Aarush has had his 2 month vaccinations today. BCG and the 1st dose of Hepatitis B were taken a day after his birth.
Today's vaccination were as follows:
1) Hepatitis B (2nd dose)
2) DPT
3) HIB
4) OPV
5) Pneumococcal
6) Rotarix
The 2nd round will be taken in the forth month. It cost a whooping AED 1,000/-. Baby was given two shots on his tiny bums and he took it well. Just a squeal when the needle pricked and he was back to playing with a mobile at the docs.
I was amazed to see babys weights gain. He tipped the scales at 5.4 kg today. Keep up the good work - a pat on my shoulder!
September 28, 2009
September 21, 2009
Breastfeeding / Pumping At Work
This is yet another thing about motherhood that I thoroughly enjoy. Aarush and me have set up an excellent nursing relationship and so far it is going great. However, I have no idea how smooth the journey ahead would be as I would be commencing work in around a weeks time. I am preparing myself for a very bumpy road ahead.
I intend to nurse Aarush until he weans himself, whenever that is. And I would like to put on record that I would be willing to go to any lengths to ensure this. Aarush has not had a drop of formula ever since his 3rd day of life and I am extremely proud of that.
As a part of my planning to continue gifting this liquid gold to my dearest little one, I have chalked up the following:
1) My Medela Pump In Style breast pump has been pulled out and set going. The pump works quite well still. A few parts needs replacement and I am in the process of location them. Else will have to order online.
2) Since I was exclusively using the pump with Appu, I am quite comfortable with it. The pumping output as of now is quite reasonable at 4 ounces every 2 hours for a pumping duration of 10 minutes. I am figuring out methods of increasing this if required.
3) I am allowed 2 half hour breaks for nursing until baby reaches 6 months. Since I would end up wasting a lot of time in commuting and since this would be more tiring, I intend to utilise this time for expressing in the office. Probably four 15 minute breaks should be good enough. I could take the breaks at 10.30, 12.30, 2.30 and 4.30. I would also need to add an early morning and a mid night pumping session to match baby's requirements.
4) Once I reach home, I could nurse baby the whole evening and at night.
5) During times of growth spurts, I could take a break from work and be at home with baby?? (ahem..ahem....high hopes)
6) I read somewhere that oatmeal helps in increasing milk supply. So I start off with oatmeal religiously from tomorrow. I cant take fenugreek as I simply cant stand the smell and dont want to go around smeling of maple syrup.
As of now, these are the plans . Now I need to wait and see how well I can execute it. The hassles in this are many:
a) Need to find a proper place in the office where I can express in privacy. The place needs to have access to water as well as I need to rinse the pump flanges once done with pumping. That leaves me with only 2 options - the loo (hygiene issues here )and the pantry (lack of privacy due to constant traffic for tea breaks).
b) Wonder how my colleagues will react to it. As far as the ladies are concerned, dont have many like minded mothers around me so have no idea whether any of them would appreciate what I am doing. Needless to say, for the guys, I will be drawing a lot of comparisons to a cow. It would be nothing more than a subject to laught at. Hope I have the guts to wade through that.
c) Breaks - though I am eligible for it, will I be really able to squeeze in so many breaks with the demanding schedule that is in store for me. I need to etch in my mind that this is my priority.
d)Will I be able to get enough output even after going thro' all this trouble? There is no point worrying at this stage. Its something I got to handle as per the situation.
I just hope this goes well until Aarush decides he has had enough. Wish me all the milking best as I set out on this strenuous endevour!
I intend to nurse Aarush until he weans himself, whenever that is. And I would like to put on record that I would be willing to go to any lengths to ensure this. Aarush has not had a drop of formula ever since his 3rd day of life and I am extremely proud of that.
As a part of my planning to continue gifting this liquid gold to my dearest little one, I have chalked up the following:
1) My Medela Pump In Style breast pump has been pulled out and set going. The pump works quite well still. A few parts needs replacement and I am in the process of location them. Else will have to order online.
2) Since I was exclusively using the pump with Appu, I am quite comfortable with it. The pumping output as of now is quite reasonable at 4 ounces every 2 hours for a pumping duration of 10 minutes. I am figuring out methods of increasing this if required.
3) I am allowed 2 half hour breaks for nursing until baby reaches 6 months. Since I would end up wasting a lot of time in commuting and since this would be more tiring, I intend to utilise this time for expressing in the office. Probably four 15 minute breaks should be good enough. I could take the breaks at 10.30, 12.30, 2.30 and 4.30. I would also need to add an early morning and a mid night pumping session to match baby's requirements.
4) Once I reach home, I could nurse baby the whole evening and at night.
