Monday 22 April 2013

Appetite

I lost my appetite as soon as morning sickness kicked in (really should be renamed all day sickness). I was physically sick on average once a day from week 6 to week 16ish. Throughout the rest of the pregnancy my appetite didn't return and during the early weeks with 1KB it still wasn't back to normal. I was eating what I could (one handed) when I could and often it was just easier to tend to her and forget about me. However I can safely say that my appetite has returned in earnest so I now need to be a little bit careful - I'm not trying to lose weight I'd actually just like to stay where I am now and not put any on. Unfortunately food that is easy to eat one handed and satisfies an immediate hunger (don't often get a lot of time to prepare food) seems to be unhealthy for you - or in my case that is true. Grapes, apples or bananas just never hit the spot the way chocolate, crisps or toast do.
Anyone got any simple meals or snack suggestions that will satisfy my hunger? I have on a couple of occasions made myself the equivalent of a packed lunch - although we don't go anywhere. When I have some free time in the evening I make a sandwich to keep in the fridge so that the next day if 1KB is having a particularly bad day I can just eat while she feeds or sleeps in my arms.

Monday 15 April 2013

It takes a village

They say it takes a village to raise a child and that may well be true and useful but when everyone in the village has a different opinion it can be bewildering and overwhelming. Thankfully these opinions have not been forced upon me but with so many options it is difficult to know what is best:
Breast feed or not
Top up with formula or not
Dummy or not
Own room or our room
In her cot or our bed
She is colicky or not
Give her gripe water, colic drops, fennel tea or not
Feed her on demand
Don't over feed her
Let her nap for long periods
Keep her awake

On most of these points I don't care I will follow instructions and there in lies the problem. There are no instructions and if you take one route there are hundreds of opinions and experts to tell you why they'd do it differently. You have to do what is best for your individual child and if someone would just tell me what that is I'll get on with it.

Friday 12 April 2013

Reflux

We think 1KB has reflux - this is what the health visitor has suggested or rather asked me if that was what I thought was wrong. We're going to the GP on Monday although I'm not really expecting much more of a diagnosis. I'm getting the impression that infants and their digestive systems are quite the mystery.
I thought all babies were sick  and perhaps she was just greedy and took too much food. However as time has gone on and we're just not able to extend the two hour period I'm getting more and more resentful. She wouldn't need fed every two hours if she kept hold of some of the food I gave her and didn't throw it all back at me. All over her clothes, soaking numerous bibs and muslins, my clothes and our new carpet. 
I'm now realising that perhaps it isn't normal to lose that much of a feed and her screaming and writhing an hour after being fed is perhaps to do with her stomach churning and not simply that she hates falling asleep.
We've been prescribed infant Gaviscon which we happily started using - after figuring out how the heck to actually give it to a breast fed baby. But she immediately became constipated and the writhing in pain from stomach acid was replaced by straining to fill her nappy. The dosage instructions say that for her weight (luckily she has no problem with her weight gain) she can have 12 sachets a day - we've reduced her dosage to 2 sachets a day and she is still bunged up. We're giving tummy massages and hot baths to try and help her along. The two sachets unfortunately don't seem to be cutting out the vomit so we need to up the dosage.
Hoping the GP might have some advice that isn't simply different medicine to help with the constipation - there is a lot of advice on what you can and can't give babies but in my experience they'll give you plenty of sugar filled medicines. Or maybe we may need to decide which is worst constipation or vomit.

Tuesday 2 April 2013

Ground hog 2 hours

1KB is on a two hour cycle. From about 7am she eats, plays, screams and sleeps in a two hour cycle - sometimes on a really good day we can stretch it to two and a half hours. You could almost set your watch by her. She will appear to be sleeping soundly but bang on two hours since her last feed she will begin to stir. If we go out for a walk or in the car she will sleep for longer however I don't always want to go for a walk every two hours.

I need to do something to elongate this cycle but I've no idea how - any suggestions? I feel like I'm living in ground hog hour over and over again the same happens.