Saturday, June 20, 2009

Bath time, food time, sleep time

On Friday I took Nathan to be weighed at the local state clinic. As happened with Nellie, I was very disappointed by the attitude of the staff nurses present. They were offhand, unhelpful, unfriendly, uncaring, brusque - almost bordering on rude. Although it costs R120 per session, I think I might just stick with a private clinic from now on and pay for the privilege of being treated like a human being, rather than a nuisance and an annoyance. Anyway, the good news is that Nathan weighed 3.3kg, so he's putting on weight just fine.

Although I gave Nathan his first bath last weekend, it was rather a disaster, so soonest forgotten would be best. I bathed him again this evening. This time though, I bathed him in the bath with Nellie. Nathan hated it just as much as the last time, but at least this time (because G was around to help) I managed to keep him warm while still getting him clean.



We had a difficult night recently. The poor boy really seems to have a problem digesting milk and every now and again has incredible spasms that leave him screaming. (Nellie had the same problem when she was born - her prematurity being the main reason.) Of course, he's not considered prem, but it may well be that he has a less developed digestive system. Still, the fact that he's put on weight in the first week would seem to negate that, so I really don't know what to think.

I've realised (remembered?) that I'm going to have to be very careful with what I eat for the next little while to try to minimise his discomfort. I don't think I've eaten anything that could cause hassles - I've avoided tomatoes and other acidic foods (but mainly because I don't like acidic foods), but it may be that I need to watch my intake of dairy. Sigh! I love my dairy.

Nate has also had his first attempt at using a dummy - which was entirely successful. Last night, after he was awake & crying for 3 hrs straight, I resorted to it because I had no milk left and I'd given him so much formula I was convinced that if I gave him any more his tummy would burst. He was very happy comfort sucking. While I'm not sure I want to go down this road again, it's good to know he will take one if we really need it.

And now, as he is sleeping, I think I'm going to catch up on some zzzz's too.

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