Co-sleeping with Maddy

Early on, I've already decided that I wanted to co-sleep with Maddy. Not necessarily right beside each other on the bed, but definitely in the same room, if only because I would be breastfeeding, so it's more convenient for the both of us. And no, I was not inclined to have the yaya sleep together with us in the room. It will kill the romance between hubby and I, diba?!

So we got/asked for a co-sleeper, and I got one from my baby shower. Sadly, it didn't get much use since Maddy preferred and slept longer and better when lying on top of me or beside me.

Even until now that she's 11 months old, she sleeps between hubby and me, but more of towards me. It's hard to sleep, given the little wiggle room I have, but I've managed so far and have gotten used to it already. Maybe around 7-8 months she's started sleeping longer, usually 3-4 hours. There were a couple of times she's slept for 5 hours straight.

I think the solution for her sleeping even longer would be if she slept a bit away from me. I gathered from some of the mommy FB groups that the babies can smell your milk especially when you're right next to each other, which triggers them to keep waking up and wanting to suck. Unfortunately, we can't fit a pack and play and crib beside the bed, and she can't fit her co-sleeper anymore. 

She's also started rolling around in her sleep!!! So we had to attach a safety bed rail at the foot of the bed.

Here's to hoping for longer sleeping time and less rolling around.

Maddy Sharapova

So we dressed up Maddy as a tennis player for Enzo's 1st Birthday, since his theme was Olympics!

I bought a ping pong racket, printed out a tennis racket image on sticker paper, wrapped neon sticker strips around the handle, and voila - Tennis Racket!

She also already had an RL tennis dress onesie care of MIL.

I got a sweatbands from the department store to complete the look.

"Maddy" Sharapova won best costume for girls!

Maddy finally enjoys swimming!

The first time we took Maddy swimming (Malapascua pa, no less!), she hated it! She was 5-6months old and found the water disorienting. But she cried slightly less in the ocean than in the pool.

Fast forward to 9 months old, we took her swimming again at Blue Waters Maribago Resort, and she loved it! Granted we didn't get to take a dip in the seawater (wasn't that clean), but she loved the pool! It also helped that the water was warm.

Since then, we've been taking her for a dip in the condo pool once in a while, even with her yaya bibit! But we make sure to take her between 4-5pm when the sun had sufficiently warmed the water already, and we only swim for less than 20min. Most times, we just bring down her Stokke bathtub so she can rinse and shower downstairs instead of having to bundle her up and shower her back home.

On that note, she seems to dislike showers and prefers sitting on her bathtub "swimming" around during bathtime. We go so far as to keep her in her bathtub in the morning for 15-20min after she's already bathed, because she just likes to sit there in the water and play with her squeaky water toys!

Coughs and Colds - Mommy and Maddy

Maddy

The little girl developed a cough, which eventually became or which was eventually followed by a cold. The poor thing had runny nose and phlegm at the back of her throat, which we think was irritating her to no end. She couldn't really sleep properly, because the cough would wake her up or she'd end up gagging and throwing up her milk because of the coughing! Her vomited milk would be mucusy and sticky.

At first, we tried to let it run its course, as the pedia said there was no liquid in the lungs, and mucus was clear, so it was probably some allergies.

I bought a Euky Bear vaporizer which came with a eucalytus inhalant liquid that I can pour into the water in the vaporizer. 

(here she is, I'm making her breath in the vapors)

I felt that it worked at least to loosen the phlegm or mucus. But not enough.

Eventually the pedia recommended we give Maddy mucolytic syrup to loosen up the phlegm. 1.5ml 3x a day. That and Muconase saline spray helped. But her nose kept running, and her throat was still sticky with the phlegm and she couldn't really spit it out or expel it.

Eventually, we had another check up. The pedia said that there's a bit of fluid in her lungs now. Probably what started as allergies gave way to an upper respiratory infection. It was nothing major, since the mucus was still clear. It was essentially the common cold, which we could choose to just let it run its course. However, since we're leaving out of town the week after, we decided to fast track the process by giving her antibiotics already. 

