Our concerns

No matter whether its your first,s econd or third baby, I believe that parents will be having a lot of concerns about their newborns. We too had (have) a lot of such concerns about Aarush.

1) B was initially worried about baby's squint. I convinced him that all kids have a squint as they are unable to coordinate at this age and that this would be gone by the second month or so. But it is still very much there and B is now having his doubts again.

2) Aarush is a loud sleeper. He snores a lot and after a couple of days at home, I found this really strange as the snore was quite loud and disturbing. (Its tough having 2 loud sleepers on your left especially when you have to attend demanding calls at night and do not have proper rest.) We took him to the doctor who told that he is OK adnd just has a slight congestion in his nose for which we can use saline drops. This has thankfully reduced by now.

3) Apart from the snore Aarush groans and grunts a lot in sleep. This has been worrying B no end even though the doc confirmed that it is perfectly normal for kids just the way we stretch and shuffle in sleep. However,it stops as soon as I cuddle him close. So I believe its OK.

4) Aarush had jaundice which is normal for most newborns nowadays. His eyes are still a bit yellow and we are concerned as to when it will be OK. Again Doc has said it is nothing to worry about.

5) Aarush tends to sleep with his eyes open a times. He also rolls his eyes in sleep. Sometimes I freak out seeing him sleep this way especially when only the whites of his eyes will be visible. Sometimes, he will be looking at my face intently and I will be cooing aand talking to him only to realise that he is fast alseep. I hope this is normal and thats just the way he is.

6) Aarush is on the darker side. Neither me nor B has any issues with this. Bi is also dark and I have always preferred men being on the darker side. Not that I would not have liked a fair baby but it really did not matter much to us. This was however worrying a lot of others who kept mentioning it each time they saw him. One lady even had the guts to ask me how this one became dark. Appu is fair and people have been comparing them a lot. I cannot understand this obsession people have with fairness. I can only thank god for giving me a perfectly healthy baby and not worry over the something as frivolous as colour of my baby's skin.

7) Aarush's lips were real dark almost purplish after a few days of birth. I was worried about this and wanted to whether it was caused by any of the medicines I was taking during pregnancy. I was taking Aldomet for BP and in between I was on a beta blocker (lopressor) for palpitations. I was not concerned much about the aesthetic part of it. Even in this case, one of my relatives had the nerve to me that his lips are very dark and that I should wipe them hard with my thumb after each feed. I never did this even once. The colour has changed a lot now and the last time she saw the baby she commented to my mom that I seem to have been wiping his lips regularly as the colour has changed so much so fast. I couldnt help laughing over this.

8) Aarush is a gassy baby and needs to be burped more than once during feeds. Else he possets a lot. As per docs suggestion, I burp after 10 min or so after each feed and this has reduced a lot.

9) The biggest concern however - Aarush was jittery. We never noticed this while in the hospital thought they did mention it to us and carried out the necessary tests for glucose, calcium deficiency etc. It was only pointed out to us by the doc at his first well baby visit. Ever since then, we have been worried tremendously over this. Its really scary when you see your little one shaking his hand and legs this way. The doc mentioned that since the tests came out normal, it should go on its own by the 2nd month or so. We are happy that it has reduced a lot and now we only see him shaking once in a couple of days. Its a huge relief!