5) During times of growth spurts, I could take a break from work and be at home with baby?? (ahem..ahem....high hopes)
6) I read somewhere that oatmeal helps in increasing milk supply. So I start off with oatmeal religiously from tomorrow. I cant take fenugreek as I simply cant stand the smell and dont want to go around smeling of maple syrup.
As of now, these are the plans . Now I need to wait and see how well I can execute it. The hassles in this are many:
a) Need to find a proper place in the office where I can express in privacy. The place needs to have access to water as well as I need to rinse the pump flanges once done with pumping. That leaves me with only 2 options - the loo (hygiene issues here )and the pantry (lack of privacy due to constant traffic for tea breaks).
b) Wonder how my colleagues will react to it. As far as the ladies are concerned, dont have many like minded mothers around me so have no idea whether any of them would appreciate what I am doing. Needless to say, for the guys, I will be drawing a lot of comparisons to a cow. It would be nothing more than a subject to laught at. Hope I have the guts to wade through that.
c) Breaks - though I am eligible for it, will I be really able to squeeze in so many breaks with the demanding schedule that is in store for me. I need to etch in my mind that this is my priority.
d)Will I be able to get enough output even after going thro' all this trouble? There is no point worrying at this stage. Its something I got to handle as per the situation.
I just hope this goes well until Aarush decides he has had enough. Wish me all the milking best as I set out on this strenuous endevour!
September 19, 2009
To or not to?
While I was pregnant with Appu, I was working in Dubai until the 7th month and I used to travel for almost 2 hours up and down and this was really tiring. (I was transeferred to Sharjah in the 7th month and we took an apartment that was only 5 minutes walk from the office. This was heaven!) I used to tell B then that the next pregnanacy should be idyllic and that I should be able to stay at home and take proper rest and care. Well, this was not to be fortunately or otherwise! I was working on a hectic schedule throughout the pregnancy even when my health was not too good. During the maternity leave, I toyed a lot with the thought of staying back and being a full time mom. After reading a lot of other blogs here at blogspot, I realised that this is a dilemma faced by almost all the working moms. Infact, I kept oscillating between thoughts to quit work and to continue work very frequently. These are the reasons for the for the fluctating thoughts.
I wanted to stay at home because:
1) I had grown excpetionally attached to baby and the thought of being away from him for 9 hours at a stretch was unbearable. This was not so in the case of Appu and I was able to leave her with mom without a second thought when I had to return. But this time it was very different. I even felt that the little boy was showing me subtle signals to indicate that he prefers having me at home. One day, I was particulary distraught and I was sobbing with the little one in my arms. When I looked at his little face he gave me a knowing smile that was so reassuring and I tried to convinve myself that he is expressing his preference with that smile.
2) I had taken the decision to exclusively breastfeed my son until 6 months atleast. There would be no formula for my little prince. I was not too sure if I would be able to accomplish this goal with our hectic work schedule. Though I had grown used to expressing milk and had a good storage of expressed milk in the fridge and had well planned out the course of action to express at work as mentioned in a previous post, I was not too sure how successfully I would be able to execute the whole thing.
3) After taking care of the little boy, I realised what I had missed out doing for Appu. I wanted to make up for the lost time before its too late considering that rate at which she is growing. I wanted to spend more time with Appu getting to know her more and to mould her. Somehow, I feel I would be able to mould her better than mom at this stage. This is at the risk of sounding ungrateful for all that mom has so far done for Appu. Mom has always taken excelelnt care of Appu and she is responsibel for Appu’s developments so far single handedly. I wanted to be like other moms take care of Appu wholly. I loved bathing her, feeding her etc. I wanted to pamper her a bit more, play with her, teach her, go out with her more often, have our own girlie time etc.
4) I wanted to get in touch with the domestic side of mine. I am a lousy cook and had absolutely no inclination towards cooking either. I used to always wonder why most women enjoy toiling in the kitchen and trying out new recipes. I loved cleaning and organising the house always though. All of a sudden, I found myself enjoying all the household chores that I initally found mundane. And me being me, I was starting to prepare schedules for washing, cleaning, grocery shopping etc. Though I did not actually cook, I was interested in cookery shows and recipes in magazines. That’s a huge development in my case.
5) I wanted to take a break from work as I have been working continuiosly for 11 years and that too in the same organisation. The work and the workplace does not hold the same charm as it did before. I was not looking forward to being in the same office.
I wanted to work because:
1) I enjoyed getting the monthly sms from Standard Chartered Bank informing me that a cool amount has been credited to my account.
2) The evenings spent at home are more enjoyable after a days’ hard work away from home.
3) It makes to you feel nice to know that you would be able to give in to your desires once in a while without feeling guilty. To be honest, I rarely do this. I am generally a low maintenance person.
