Baby Blog

A bit of excercise

2007-01-30T17:16:00.000Z

I read somewhere that now babies start to crawl and walk much later than a few years ago. They say the reason for this delay is that now babies do not lay on their tummies (because of the risk of cot death) and thus do not exercise certain muscles and certain movements. In this article it was said that, if you want, you can turn the baby on her tummy while you are watching her so she can exercise this muscles. It strengthens, for example, their neck muscles helping them keep their head earlier. I turn ours every now and then, maybe once a day, on his tummy for a few minutes (or less if he complaints).

Big scream

2007-01-24T20:54:00.000Z

It could be the title of a post regarding the colic that seems to have started. It is a few evenings that around 8 he starts to cry and scream without an apparent reason. The thing lasts for a couple of hours. I guess it is the famous and feared colic. Anyway scream due to colic is not what this post is about. "Big Scream" is the name of a screening in a cinema in Oxford (Phoenix Picturehouse) gives for parents with babies under one year on Saturday at 11:30 am. All noises and screaming and shouting are allowed at this screening. I have not been there (it is a bit far from us) but I definitely like the idea and the name very much. It must be fun. If you have been to something similar tell us what it is like.

We are going organic

2007-01-20T19:02:00.000Z

We have decided switching to organic food. This means eating mainly organic vegetables and meat but not freaking out if not 100% of what we eat is not organic.
The first thing that we have noticed is that organic food is more expensive but also a lot more tasty. The main reason for switching to organic food has been because it seems that is healthier, specially for babies. Organic vegetables contain much less residues of pesticides than conventional vegetables and also contain more vitamins and minerals. Organic meat contains less residues of antibiotics and growth hormones than conventional one. To keep it short, organic food is supposed to contain more of the good stuff and less of the bad stuff. Kids and babies are more affected by the "bad stuff" than adults because they are growing and their metabolism goes much faster than that of an adult.

However, there is quite some debate about the organic food being better than the conventional one. Many scientists and laboratories claim there is nothing wrong with conventional food. I think the best thing that one can do before making a judgement is have a look to what is said in favour and in detriment of organic food. Just type in a search engine "benefits of organic food" or read the entry at the Wikipedia (it is really good) and the articles referred in it. My particular view is that it is quite clear to me that it cannot be worse than conventional food and it is much tastier.

Apologies

2007-01-19T21:15:00.000Z

I must apologise for not having written anything during the whole week. It's been my first week at work since we've got the baby. In addition to the effort of catching up at work, the baby has given us some bad nights. We are now trying to impose a routine so he gets used to sleeping at night. So far it seems to work but it is definitely too early to say that, so in a few days I'll tell you how this day/night synchronization is going.

What to expect the first year

2007-01-13T11:49:00.000Z

A friend of this blog recommended us the book "What to Expect the First Year" by Arlene Eisenberg, Heidi E. Murkoff and Sandee E. Hathaway. We bought it and I can only thank the person who recommended it to us and recommend it to everybody else. It is only a few days we have it and it has proved really useful. Among many other things, it dedicates one chapter to each one of the first twelve months of the baby. In each month it tells you what to expect from the baby like what should the baby be doing by now, what and how often should the baby eat and what are the common problems of this months (colic, bottle rejection, environmental hazards, ecc...). It also has a section for each month called "What you may be concerned about" which is really practical. It is written in the format of questions and answers and it covers the concerns parents have expressed to doctors and pediatricians. It is very exhaustive and you just need to "jump" to your particular concern to find advice. Really useful.

What nappies to use?

2007-01-11T22:03:00.000Z

It has taken us quite some time to decide what nappies we are going to use. Basically we have considered three choices: normal disposable nappies, washable nappies and "ecological" disposable nappies. At the end we have decided to use the "ecological" disposable nappies. In order to make a decision we have considered firstly the health of the baby and secondly the impact of the nappies to the environment (both during manufacture and once in the waste). We have taken the impact on the environment into consideration because of the sheer quantity of nappies produced and disposed off every year: in a household with one baby 50% of the waste is made of disposables and 4% of the overall waste produced in the UK are nappies (about three billion nappies a year)!!!.

These are the main reasons of our choice.

Normal disposable nappies. We have discarded them because they contain many chemicals and bleaching agents that are suspected of being carcinogen. In addition, their manufacture is quite pollutant for the environment (because of all the chemicals they use) and once you got rid of them it takes 500 years for a nappy to biodegrade.
Washable nappies. They seem the cheapest option but they involve quite a lot of work to wash and you need a lot of space to let them dry. There are companies that provide the service of collecting your nappies and washing them to very high standards. I guess they use powerful washing powders and drying machines. It is not clear to me how ecological this is, but I am sure somebody has studied it, does anybody know of any study about how pollutant washing is?
"Ecological" disposable nappies. This are the ones we have chosen. I write "ecological" because it is not that they are 100% biodegradable but I think they are a good compromise. The brand we use is Moltex Eco. They perform as well as any of the leading non-ecological brands (they were voted "Best Nappy" by mums on Channel 5 TV). This nappies do not contain chlorine or any bleaching agents nor harsh or unnecessary chemicals like deodorants and bactericides usually found in disposables. They are also certified TBT (Tributyl-tin) free, a potentially dangerous chemical usually found in disposable nappies. They consist of a biodegradable breathable protective film (made out of unbleached cellulose) and absorbent gel of which 80% is conventional gel (polyacrylate) and 20% is biodegradable gel made out of maize starch. To say it in fewer words, it is better for the baby because it does not contain harsh chemicals and it is a step in the right direction from the environment point of view.

