Saturday, 1 August 2009

Azra's fourth week



Azra is 27 days old today, which means that tomorrow it will be 4 weeks since she was born. It is hard to understand where that time has gone. And even though life is definitely harder then it was before Azra came along, I can't imagine life without her now! Life without this cute face, how was it possible???
This week has been week of the poo! For 4 days now she has had green poo and explosive at that! As one of my friends said maybe I shouldn't be feeding her spinach soup!!! With all the other symptoms and signs she displays and with the help of a breastfeeding consultant it appears that she is getting too much milk, especially the foremilk which is high in lactose, which she can't digest without the fatty hindmilk. According to researchers, the foremilk comes first and is probably so to quench thirst first and then comes the hindmilk, the rich calorie-laden milk. But when the latter is not taken in correct amounts/balance (when their is too much milk or when feeds are too short) then the lactose can not be digested by babies which causes a lot of pain for the baby, gassiness, tummy aches etc. Which is the reason as to why she cries in pain- poor thing! And she is so gassy! How terrible it is to be a baby- you can't communicate what you are feeling or experiencing to those looking after you. At least we adults can do this (of course whether or not we choose to do so is in our own hands, but at least we have the capability!) So what we are experimenting with the guidance of the counsellor is offering one breast for 3-4 hours to make sure it is completely drained. This type of feeding is called block-feeding which I will do until things return to normal. This started 1-1.5 days ago. I am seeing less of the signs of discomfort at the breast and immediately after feeding at least and we may have to wait a couple of more days for the other signs to disappear. I think she may be even less gassy. Let's hope this is what it is! I have rad quite a lot of research on this- they call it 'hyperlactation' producing too much milk because of too much demand and having a too forceful let-down reflex. What is interesting though, because I couldn't exactly understand it was why babies who suffer from this mostly have too much weight gain. It sort of seems illogical to me. Azra is gaining way too well. The nurse came around and weighed Azra the other day (23 days old) and the scales said 4 kg! She was 3.19 at birth- and then she went down to 3.05 grams so that means at least 950 grams in 20 days, so almost 50grams per day!! What I have also learnt, through the amount of accidents we have had with poo this week, is the particular sounds she makes when she is trying to poo as well as facial expressions. And also how long to wait after Azra does a poo until changing her nappy- because her poos are explosive it is quite dangerous to be changing her nappy when she hasn't quite finished- it can take up to 10 minutes for her to get everything out. Plus I have just started doing baby massage and baby yoga with her, so I do certain movements which help bowel movements seeing she has such problems with gas. I have learnt that it is a mistake to do those movements just before changing nappies! At least 10 minutes before seems to be safer!
Here we have a picture of Azra in her baby carrier. She loves being in this. It is guaranteed (at least everytime I have used it to this end) to stop her crying- quite useful now when trying to regulate her milk intake! If she is crying then she usually continues for a couple of minutes but it lessens as I walk around a bit and then it completely stops as we go outside. Then in 5 or so minutes she is completely asleep! It is said this is because of how it reminds them of being in the womb. It is interesting the comments I get from people on the street. Carriers at all are not seen much in Istanbul (except for the Roma women perhaps), especially not like this one which I picked up in Australia. Some people think it is great, others ask if the baby can breathe inside, or they say what a pity it is as the baby can't move. But there has been a lot of research done which prove what great things baby carriers are for babies. It's mostly about movement- especially for gassy babies and close contact. Although it is pretty hot now in July/August in Istanbul with this particular carrier!
Last night Husnu's cousin had her wedding so for the first time I had to look after Azra for the whole day and night by myself. It was not too bad. I had to take her out for a walk in her carrier though early evening to try to get her to stop crying though. And it was very hard to cook a very simple stir fry. Although the bath, which we have always done together, was easy enough. I take my hat off to women (and men) who look after their babies themselves, especially single mothers and fathers. And below is today's picture of Azra!

1 comment:

  1. Hey Jo,
    She is gorgeous and looks just like you. I am so glad that all is going well. Enjoy every day because as you see it goes by fast.

    I will look forward to meeting her in person.
    noreen

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