Davina at 2 months!

Davina is now 2mths!! As you can see, my little cherub is still yellow due to her jaundice. So we decided it was time to get a blood test. I must say, baby D has such a high pain threshold just like her mummy. It was the 2nd time she had her heel pricked & twice now she didn't cry at all. Normally a lot of babies including Z would scream until they are purple in the face, until they inhale with absolute silence for 5 whole secs and then let out this HUGE cry. D on the contrary, was calm as the sea. I was astonished! Anyway, the blood test result showed a bilirubin count of 198 which has increased since she was in the hospital. This was abnormal. So I was referred to a pediatrician who was the doctor that we saw in the hospital after she was born. He alerted me that she may have UTI so off we went to do a urine test. My poor little one was screaming when the doctor & the Dorevich staff was holding her down with her legs wide open to insert a catheter in her urethra just to obtain her urine specimen. Oh it was horrible to watch! I was assured by the doctor that it was more painful for me than it was for my poor little baby. I was nearly in tears alright! At last, the test result showed negative so the conclusion is that she is suffering from breastmilk jaundice which should subside by week 10. My gut instinct is telling me that the cause of this was the Usana Biomega supplement that I started taking at week 7 of her life because her jaundice was actually subsiding until week 7 when she started to become more yellow. Sigh.. I really look forward to the day that she has normal complexion soon and it doesn't help that Melbourne is not having much morning sun at the moment for me to sunbake her. Double sigh..

Here are her developments:

At 6 weeks,

many books and experts recommend that routine for the baby should be introduced at this age. D slept very well during day (although I wasn't exactly putting her to sleep awake). It was night time that was the most horrible. I knew this would be my defining moment to get some sanity into our lives especially since both Mr M & I were absolutely sleep deprived. Both of us dreaded night time cos it meant putting her to sleep which was getting extremely difficult and I knew Mr M couldn't possibly keep holding her to sleep to the point he was getting pins and needles in his arms every single night. Enough was enough. I finally decided it was time to implement controlled crying which I failed miserably with Z (I gave in after half hour of him crying. What can you say? he was my first born!). My g/f who is also a mother of 2, told me that I should put her to sleep in her cot at the first sign of her getting tired (eg. fidgety hands/yawning) when her eyes are still open and awake. Then I was to pat her on her side with my other hand resting on her chest for 30secs and then walk out of her room and let her cry for no more than 1min. I would then repeat this until she falls alseep. Sounds easy right?

NOT!! GUESS HOW LONG IT TOOK FOR HER TO SETTLE?!! 5 WHOLE HOURS!! YES I WALKED IN OUT OF THE ROOM WITH HER SCREAMING AT ME FOR 5 WHOLE HOURS!! AND THAT'S NOT THE WORSE PART, IT WENT FROM 10PM - 3AM! I WAS A TOTAL WRECK THE NEXT MORNING.

But.. despite the short-term pain, I must thank God that I finally implemented it. It wasn't long until bb D got the hang of it. The next morning, I did the same thing again. I placed her in her cot at the first sign of tiredness and left the room for 1min while she screamed at the top of her lungs. I then went in to pat her no more than 30secs. She would cry less and less as we got more practice. Hallelujah!
D also started to develop milk/heat rash all over her face which is once again normal as her hormones are trying to adjust itself from all the changes in her body.

At 7 weeks,

instead of sleeping 3hours, she was stretching to 5hours at night. She finally differentiated day from night and reversed her feeding pattern so that she would only feed 5hourly at night and 3hourly at day. Her cradle cap also started to appear. It smelt really bad and it started to look like scabs all over her scalp. Not a pretty sight. Luckily we knew how to treat it as Z also had this. So we stopped all baby shampoos (cos I loved the smell of her hair after using it) and just bathed her in QV Bath Oil only. Then I would apply QV Lotion instead of Olive oil (as I found that after using olive oil, this caused red rashes all over her head). Her cradle cap is starting to get better. Her eye lashes have started to form and when she cries, tears are finally released too (which doesn't happen when they are a newborn).

Dress by Ted Baker
Shoe Socks by Mary Jane

At 8 weeks - she surprised both Mr M & I by sleeping through the night on avg for 8-10hours! WOW!! Now this has NEVER HAPPENED WITH Z!! With him, it was probably when he was 5months then he started to sleep through the night although that only lasted for about 2wks! The first time she did this, my breasts were so engorged that I had to wake up at the 8th hour. I was drenched with milk! Yes the glamourous side to breastfeeding. I find it very ironic that all mums always wish for their baby to sleep through the night so that they can finally get some precious sleep. But the reality is that even if the baby sleeps through the night, mums (breastfeeding ones) physically just can't sleep through the night! She still feeds 3 hourly during day time. Her neck muscle is getting stronger as she is able to lift it really high for at least 20secs on her tummy. She loves the changing table. She would coo and smile every time I placed her down. I really have no idea what she is looking at besides the ceiling that is bringing her much amusement. She finally loves the bath. She no longer cries when we place her in the tub. Her hair is now all standing upright and no matter what I put on her hair, it just won't stay down. She looks so much like a boy who has intentionally spiked up their hair. Strangers always think she is is a boy whenever we go out. She has so many knots at the back of her hair and it looks like I'll be chopping them off soon. She has officially moved onto size 00/3-6mths clothing. Her rashes have completely disappeared but her cradle cap is still there although less than before. She has found her hands and likes to suck on it to keep her occupied in her cot. She also loves to kick, a lot. Quite a cute sight to watch. Oh and did I mention, she has a really big tummy just like Z when he was a baby? hehehe..
Not surprisingly, the biggest milestone of her turning 2months was her weight gain. Even my maternal child nurse was astounded when she saw how fat big she grew (thank you papaya soup!lol).
She now weighs a whopping 5.65kg (90th percentile aka WAY above avg), 56cm in length (50th percentile aka avg) and 39cm in head circumference (60th percentile aka above avg).

Dress by Ralph Lauren
Isn't she cute? she looks like she's ready to go for some classy high tea, ready to sip some English Earl Grey tea. In actual fact, she was about to go for her first Yum Cha with both sets of her grandparents and mummy just couldn't resist dolling her up :)

Click here for her 1 month update