So the trio of meds given to Maddy, all for 10 days, were:

(a) Klaz (Clarithromycin)

- shaken because it's granules in suspension

- pink, strawberry flavored, but essentially yucky and had a bitter aftertaste

- administered by using a syringe without the needle, 3ml 2x a day

(b) Meptin syrup (Procaterol Hydrochloride)

- quite yummy actually, no strong taste, much like clear sugar syrup

- administered by dropper, 1.5ml 2x a day

(c) Montiget (Montelukast Sodium) 4mg

- sachet of white powder

- administered by mixing it over a spoonful of or with her food, not with liquid, 1x a day before bedtime (or her last meal of the day)

So far, the meds have been working and her coughs and cold have disappeared, save for a cough or two or a rattling phlegmy sound at the back of her throat once in a while. 

Mommy

Soon after Maddy started her cough and cold, I sent a message to the universe to pass on to me Maddy's sickness instead. WELL. Got passed on to me alright. But Maddy still had hers. Anyway, at least she's getting better.

I refused to take meds, since cold and decongestant meds like phenylephrine or phenylpropanolamine decreases milk supply. I was still breastfeeding so some meds were also off the table for me, because the harmful ingredients can make their way to Maddy through my milk.

I stuck to the vaporizer for a while. Drank a lot of hot water/lemon tea/ginger tea, took in Manuka Honey (pricey!), Echinacea and Vitamin C.

My nose remain clogged, I kept coughing, I sounded like a disease carrier around the office, I had to wear a mask at some point when we visited the pedia just so I don't infect the kids in the waiting area.

Eventually, I relented and started taking Himox antibiotics and alternated between Nasathera and Sinupret for the colds. I appear to have allergic rhinitis. Now, they've more or less eased up. I just still have mucus, but no runny nose anymore and no congestion. 

Let's hope I'm totally cured by day 7. It's already day 3 or 4 of taking the antibiotics so far.

MAHAL MAGKASAKIT. Let me just put it out there. 

Drink lots of water and Vitamin C people. And Echinacea to boost your immune system. Gah. 

Starting with Solids and Constipation

So when Maddy reached around 6 months, the pedia gave us the go signal to give her solids. We had no clue as to go about it. The pedia gave us a couple of boxes of Cerelac and just feed it to her accordingly, along with pureed fruits and veggies. When we asked how much and how often, the response was start with once a day, and feed so long as she'll accept the food, and stop feeding when she turns her head away or refuses to take another bite. Not. That. Helpful.

Anyway. We just had to wing it. We started feeding her once a day of Cerelac. The box said 5 tablespoons of the dry cereal, mixed with hot water. But good lord that was more for a big kid I think. Because she only ate about a teaspoon's worth of the mixed Cerelac. So eventually, we just dropped down to 1-2 tbsp of dry cereal mixed with water. 

Then we started giving her Earth's Best or Gerber (we preferred Earth's Best). We'd give her a serving or two in the afternoon/early evening, in addition to her Cerelac in the morning.

Now, we've been regular at feeding her thrice a day: Cerelac in the morning, some Earth's Best after lunch/mid afternoon, and another feeding in the evening. Sometimes we give her a refrigerated apple slice to munch on. It seems to satisfy her need for a different texture, and the coolness of the apple slice helps soothe her teething!

We had issues with her constipation for a long time. We'd have to administer suppositories just to get her to poop. The pedia suggested we give her Duphalac (some laxative syrup), which for the life of me didn't work! You know what eventually worked????!!! Pureed papaya!!!

I pureed some ripe papayas mixed with a bit of water, refrigerated bottles of it. Fed papaya to her one feeding every day. And sure enough, after the 3rd or 4th day of papaya feeding, she started pooping regularly again! 

I am now a believe of papaya power.

Eczekleen AD

Sometime last month, when Maddy turned 5 months or so, she got these red rashes on her chin and cheeks. I figured, it must be drool rash. But it wasn't going away no matter how much we vigilantly wiped her chin and cheeks of drool. I suspected some form of baby eczema, since Hanley has skin asthma, and she could have inherited it.

Eventually, the pedia recommended Eczekleen AD cream.

It wasn't available in the Rose Pharmacies here in Cebu, and a lot of the Mercury Drugstores had this out of stock. Finally found a tube - costs around Php900! A bit expensive but a little goes a long way.