Night light.

2007-01-09T11:27:00.000Z

Today I'll be writing about something as simple as a night light. It might seem stupid but it has proven so useful that I want to dedicate a post to this article. Before having it, we would switch on the light of the bedroom every time we had to see the baby, either because we had to feed him, change him, check that he was properly covered, because he cried or just to check whether he was sleep or not. Switching on the light resulted in awaking him or at least exciting him, and it would then be much more difficult to put him to sleep. With one of this night lights we can perfectly see his face, so you do not need to switch on the light every time you have to check something. They are, or at least the one we have, very dim so it does not disturb us at all to get our sleep. The quality of the baby sleeping has definitely improved since we have this light.

Too much milk (Engorgement)

2007-01-07T23:32:00.000Z

Having too little milk is a problem but having too much milk can also be a problem, as we are now experiencing. If the breasts produce too much milk, these can feel uncomfortable and hard as a rock, which is what is happening to us right now. In our case (and I think it is normal when engorgement) our baby can not latch properly to the breast. It is like if you were trying to bite or latch an air balloon, it's just to hard and full.
Apparently, this happens only during the first two weeks of breast feeding (if at all) when the production of milk has not yet adjusted to the demand of the baby. It seems that the natural reaction of the body is to produce too much milk just in case....
We have heard and read different experts about the problem and they have different solutions and opinions . One solution some of them propose is to express milk the excessive milk until you breasts adjust to the demand of your baby . Some others are contrary to this solution because they say that by doing this you encourage the breast to produce more milk and thus you are not reducing the problem. The latter prefer to recommend to apply wet hot and cold cloths alternatively to the breast in order to alleviate the congestion just before feeding the baby. Another solution quite similar to the latter one is to apply fridge-cold cabbage leaves to the breast before breast feeding (do not ask me why cabbage, I do not know, is it because of the shape or does it have some other properties?...)
In view of the different opinions we have tried a bit of each and found a compromise. The hot/cold cloths usually work, but sometimes, when the breast is very congested and hard it was not enough. In those cases we have used the breast pump, just a little bit until the baby could latch. We have made special attention not to use the pump more than necessary. In our case it seems to have worked. It is four days since the problem started and now, fortunately, it seems to be fading away.

Girdle or no girdle after birth.

2007-01-05T14:38:00.000Z

For a few days we have been wondering if a girdle would be of any use to help the tummy muscles go back to their normal state (that is the one before pregnancy). We have been looking and asking around and it seems that a girdle would be of no use. It could even have the adverse effect.
The tummy muscles contribute a great deal to hold your tummy, back and whole body. This is they are in tension and do strength to keep your body structure. This tension exercises your tummy muscles and helps them to go back to their original shape. By wearing a girdle it is the girdle that do that tension and not your muscles, thus they do not exercise. It seems that that best way to recover the shape is mild exercise. If you have gone through this you can let us know your tips.

The birth.

2007-01-03T20:04:00.000Z

So we are back to blogging and happier than ever. The delivery went very well although it was a bit complicated towards the end because the baby was not 100% in the write position. They had to use a ventouse to guide his head to a position he could be pushed out. It worked just fine.

The labour lasted 10 hours. We used the epidural as pain killer but only after four hours of labour when she was already 7 or 8 cm dilated. This worked really well. She took the epidural because she was already quite tired and needed a rest. Like this she could take a rest of about 1.5-2 hours and be "fresh" for the final push. After the nap the effects of the epidural had almost worn off so she was again in control of what she was doing which is what you aim, it makes the pushing much easier. If it had not been because the baby was not coming in the right position he would have been delivered in a total of 7 or 8 hours rather than 10.

We think that the timing of giving the epidural worked really well. If you are going to go into labour and plan to use the epidural to cope with your pains we would suggest to cope with them as long as you can before being given the epidural. The earlier you are given the epidural the more refills you will be given and the more numb your body will be towards the ending part. When you are first given the epidural you feel your muscles and legs, you can move them. The more refills of epidural you are given the more numb they are. It is probably better to get towards the final part, the pushing one, feeling a bit your pains and muscles in order to control better the pushes.

What amazed me as a man was like women, my wife in this case, can cope with the labour pains. It was really impressive, she could cope with much more than she or me had ever imagined.

Finally, we have to say that all the personnel in the labour ward of St Marys hospital in London was fantastic. They did all the correct things at the correct time. They are also very warm and human. We are very grateful to them. They made this experience a really pleasant one for us.

Back to the new baby now. Excuse me for having written this post in a bit of a rush (it's only the second one since we have the baby!)

