her changing table and she’s fine! Surely that would make it so much worse. And then surely it would affect her during night feeds as well, not just during the day? I’m going to make an appointment with the Osteopath and see if he can help before I put her on hectic medication.

Because Siana is still too sensitive to tolerate baby massage, I decided to try introducing in slowly. When I wash her in the bath in the evening, I apply the baby wash with a massage while she’s already nice and relaxed in the warm water. She seems to like the leg massage but doesn’t like the arm massage yet. She still wants to keep her arms close to her body, not stretched out. So I do it gently and quickly so she can slowly become desensitized to it. She’s making some nice progress with her head control! She’s starting to hold it up without support. She’s still so tiny though so I still get people asking me how many DAYS old she is!

It’s quite hard to see Alison’s baby. He was due 6 weeks before Siana but of course was born 2 weeks after. He is a lovely little textbook baby. Things are going really smoothly and he’s 6 weeks ahead of Siana developmentally – which is expected, I know. But it’s hard to see what I had pictured my own baby to be like in someone else’s baby. I know it’s pathetic, but that’s how I feel. I’ll get over it. Alison’s also losing weight a lot faster than me but of course she had natural birth, and she was really good about regular exercise during her pregnancy. I vomited for the first trimester, was stuck indoors in the rainy Winter for the second (squeezing in a brisk walk here and there when I could) and then finally got a gym contract in my third trimester. But, 2 weeks later went into labour. Who knew. Anyway, I’m keeping up with my brisk walks 3 times a week now so hopefully I’ll get there too soon.

Week 9 (1 week old)

What an awful week! But first, on a positive note, after Siana’s inoculations last Wed, she was perfectly fine the next day. I continued to give her Thuja for 3 days after and it seems to work.

On Saturday night I started feeling a bit strange, my body was a bit achy but I didn’t have any other symptoms – or should I say, I barely noticed the other very important symptom: a dull pain in my left breast. I took some pain killers for the body aches and went out for dinner with some friends. That night, I was tossing and turning all night with a fever that kept flaring up every time the Panados wore off. And my left breast had a very tender area on the inner side that became a lot more noticeable.

By morning my breast was too sore to touch and trying to feed Siana made me gasp with pain! It was also hot to touch and red all over the painful area. I phoned Lynne (from the baby clinic two doors down), apologized for phoning on a Sunday and explained my symptoms. She said it was Mastitis and that I need to get hold of my gynae immediately to get a prescription for anti-biotics. She said that she saw a client of hers just a few days earlier who didn’t get anti-biotics immediately and it turned into a big cyst in her breast. She had to be hospitalized and have the cyst opened and cleaned out, then left open for a few days in hospital before they stitched it up!!! Man, I hunted down my gynae so fast!

My gynae said she can’t prescribe anti-biotics without a confirmation that it really is Mastitis and that I should ask Lynne to check it out to confirm her diagnosis. Lynne very kindly agreed to examine me immediately. Yup, Mastitis! She said I need to get the anti-biotics immediately and get someone to help look after Siana while I stay in bed for 2 to 3 days to recover. And, I need to get Siana to feed off the affected side even more than before. YOUCH!!! She said that expressing would not be sufficient because it doesn’t work half as well as the baby’s mouth does.

The Panados were still working at that time and Mike had LOADS of work to do because of the tax deadline and all, so I left Siana with him (she was asleep) and went down to the pharmacy. Suddenly the Panados wore off and I ended up curled up in a chair next to the counter at the pharmacy with my fever spiking, my body aching and my boob throbbing. I was not a happy camper! I got what I came for, went home and climbed onto the couch, shivering despite the hot, sunny day.

Within hours of starting the anti-biotics, Siana’s colic began to flair up! I had asked the pharmacist if it was necessary to get probiotics for her and he said no. Idiot! Poor thing was so bloated and cramping terribly! I didn’t want to just get Rheutura because it only has ONE strain in it! What about all the other good bacteria in the gut that had been destroyed? I got some Probiflora paediatric probiotics. It has 3 probiotic strains and 1 prebiotic. Problem is that it’s a powder. I mix it into breast milk and then give it to Siana in a bottle but it seems all the powder is left behind afterwards. I don’t know if maybe the teat opening is too small. I tried cup feeding it as well, but by the time I got to the end, the powder had settled to the bottom again! This doesn’t seem to be working, and I can’t go off the anti-biotics! I take one Probiflora 4 tablet every day anyway, so now I’ve upped my dose to 2 a day, but that’ll only help me. Not enough goes through the breast milk for Siana. Poor thing. She’s really struggling! (I’m feeling a lot better though.)