It's actually locally manufactured by Eskeen Laboraties, Inc. Although their website eskeen.com.ph contains literally nothing except their logo, they do have a Facebook page which has substantially more content. --> https://www.facebook.com/Eskeen-Laboratories-Inc-104394126334861/

Eczekleen AD Advanced Barrier Replenishing Cream (don't mistake this for the Eczekleen AD moisturizer) is meant for atopic eczema, which according to Mayo Clinic occurs usually with children, but can flare up at any age. It's red and itchy skin condition, which can be worsened by sweat, fluids on skin (drool!) and wool or harsh chemicals or other irritants.

After just a few days of using the cream, there was noticeable difference in Maddy's skin already!!!

We used it twice a day - once after bath, and once before sleeping. After the eczema subsided, we used it only before sleeping. Now we're only using it every other day or so. The pedia said it should be okay to use daily since it has no steroids.

I am completely amazed with the effectivity of this product, especially considering it's locally made. Highly recommended for those whose babies are suffering from eczema!

The past 6 months

With the little girl almost 6 months old, my MIL reminded me to note down the important milestones, etc. somewhere.

Tantrums, Interaction

During my last post, she was just about to turn 4 months old. This was the time when she would always have these unexplainable tantrums! These subsided past 4 months though.

During her 5th month or so, she's become more interactive, laughed a lot, cooed and babbled more! And she has also started rolling from her back to her tummy. I thought she'd never be able to roll until past 6 months, because she was a heavy, "healthy" baby, but this little girl has some serious core strength.

Skin Asthma and Drool Rash?

Unfortunately, though her baby face acne subsided sometime 2nd-3rd month, some mild eczema has been acting up on her face. She has rough patches on her chin and cheek, probably exacerbated by her drool. We sort of suspect she's teething already, owing to the copious amount of drool she produces (and smears all other), plus the fact that she's started chewing or sucking on anything she could get hands on, or her mouth on. But she's not in any significant discomfort or pain, so I've held off applying any teething gel on her gums.

Since Hanley has skin asthma, I've posited that she probably inherited it too. We've been prescribed some ezcema cream on her skin, and cross fingers that it'll help! Pedia also prescribed a brand of hypoallergenic bath wash (though I was pretty sure the Mustela ones we use are okay. But oh well), and Cetaphil Restoraderm on her body after bath.

Iron Supplement

When Maddy hit 5 months, the pedia also prescribed Ferlin Drops, or iron supplement. However, this caused Maddy to become extremely constipated! It's not that she was in pain or was straining a lot, but her farts were aplenty and STINKY! Usually she would poop right when she wakes up, but ever since Ferlin Drops, she would wake up moaning and moving around in discomfort. After researching on my own, I found that purely breastfed babies do not need iron supplement. In fact, iron supplements counteract the absorption of the iron naturally found in breastmilk. So I asked the pedia if we could stop giving it to her, and he agreed. That was a week and a half ago. She didn't poop for 6 days, so we finally gave her a suppository. The insertion itself wasn't painful, but the poor girl's stomach probably started rumbling and acting up because of it just a few minutes later and she kept crying. But no more than 20 minutes after, she pooped out this huge pile of green-black poop, so that was a relief! We also give her half and half of prune juice and water (total of 20-40oz) to ease stool movement.

We're not back to regular poop programming yet (she used to be able to go every day, even at least twice a day). Now it's been a couple of days since her last poop, and already the pedia wants to start her on Cerelac.

I'm holding off on the Cerelac until her pooping patterns normalize.

Mommy's Sleep

Am I getting more sleep? Not really. Still waking up every 2-3 hours to feed, which means 3 to 4 times from the moment I tuck into bed until 7:30-8am. But my body kind of got used to it. So I'm a functioning adult regardless.

Things that make her laugh

This girl is a tough nut to crack. She has a resting bitch face and she is so hard to please. But we've managed to nail down some sure-fire laughing maneuvers.

- Lifting her up and down to step on things to the tune of Pink Panther
- Massaging her thighs
- Raspberries on her chin and neck, and armpits
- Playing dead/asleep then waking up to surprise her
- Dragging a lampin across her face