4) Mom. Mom is with us to help us when I am way at work. If I am not working, she will see no reason to stay here with us and would want to go back home. This will not be a wise decision as she would have to stay alone. Its in everyones best interests that she stays with us. I had spoken to her about this earlier and she outright said that she will not be here if I decide to stay at home. Though I resent this attitude of mom’s I understand that from her perspetive this is justifiable.
5) We enjoy a very easy life and I wonder whether we will be able to do so with one person’s paycheck.
6) I would miss the adult company and the intellectual stimulation.
I wanted to stay at home because:
1) I had grown excpetionally attached to baby and the thought of being away from him for 9 hours at a stretch was unbearable. This was not so in the case of Appu and I was able to leave her with mom without a second thought when I had to return. But this time it was very different. I even felt that the little boy was showing me subtle signals to indicate that he prefers having me at home. One day, I was particulary distraught and I was sobbing with the little one in my arms. When I looked at his little face he gave me a knowing smile that was so reassuring and I tried to convinve myself that he is expressing his preference with that smile.
2) I had taken the decision to exclusively breastfeed my son until 6 months atleast. There would be no formula for my little prince. I was not too sure if I would be able to accomplish this goal with our hectic work schedule. Though I had grown used to expressing milk and had a good storage of expressed milk in the fridge and had well planned out the course of action to express at work as mentioned in a previous post, I was not too sure how successfully I would be able to execute the whole thing.
3) After taking care of the little boy, I realised what I had missed out doing for Appu. I wanted to make up for the lost time before its too late considering that rate at which she is growing. I wanted to spend more time with Appu getting to know her more and to mould her. Somehow, I feel I would be able to mould her better than mom at this stage. This is at the risk of sounding ungrateful for all that mom has so far done for Appu. Mom has always taken excelelnt care of Appu and she is responsibel for Appu’s developments so far single handedly. I wanted to be like other moms take care of Appu wholly. I loved bathing her, feeding her etc. I wanted to pamper her a bit more, play with her, teach her, go out with her more often, have our own girlie time etc.
4) I wanted to get in touch with the domestic side of mine. I am a lousy cook and had absolutely no inclination towards cooking either. I used to always wonder why most women enjoy toiling in the kitchen and trying out new recipes. I loved cleaning and organising the house always though. All of a sudden, I found myself enjoying all the household chores that I initally found mundane. And me being me, I was starting to prepare schedules for washing, cleaning, grocery shopping etc. Though I did not actually cook, I was interested in cookery shows and recipes in magazines. That’s a huge development in my case.
5) I wanted to take a break from work as I have been working continuiosly for 11 years and that too in the same organisation. The work and the workplace does not hold the same charm as it did before. I was not looking forward to being in the same office.
I wanted to work because:
1) I enjoyed getting the monthly sms from Standard Chartered Bank informing me that a cool amount has been credited to my account.
2) The evenings spent at home are more enjoyable after a days’ hard work away from home.
3) It makes to you feel nice to know that you would be able to give in to your desires once in a while without feeling guilty. To be honest, I rarely do this. I am generally a low maintenance person.
4) Mom. Mom is with us to help us when I am way at work. If I am not working, she will see no reason to stay here with us and would want to go back home. This will not be a wise decision as she would have to stay alone. Its in everyones best interests that she stays with us. I had spoken to her about this earlier and she outright said that she will not be here if I decide to stay at home. Though I resent this attitude of mom’s I understand that from her perspetive this is justifiable.
5) We enjoy a very easy life and I wonder whether we will be able to do so with one person’s paycheck.
6) I would miss the adult company and the intellectual stimulation.
September 16, 2009
Visit to Doc
B is still not convinced that Aarush's groaning and grunting is normal. Just to put his mind at ease, we decided to show him to another doctor at the hospital where he was born. This outcome is as follows:
His new vital stats-
Weight - 4.9 kg (3.2 at birth)
Height - 55.3 com (50 cm at birth)
Head Circumference - 38 cm (35 at birth
1) Doc commented on his excellent weight gain and asked what milk I give him. Exclusively breastfed - replied a beaming, proud mother.
2) His bouts of vomitting - Reflux, but nothing to worry about or to give medicines for as his weight gain is fine and as his wet diapers aer also ample. Just asked to feed him upright and to let him sleep at a slightly elevated angle. This is due to baby taking in more milk than his tiny tummy can hold.
3) Groaning / grunting / wheezing - Ignore - absolutely normal.
4) Belly Button - Cant say its an outie yet. Aarush is having a tiny umbilical hernia and according to doc will clear off in a year to 18 months. Nothing to bo done or to worry.
5) Yellow colur of his eyes - Is still present since he is exclusively breastfed and in kids who are only BF, takes longer for the colour to go . Blood sample taken to see the count and results are normal.
