Three is the magic number

The day before yesterday was one of them days where Morgan's bellyache meant she needed to be held all day long. There were a couple of times when I had to put her in her seat or rocker. That resulted in her crying her eyes out.

I managed to de-weed a small part of the back yard, sweep the back yard and the kitchen floor, and prepare her bottles.

Later on in the afternoon my mum came over for a short while - just as Morgan had drifted off to sleep. She obviously woke up the moment she heard the front door close.

Once my mum left, Morgan and I just spent the rest of the evening cuddled up.

Yesterday was a better day for Morgan. This meant I could put her in her seat next to me whilst I did some crafting. I'm working on a couple of teddy bears at the moment. The plan is to make as many toys as possible, and then sell them. It is merely a plan though - not sure if it'll be put into action. I can try.

My mum came over, and this time Morgan was wide awake, so they played and danced a bit. Morgan and I then spent the rest of the evening watching movies and playing.

Smiley morning! [19th April 2012]

Today, Morgan woke up in a better-than-usual mood as she kept smiling without my needing to say a word to her. I fed her at about 5:45am, then again at about 10am, and once more at 2:15pm. In the meanwhile, we napped, played and watched movies. My brother also paid us a brief visit, seeing as he was in the neighbourhood. It was good to catch up with him as nowadays, what's with us having different life schedules, we don't get to see each other that often.

After her 2:15pm bottle, we made our way over to my grandma's house. We stayed for about 3 hours and then headed back home. We made a pitstop at a cafeteria nearby for coffeetimes with my mum, who decided to walk us home.

Once back home, I bathed and fed Morgan, and we watched another snippet from the movie we're currently watching (The Good Witch's Family.. We watched the previous three already). She then crashed soon after, so I've been doing stuff ever since. Now about to change her nappy, feed her, and tuck her in bed.
 
Oh, almost forgot. We've been "arguing" for the past three days as she keeps spitting out her dummy and sucking on her hand, prompting me to tell her "no", remove her hand, and give her the dummy again. I'm finding it hard to keep a straight face especially since she seems to think it is a game and therefore smiles and chuckles at my reactions. That, of course, makes me giggle in return.
Anyway, off to complete the bedtime routine! It is quite a slow evening, so I might as well join her.

How much is that doggy in the window?

Yesterday was a good day to die it seems. My family's she-dog was laid to rest. Her body was shutting down and she was suffering as a consequence, so the extremely tough decision to put her down had to be taken.
Cara was a very ladylike dog - her manners were very mild and gentle. When she'd be given some yummy treat, she would gently pick it up with her mouth, and carry it to some corner where she could nibble at it in peace. She was very vocal whenever someone she didn't like walked by. She'd be like "You! Get out of my territory!" - almost like the canine version of an elderly person yelling at youths to get off their lawn. Had she owned a walking stick, I'm sure she's have shaken it too.
I didn't get the opportunity to say bye - with Morgan being unwell yesterday, I opted to stay at home lest she get worse. Unfortunately Cara and Morgan never got to meet.
I hope that Whiskey, my other dog, won't grieve too much. He has known Cara all his life. She was a mother figure to him, before becoming like a sister, and later a potential love interest. He would be eating from the food bowl, and when told to allow her to eat, he'd walk away and allow her to eat as much as she'd want, and only then finish the leftovers off.
I cannot have any pets at my own place - however I firmly believe children should grow up around animals. I've always had a dog or two in my life. It taught me what mutual respect and selfless love are all about. I'm glad Whiskey is so good tempered - Morgan will have the pleasure of knowing him as she grows up.
Pluto, my sister's dog, seems to have accepted Morgan and just observes her from a distance for the time being. I still don't trust him, but it isn't as bad as I thought it might be.
Morgan seems to be doing better today. Her nose isn't as stuffy and the saline spray + bulb syringe combo seems to be doing the trick.
My mum and I might take her out for a stroll today, seeing as the weather is as nice as yesterday's so far.
Today involved one major achievement - Morgan managed to turn her head to face the other side, and back, whilst laying on her belly. That is one strong neck she's got, I tell ye! She's also trying to lift herself off her belly using her knees and feet.

Medical updates!

A midwife came over yesterday to check up on us. I had forgotten she was meant to come over, kinda. I knew she was due on the 17th, but I failed to realise that the 17th was yesterday.

She checked my blood pressure and C-section scar, as well as my uterus's position. She confirmed that everything was fine and the uterus has moved back down and shrank closer to its pre-pregnancy position and size.

