Caroleen’s Treasures

We had black out for 15 hours since 10pm last night. It was not so bad because it was cold last night even until this afternoon so there was no problem. I usually freak out when power is out because Ella could not sleep without a fan. I learned my lesson with her so I am trying not to get Eman so used with fan. I am always bundle him up or I let him wear socks and pyjamas at night that Ella haven’t experienced. Well I tried it with her when she was not yet a month old but she would be sweating like she was running in a baby marathon and so the dozen pyjamas that I got as gifts went to my cousin’s daughter.

Ella was still having her tutorial class and the teacher talked to Donald about what happened the other day. She went out to run an errand and so a teacher much older than she (the teacher looks like she’s in her early 30′s while the other teacher looks like she going to retire anytime this year) substituted for her. The substitute pretended she doesn’t know how to read what was written on the board. Ella asked her if she could not REALLY read it and asked her to sit down and listen to her while she points each letter, recites its letter sound and read the whole word to her. The teacher could not help but laugh out loud. That’s my gurl!

On the other note, Eman was fussy again this afternoon. I do not know if I mentioned it here that he is passing gas often and he becomes whiny even after feeding. I mix-feed him. I breastfeed him most of the day and night and has some bottles in between but we try to limit his bottle to 2 bottles of 4 ounces each a day. We make sure he burps every after feeding (I even burp him after feeding on one breast before switching to the other breast) yet he is still so fussy. I googled it and found some causes and one of them is my suspected culprit and it is the hyper-lactation syndrome. It says:

“Another possible reason for infant gassiness is hyper-lactation syndrome. When a mother has a very abundant milk supply, she may produce a larger amount of foremilk. Foremilk is higher in water content, higher in lactose and usually delivered with greater force during letdown. In excess, foremilk can make baby’s stomach cramp, creating more fussiness. A baby that gulps the quickly flowing milk also tends to take in more air, thereby getting gassier. Because the baby may not be getting enough of the rich hind milk, he or she tends to want to eat more often, which perpetuates the problem. The baby that suffers from hyper-lactation syndrome is characterized by higher that normal weight gain, increased gassiness, and fussiness.”

I don’t have abundant milk (the reason why we are giving him bottle) or so I thought but I do experience the spraying and dripping during letdown. Eman would be mumbling while sucking and he would cry because he feels he’s drowning. He would be gasping for air and that is why he has so much gas that is causing his fussiness.

I have been trying to read and gather more information regarding fore milk and hind milk even before I have birth yet I am not sure if he does gets enough hind milk because he drains each breast so quickly. But they say you can tell if he gets enough when he sleeps through it so when he does sleeps while nursing, I feel good. But how about the issue on being so gassy? I had no idea how can I regulate the strong pressure during letdown! I have no switch, I have no regulating gauge attached to my breasts!!!!

Since it is impossible to do something with the letdown issue, I looked for ways how to alleviate gas pains in babies and I tried one tip from a mom that is to hold the baby with his back on my belly then raise his knees up to his belly. She said not to do this when baby has just been changed as the baby will soil the diaper. Well, I tried it and it did work! In just a few minutes, he not just passed gas but he pooped!!!