I found out that 2 of the girls that I met in hospital – that had their babies in the ICU at the same time as Siana – are struggling with nipple confusion with their babies. Both babies went home on bottles, not yet strong enough for full breast feeds, and now they only want bottles. I’m glad I stuck it out an extra few days so I didn’t have to worry about that too!

Week 8 (“Newborn”!!!)

The day Siana was supposed to be born

Siana has finally reached full term. This is the week she was supposed to have been born! I took her for her check up at the Paediatrician. He said that if she had been born today the way she is now, he’d be very happy with her. She now weighs 3.1kg (double her birth weight!) and is 49cm long.

Siana’s tummy has gone all the way down to normal now. No more bloatedness. And her umbilical hernia has gone down a lot too! But it seems like she has a constant urge to poo. She’s always “pushing” whenever she’s awake. Very strange. Maybe it’s because she’s a bit constipated from her Vidaylin with extra iron that I have to give her every day. She goes for 3 to 5 days at a time without a stool! The Paediatrician said it is normal for up to 10 days as long as it doesn’t cause discomfort. So weird!

Now that she’s full term I can start giving her some stimulation. But she has a really low threshold! She over-stimulates SO quickly. She can literally only handle about 20 seconds on her play gym mat before it becomes too much for her! I’ll have to go slow. And the baby massage is too much for her to handle as well. I can literally only do just her legs and feet, or just her arms without the hands. And it can’t be just after her bath like us O.T’s recommend! She’s screaming so much and it only makes it worse. I try to do it in the mornings instead when I’m changing her out of her pajamas and she’s calmer. So much for the textbooks!

I’m starting to get used to the Womb to World CD. It’s actually quite therapeutic! It’s not just static with a heart beat – that’s just the beginning part. There’s parts where it sounds like running water, wind blowing through trees etc. It works really well when Siana’s over-stimulated!

Yesterday I started Siana on the Thuja because I had to go to the baby clinic today so Siana could get her first set of inoculations. I handed in the huge bag of frozen milk at the same time. The Milk Matters lady was rather excited. Siana had to get drops in her mouth first which she hated and kept trying to spit out! Then she had to have an injection in both thighs! Lynne said that studies have shown that if the baby is suckling on the breast when receiving the inoculation shot, not only is it less traumatic, but it is more effective too. So we did that. As she got the shot, she stopped suckling, went red in the face and screamed with pain! It was the first time I had ever seen her cry with tears!!! So I burst into tears too! You would think that after having worked with children for so long – including at Red Cross hospital where at times the therapy caused the babies/children to cry – I would be used to it. But not with my own child! I now have a whole lot more respect for those brave moms that held their children still while I had to do painful stretches on their injured hands!

Siana’s been rather miserable the whole day since the shot. This evening I decided to run a bath and let her lie on me in the bath to see if it would soothe her. I had her body in the water, facing me, leaning back against my legs with my warm hands over her tummy. It worked SO well! She fell asleep! But then I made the mistake of trying to actually wash her. All hell broke loose! She screamed and screamed – even when I tried to comfort her with a feed! Mike took her out the bath and dried her while I got out and dried myself. She screamed through the drying, nappy and clothing; and eventually passed out at the breast just before I put her down to sleep. Let’s hope she feels better tomorrow!

Week 7 (minus 1 week)

 I went for my gynae check-up. Everything is fine, except the scar that had opened a bit. So she just put some more micropore on to keep it all in place. My friend Jesse is an OT at the burns unit of Red Cross, so she’s a bit of a scar management expert. She recommended that I buy some micropore and keep applying a new strip each week. Then twice a day I need to massage it fairly firmly in one direction (over the micropore). That will help to flatten out the scar tissue and make the scar heal well. I want to use bio-oil too, so she said I can put it on over the micropore and it will still be absorbed. But it makes the micropore all sticky. So I’m going to alternate weeks of micropore and bio-oil and do the massage twice a day with both.

