Lois' last well-baby check up confirmed my fear. She was 200 grams less than her ideal weight for her age of 4.5 months. Though many has observed it (granny, ninang chelle, and diko) I didn't want to believe until the doctor saw her. For Lois to not get enough nourishment is akin to saying that I am not doing my job of taking care of her. And that is the last thing I want to happen. As it is, me staying home to personally care for Lois must produce best results. I have given up a convenient and familiar life to start a family, and this could not be happening. Especially since I still haven’t lost the last extra 5 lbs. I gained while I was pregnant. How could my weight remain above target while Lois fails to hit the mark? Incomprehensible, totally unacceptable! If a healthy mom makes a healthy baby, how come I am maintaining my weight and Lois is not?
Excuses, excuses
Maybe it was due to the malfunctioning wall clocks. I lost keep track of time and therefore lost the pattern to regularly nurse Lois. Lois would rather play than feed, so relying on her hunger cues is useless. Besides, darling Lois has grown very curios of her environment. The moving fan, the opening door, the wind-blown curtain. She would stop nursing only to stare at these things. Her developing senses and understanding of her world has opened her eyes to the poetry of motion, and she finds this more fascinating than my breast. So I nurse her inside the room emptied with all possible visual and auditory stimulants. Even daddy has to whisper and use hand language to communicate with me while nursing. Lately also, in want to look slimmer - especially in the tummy area - I've watched, and controlled my appetite. Preferring to eat in lesser quantity than to exercise and have firmer abs. This could have affected my milk's taste or quantity, and Lois noticed that. Another possible reason could be my fondness of reading. I was so much into Leo Tolstoy's War & Peace (Oh, what a genius Tolstoy is!) that my focus shifted from Lois to the novel. When I nurse her, instead of caressing her fine, long hair, I read the e-book, which makes her quit feeding sooner. Lastly, Lois has grown particularly fond of my right breast and wouldn't nurse on the other side, not unless we are standing and swaying, to my disadvantage. I'm afraid my milk quality declined since only one breast is being emptied.
So with all these possible reasons, Lois and I tweaked our feeding habits. New batteries for the wall clocks were replaced, the 1-1.5 hour feeding routine was established, and I took the stairs instead of the elevator whenever I can. Plus, the whole household was informed to behave quietly during Lois' feeding skeds. Hopefully, she'll get heavier next pedia visit.
Look-a-like
As of last count, it's 2-1 in my favor. Bianca and Cary, our friends, both say Lois looks like me. But the mom waiting with her 2-week old at the pedia's office looks much like her daddy. "1st born are almost all the time carbon copies of the dad. What a cute baby," she told us.
Dedication
Finally, papsie and I have settled on the date, venue and other details for Lois' baby dedication. Originally, it should coincide with my birthday (to minimize expenses) but our chosen sponsors' schedule didn't allow it so we moved it to Aug. 13, which is a 2nd Sunday. And since Bread of Life holds baby dedications during such times of the month, we won't go with the original target of holding a special dedication anymore. 1st worship service, that's 8-10am at OnStage, Greenbelt with lunch afterwards at Max's Park Square.
Improved sleeping sked
Some things always turn out for the good, indeed (Rom8.28)! While Lois' yays (we prefer our nanny Ellen to be called yays) was away for around two weeks, I thought running the household single-handedly would be really difficult. But Lois helped, and it became such a joy. During that phase, she would wake up early, around 5-530am and play by herself until we notice her tricks. Squeals, chuckles, baby noise and shirt pulling. (Bed sharing is not that fun during these times.) Then, papsie and I would rise up already and have our breakfast around 7-8am. After that, Lois would doze for her morning nap sometimes until 12 noon. So I'll get to rest a bit, clean up, eat and prepare for her bath. Once she wakes, I'd play with her for awhile and when she looks a-ok already, it's bath time. I am really very proud of Lois because she never cries during bath time anymore. I see it as her way of telling me that she sees me, all by myself doing everything, so she makes it easy for me. Such a sweet treat! Then by 2-3pm, after some bonding time at the room reading, playing or singing, she'd have her afternoon nap, sometimes until 7pm right when daddy papsie's back from work. When I'm not so lucky, and Lois would just nap for an hour (which includes 45 mins of nursing) and I really have to go eat, go the CR, answer the door/phone, I place Lois at her stroller where she can see me and from afar, while doing my stuff, I am talking and playing with her. This does the trick and we have so much fun! It also helps that she can now play with her hands and feet for a few minutes - putting them in her mouth while speaking, perhaps trying to guess which combination would sound and taste better. She has managed to entertain herself by eating those fingers and toes. Non-hygienic, but very acrobatic!
So the dishes are done, new meals are prepared, mommy and baby are happy, and the house is respectfully kept. With the help of course of sweet pea Lois and sweetheart paps.
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