She also checked Morgan and said she still has slight jaundice but it will soon go away. She stripped Morgan down to check her GirlyBits and her belly button and confirmed all is well. She also confirmed that the dry skin on Morgan's hands and feet is normal and gave the thumbs up to the cream I'm using on her, as well as the shower gel.

Morgan's belly button is an "innie", by the way. My soon-to-be sis-in-law has been asking me whether her belly button is an "innie" or an "outie" ever since the umbilical stump fell off. [If you're unsure of the difference - clicky here ]

The one issue we're facing at the moment is gas. It is causing Morgan to suffer abdominal cramps, which make her cry out for a few seconds several times throughout the day and night. I have mentioned this to a few people and have been told of a product called Infacol. Needless to say, I decided to look it up.

Infacol is a product that has an active ingredient called Simethicone. It is meant to help group the tiny gas bubbles trapped in a baby's intestines into larger ones for easier explusion. Having said that, the information I found about this product is disheartening. Have a read!

Infacol is currently out of stock on the island. My mum went to the pharmacy to ask about it and was instead sold a product called Dentinox which I refused to use for two reasons - it seems like it is intended for Colic not Gas - and it has an expiry date of May 2012 which makes me think the pharmacist had old stock he is trying to get rid of.

The active ingredient in Dentinox is Dimethicone. This is similar to the one in Infacol, however the one in Infacol is mixed with Silica Gel.

An interesting read was the following article: http://www.babycareadvice.com/infant_gas/infant_gas.old.htm
I have had friends swear by Infacol, saying it works. When I googled the active ingredients I mentioned earlier a fair number of hits I got were about rabbits. You know, long ears, twitchy nose, furry. They hop. Sounds familiar?

I am not about to give Morgan something which is used to treat rabbits effectively and yet seems to have little more effect than a placebo would.

A friend of mine suggested I try Infant Fennel Tea. Upon looking it up on Wikipedia, I came across the following:

"Carminative properties of fennel are known from ancient times, as recorded in the Latin phrase "semen foeniculi pellit spiracula culi"[11], which literally means "the fennel seeds make blow the arsehole"."

Needless to say, I'm still giggling over it. The article does carry on to say, however, that "Fennel can be made into a syrup to treat babies with colic (formerly thought to be due to digestive upset), but long term ingestion of fennel preparations by babies is a known cause of thelarche."

At this present moment in time I think I would much rather prefer to continue acting as her mattress and holding her close to me, belly-to-belly, to warm her up. Perhaps I go into too much detail, but I'm not willing to risk it.

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Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

I can tell that the end of the road is near.  There have been bodily changes I've noticed over the past few days. Creature is still growing at a steady pace - I know because my belly started itching,meaning the skin is stretching even further.  Movements are still going strong.

Thankfully, s/he seems to have settled in an upside down L position for the past few weeks.   This does mean though that I'm off-centred, and that my right side gets all the kicks. S/he is getting somewhat cramped, meaning a kick is pretty visible, and I can actually feel the bottom of his/her foot clearly.I can distinguish the heel from the toes.  Creature seems to have pretty big feet! Just like his/her mother I guess!

S/he is in the process of engaging him/herself for birth, meaning there now is somewhat of a pressure happening down below.  It is also weird to feel punches so far down coming from inside! The building up of pressure means sitting down can be somewhat uncomfortable.  It is an odd ache to explain.  It somewhat resembles the achiness you feel after a good workout following along period with no physical activity whatsoever. Only, this is affecting the internal muscles of your Ladybits.

I'm constantly exhausted and insomnia is killing me.  I pretty much am trying to crash as much as I can whenever sleep threatens to overtake me.  My back is pretty achy, but my hips are aching even more.  It feels as if I need to crack them to get some relief... but I can't.

38 and a half weeks

I have also noticed a change in my skin - which is the major indication of hormonal changes.  Dry skin is  back with a vengeance,   and I'm getting spotty again.

Also, there have been changes when it comes to boobs as well.I can tell they're getting ready to turn me into a cow.  With their filling in [even more than usual], it gives the breasts a more perky stance [yay!] so for the last few moments of this pregnancy, I can stop feeling as if they were inches away from becoming my belly button's new neighbours.

Tomorrow will be a day of potentially swearing my head off at the pram/pushchair/car seats as I try to reassemble them- wish me luck!

Can't say 'boobies' without picturing this!