I think I’ve actually picked up some weight from sitting on my butt for 8 to 10 hours a day at the hospital. By butt looks huge! I can’t go to gym yet because there’s no way I can leave tiny Siana at the child care facilities at the gym just yet. So I’ve started brisk walking in the mornings with Siana in the pram and my dog running around with me. There’s a strip of field that surrounds my entire area so Zach (my golden retriever) runs around happily. He’s very obedient, and when I was pregnant I taught him to wait for me to give the go-ahead before crossing the roads, so I don’t have to worry about a leash. Siana moans a bit at the start, but soon falls asleep. Then I have to sneak in the house quietly so I can shower before she wakes up.

I took Siana for another 2 chiropractor appointments. What a difference! Her tummy isn’t bloated at all anymore! Her tummy is soft and her umbilical hernia has reduced dramatically! She also gave me some exercises I can do with her at home if she seems to be getting some cramps. It seems to work really well. A whole lot of farting happens when I do them! ;0)

This E.A.S.Y programme (from The Secrets of the Baby Whisperer) is working like a dream! We’ve got such a nice routine going now. I know exactly what she’s asking for when she cries or moans. She wakes up for her feeds almost exactly 3 hours since the start of her last feed – give or take 10 minutes. And she’s feeding so well now! She’s got a good rhythm, better co-ordination and has a strong pull now. I’m so proud of her! She’s really come a long way.

I still went to see a lactation consultant because I needed some advice on getting this tiny mouth to latch in a way that doesn’t hurt my nipples. She explained that it shouldn’t hurt at all. She said that it should feel “pully flowy” not “pinchy burny”. It’s been pinchy burny for me. She also said that after you’ve finished feeding, your nipple should be a jelly tot (rounded) not a smartie (flattened). I’ve had smarties! So she gave me some simple advice and coached me through it, and it made a world of difference! I wish I had done this sooner! Plus, it was one of the lactation consultants from Kingsbury that had helped me to get Siana interested in the breast in the first place, so she didn’t even charge me! So worth it!

I spoke to my G.P – who is also a Homeopath – about the inoculations because I am really sceptical. You see, I worked with Austistic children for many years and time and time again the mothers told me how their child was normal in the morning before their MMR, and they’ve never had their child back since. Despite the fact that doctors can’t find an actual link, the evidence is over-whelming when I look at how many of these kids flipped a coin after that shot. The G.P said that Homeopaths don’t inoculate their children against anything but polio because everything else can be treated very effectively through Homeopathy. But I’ve also worked at Red Cross and seen the effects of pneumococcal meningitis! So he advised that if I want to do the shots, I should give her a remedy called Thuja for 1 day before and 3 days after the shot to help her body cope with the viruses/bacteria being injected into her body, build ante-bodies quickly and minimise side effects.

I phoned the health shop and the homeopathic pharmacist made some in liquid form for me to give her. Problem is that the liquid form is prepared in some alcohol to preserve it. So, he recommended that I add a few drops of hot water to it so that most of the alcohol evaporates. Then when it cools, I can give it to her. Next week Wed is her first set of inoculations. I’m a bit nervous!

When Siana was in hospital they gave her a special prem dummy that she really liked. Unfortunately I didn’t realise that I could take it home with me so I left it at the hospital! In the meantime I’ve tried newborn dummies and they’re so big for her little mouth that it makes her gag! She enjoys sucking on the joint of my index finger, but it would be SO much easier if I could just find one of those prem dummies. The hospital can only stock it to in-patients! So after phoning half of Cape Town, I finally found a place that makes them. They are called Wee Thumbie dummies. They cost the same as a normal dummy (R42 each) and they deliver to your door!!! I got 2. If you want one, phone Christine at SSEM: 021 9431440. Best investment ever!

All the frozen milk that I got back from the hospital when I left is taking up a lot of space in my freezer! So I went for my HIV test this week so I can donate it all to Milk Matters. If you go to Dischem and tell them you’re getting the test done so that you can donate to Milk Matters, they only charge you R20 instead of R75. That’s really nice of them.