6) Jitters - Will go off on its own. Actually, this has reduced a lot now since his birht and is almost non existent.
In all, he is perfectly a fine, normal little cuddly baby! Thank God for that!
His new vital stats-
Weight - 4.9 kg (3.2 at birth)
Height - 55.3 com (50 cm at birth)
Head Circumference - 38 cm (35 at birth
1) Doc commented on his excellent weight gain and asked what milk I give him. Exclusively breastfed - replied a beaming, proud mother.
2) His bouts of vomitting - Reflux, but nothing to worry about or to give medicines for as his weight gain is fine and as his wet diapers aer also ample. Just asked to feed him upright and to let him sleep at a slightly elevated angle. This is due to baby taking in more milk than his tiny tummy can hold.
3) Groaning / grunting / wheezing - Ignore - absolutely normal.
4) Belly Button - Cant say its an outie yet. Aarush is having a tiny umbilical hernia and according to doc will clear off in a year to 18 months. Nothing to bo done or to worry.
5) Yellow colur of his eyes - Is still present since he is exclusively breastfed and in kids who are only BF, takes longer for the colour to go . Blood sample taken to see the count and results are normal.
6) Jitters - Will go off on its own. Actually, this has reduced a lot now since his birht and is almost non existent.
In all, he is perfectly a fine, normal little cuddly baby! Thank God for that!
September 14, 2009
7 week old Aarush
Aarush now has much better control of his arms and loves swinging them, batting with them and stuffing the entire fist into his little mouth. The last one is usually done to demonstrate displeausre over delay in feeding.
He has also started cooing and gurgling a lot more and now can look at people directly into their eyes and coo and melt hearts! He loves the mobile gifted to him by Reeja Aunty which we have fixed on the head rest of our bed. He cheers the circling dinglings on the mobile with warm hearted coos.
However, the feather in the cap is that Aarush baby has started to smile. Last evening, I handed over Aarush to B after feeding and changing him. While B was cuddling him, to his most pleasant surprise, he was greeted by a lovely smile from the little one. Come to think of it, I do the changing, feeding, burping, bathing etc and the smile goes to his dad :(
This morning, I took Aarush to Appu's bed while she was still fast asleep. He managed to wake her up with his coos and then as if to make up for it, rewarded her a cute smile. Must have surely made her day.
We are also having a few concerns about him. He has started vomitting a lot lately. Not the usual posetting after feeds. This is actual forceful vomitting of a curdy, smelly kind. His weight gain seems to be fine at 4.8 kg now.
He has also started cooing and gurgling a lot more and now can look at people directly into their eyes and coo and melt hearts! He loves the mobile gifted to him by Reeja Aunty which we have fixed on the head rest of our bed. He cheers the circling dinglings on the mobile with warm hearted coos.
However, the feather in the cap is that Aarush baby has started to smile. Last evening, I handed over Aarush to B after feeding and changing him. While B was cuddling him, to his most pleasant surprise, he was greeted by a lovely smile from the little one. Come to think of it, I do the changing, feeding, burping, bathing etc and the smile goes to his dad :(
This morning, I took Aarush to Appu's bed while she was still fast asleep. He managed to wake her up with his coos and then as if to make up for it, rewarded her a cute smile. Must have surely made her day.
We are also having a few concerns about him. He has started vomitting a lot lately. Not the usual posetting after feeds. This is actual forceful vomitting of a curdy, smelly kind. His weight gain seems to be fine at 4.8 kg now.
Its an outie!!!
The stump of Aarush's umbilicus had fallen off on the 12th day after his birth and as is the custom, we have preservered the stump. This will be buried in the yard of our home when we go on leave next. After this, we did not give much attention to this part of his anatomy apart from the normal cleaning.
A few days back, I realised that we are yet to see a nice cute round belly button on him. There is still a fleshy piece covering the belly button. And then it dawned on me.....Aarush has an "outie" belly button.
Yipee.....we have decided to flaunt it!
Edited on 02.11.2009 to add
Nope..its not an outie. He has a very cute round belly button now! It was only a minor hernia.
A few days back, I realised that we are yet to see a nice cute round belly button on him. There is still a fleshy piece covering the belly button. And then it dawned on me.....Aarush has an "outie" belly button.
Yipee.....we have decided to flaunt it!
Edited on 02.11.2009 to add
Nope..its not an outie. He has a very cute round belly button now! It was only a minor hernia.
September 9, 2009
Favorite Toy
This is Aarush's favorite toy now...he loves to look at the colours and even manages to bat at the dinglings once in a while. Loves to listen to the music as well. This is his plaything during his floor times and after thel malish!
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