Week 5

We kinda found a solution to his acne/allergy. Turns out it might be eczema after all. The Aveno Eczema therapy cream did wonders. As soon as we lathered him with it, his bumps disappeared… well almost. His face cleared 110%. His head, however, still had loads of the bumps. On Friday during his 1 month appointment, the doctor told us it’s Cradles Cap. I guess a lot of babies have it. It’s now turned into these really gross, crusty yellow flakes. It’s like baby dandruff – it’s yellow and flaky. Normally things like this on other people gross me out so much. Dandruff, eye boogies, nose boogies, ear wax are just so gross. But when it comes to Veer, I’m not hesitant to clean it up. It doesn’t even gross me out.

One of my favorite moments with him was this morning. I was feeding him and I took the bottle away from his mouth and just smiled at him and he smiled back. I don’t know if he returned the smile because I smiled at him or he just happened to smile but it was the sweetest thing ever.

Oh, and I stopped pumping this week. I’m kinda sad because I really thought I would pump at least for six months or until I went back to work. I really was disappointed because I know breast milk is the healthiest thing for him right now. I hated the idea of having to pump every 2-3 hours. But don’t get me wrong, I would have if there was enough to feed him. The last week I was producing only about 5 ounces a day and the little munchkin drinks about 25 ounces a day.  I wish our bodies produced milk like beer on tap. Take some whenever in need.

1 Month!

Week 4

Veer's baby acne turned out to be something else. Little guy broke out all over his shoulders and chest early last week and I just knew it couldn’t be acne. I took him to the doctor on Friday and she thinks it might be a milk allergy. She gave me special formula. It smells. Bad. Especially when he burps or spits up. Not sure if it's really a milk allergy though because he's been on it for 4 days and it doesn’t seem to be getting better. The doctor, Kavita, and now I think it might be eczema. We have been giving him a bath every day for a couple of weeks now and it might be drying his skin out a lot. The doctor ordered not to give him a bath every day. Let's hope it helps.

He's been cranky for the last two days too and I wonder if it's because he is itchy.

You can see a little bit of eczema/acne/allergy in this week and last week's pic.

Little Monkey is 4 weeks old today!

Week 3

My mom left last week and my grandma is helping me out with Veer. As much as I miss having my mom around, it's nice to have my grandma. She's awesome with Veer (as was my mom). She talks to him and he listens. I really need to start video taping this because I am sure one day he will appreciate having this time with his great grandma recorded.

Small hurdle this week - I am not producing enough breast milk to feed him during all his feedings. This week I had to start supplementing formula. I hate the idea of it because I really wanted to feed him breast milk for at least 3 months. We have his doctor's appointment this week, so I will find out what else I can do. I started taking fenugreek pills. I'm drinking more milk myself and eating more too. Drinking lots of water. Not sure what else I can do. He won't latch on and now is spoiled with the bottle.

The breakout from the allergic reaction are almost all gone. I look like I am about 4 months pregnant. I have outgrown the Belly Bandit and now need a Medium.

Veer started breaking out and now has a lot of baby acne all over his face. It's also growing on his body. The doc said it's normal. She said some babies have it month 1 and some during month 3. There is nothing we can do about it but wait it out. I feel so bad for him b/c I'm not sure if it's uncomfortable. It's red at time and it probably looks worse than it feels. But still...

We moved back home yesterday and Veer immediately fell asleep after both of his feeds. Woohoo!!

Week 2

Week two was kinda hell for me. Not because of Veer, but because I broke out all over my legs, thighs and feet. My mom was making me drink this special drink that helps heal the body and also produces more breast milk. The drink was too warm for my body and I broke out. It was so itcy and dry that at times I wanted to cut my legs off. I talked to Hetal about it and she said she knows two other people who have also had the same reaction to this special drink. I was relieved to know there was a solution for the break out. I initially thought it was the sheets, and then I thought it was the comforter, and then I thought maybe it was the laundry detergent. A thousand different things ran thru my mind. It took over a week for the bumps and breakout to disappear and now during week 3 it’s almost gone. I would have photographed that too but it was too gross even for me to take a picture of and then post here. You’ll just have to imagine it. Think hives- and now picture that all over my legs, feet, thighs. 

Other than that, I was glad to have bladder control back. Physically i was still a little weak, but i'm still able to move around. I get tried in the evening but that's expected. I am getting used to Veer and his habits. He’s a pretty normal baby so far. Sleeps thru the night for the most part, wakes up ever 3 hours for a feeding. Sometimes he does want to play in the middle of the night and that’s a little tough because I want to sleep. He’s lucky he’s so darn cute, or else I would have to be mad at him.

The Belly Bandit is really helping. I've lost about 20 pounds. I would love to lose about 20-30 more. I look like i am about 6 months pregnant. My outie is once again a innie. 



Week 1

What a week. Veer has lived thru more natural disasters than some people. I know I’ve never experienced an earthquake or a hurricane in my life before. So that makes Veer and I even as far as living thru these disasters. I still can’t get over the earthquake part. As soon as the doctor said I was ready to push, the earth shook…. Well it was my bed that shook. I looked around the room and thought it was some sort of a labor exercise they do. Anand also felt the room shaking and he asked the nurse what it was all about. She didn’t notice and after a few minutes it all stopped. It wasn’t confirmed that it was an earthquake until the doctor came back in the room and asked us if we felt it. After that about 2 hours later we welcomed Veer in this world. There were times in those two hours that I felt like giving up. I even told the doctor I can’ do it anymore. I told her I literally can’t push and she laughed at me because I told her I literally couldn’t do it anymore. She encouraged me by telling me I was almost there and she felt his head peeking out. To motivate me, she even showed me. Without getting into graphic details, as soon as I felt his head peek thru, it was a matter of minutes before his whole body was out.

The hospital believes in skin to skin, so as soon as his umbilical cord was cut (thank you, Anand); the nurse put him directly on me. And as soon as they did, all the pain I felt disappeared. Just like that.

Getting used to him was pretty easy, thanks to my mom. She took night duty with me and at times even told me to go to bed and she’ll put him to bed. I did that because I know it’s not going to last for long. The biggest challenge I had was with breastfeeding. I wasn’t producing enough milk at first and when I finally did, he wouldn’t latch on. Initially he did but the poor guy didn’t get enough food, so we were forced to feed him formula out of a bottle. He quickly learnt that bottle is much faster than the boob.

The biggest challenge came Saturday night when hurricane Irene made its way in our neck of the woods. We lost power at 2pm in the middle of a feed. After that it was Amish living. We lived by candle light and no running water. Eventually we moved to Kavita’s house and the world was at peace.  Well not really but all things considered things were good.