And here I am

2007-01-02T23:29:00.000Z

Hello everybody. My name is Bruno and I was born on New Years Eve (of year 2006) at 19.29 by normal birth. I weight 3.76 Kg. I like a lot breast feeding and sleeping. What a New Years Eve I gave to my parents!! without any doubt the best one they ever had! awesome! In fact they are still tired and have a bit of hangover, specially my mum but she is alright. My dad wanted to tell you what an experience my birth was and a few technical things like what pain killers they used, their experience with the epidural and a few things that he thinks might be useful to someone who has to give birth in the future for the first time. I convinced him not to do it today, we are just back from hospital and they are both shattered (they were quite easy to convince: just a few screams). I will let him do it tomorrow, promised.

Hayfever, allergies and pregnancy II.

2006-12-29T12:19:00.000Z

The post on "Hayfever and pregnancy" had quite a good response. Hayfever seems to be a big complication to pregnancy for many women. I have decided to post en entry summarizing the comments I received on how people copes with hay fever and allergies, specially when they are pregnant and they cannot take tablets. Thank you everyone (Laura, parentclass admin, anonymous, A.K.&A.) for sharing your ways of coping with allergy:

Outdoors:

Use sunglasses and put Vaseline in your nostrils. Pollen will get stuck to the Vaseline outside your airways rather than getting inside.
Use a cap with a peak. It will some of the pollen get to your face and nose.
Cover your hair. Your hair collects a lot of pollen that you take back to home.
When you get home change your clothes and wash them. Have a shower if you can.

Indoors:

Clean the place quite often. When you come from outside you bring pollen with you. If you sit still for about half an our the pollen will drop from the air. If you can vacuum clean then you will remove a lot of it.
Keep the clothes you ware outdoors somewhere "sealed" from you (do not have them in the bedroom if you can) and wash them quite often (ideally one should wash them every time they have been worn).
Keep doors and windows shut.
You can use HEPA filters to remove pollen and dust from the air.
People have also reported that homemade soaps help reducing the skin itching.

Whatever precautions you take you still get allergy and your airways get congested. Here are some tips people have suggested to open them:

Use heat pads on your chest and back.
Use Vicks Vaporub on your chest at night. I searched a bit on the Internet to see if this product is recommended for pregnant women. They say that "There is no safety information available on the use of this medicine in human pregnancy and breastfeeding. However, it has been widely used for many years without ill consequence. Seek medical advice from your doctor". Read it yourself here.

Disclaimer: This site is place to share parenting experience and to provide general information only. The information contained on this site should not be treated as a substitute for medical, legal or other professional advice. The authors of this site are not responsible or liable for the contents of any websites of third parties which are listed on this site.

Back to waiting.

2006-12-29T12:00:00.000Z

We have to wait a bit more...

Eight days overdue now.

2006-12-28T11:26:00.001Z

We are eight days overdue now and we have got a hospital appointment today. So... stay tuned.

To dummy or not to dummy

2006-12-27T20:53:00.000Z

Until very recently I thought that babies were born already with a dummy in their mouths. It´s been with the babies of a few couples close to us that I have seen that they do not always use or like dummies. What I gather is that dummies are useful to pacify the baby, but other than that they do not have any other particular feature. With almost all babies it works but with some it does not. If the baby likes sucking he/she should have a dummy otherwise he/she will get use to sucking his thumb and when the baby grows up you can always put the dummy away but not his thumb. I have also read around that when the baby starts eating should not use a dummy anymore.

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) infection and screening

2006-12-23T18:16:00.000Z

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. What follows is information that I have gathered from talking to doctors and reading related topics. In no case should be used as a reference or guide. Consult your doctor for more information on the topic. I am just a parent-to-be sharing experience.

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a bacteria that lives in the vagina or the rectum of 10-30% of pregnant women. Carriers of this bacteria do not feel any symptoms. This bacteria can be passed to the baby during labour if the mother is a carrier. The risk of infection on the newborn is very low. However, if the baby gets the infection the effects can be devastating. A simple test can be carried to the mother-to-be in the late stage of pregnancy (around the 35th week) in order to know whether she is a carrier of the bacteria. In case of a positive result of this test the mother is given a shot of antibiotics in vein during labour and then the baby is safe.
I want to stress here that, in case the waters break before entering into labour the shot of antibiotics should be given ASAP. I think that this last bit of information is not always stated clearly to the parents-to-be, so keep it in mind if you are a carrier.

In the UK, NHS does not perform the GBS screening systematically on pregnant women. I have heard mainly two arguments:

1) that this bacteria comes and goes so that a negative result on the week 36 does not mean that the mother is not a carrier on the day of labour (around the 40th week). I do not buy that argument because the result of the test can be known very quickly (I think) so they could perform it when you check in at the Labour Ward.

2) the risk of infection to the baby is so small that can be considered negligible. According to GBS Support, a charity that deals with all GBS related issues, 700 babies per year get this infection in the UK.

However, you can have this test done privately at a cost of around £30. We did it through the charity mentioned above, GBS Support, and are happy about it.

Related links: GBS entry at the Wikipedia, GBS Support charity.

Hayfever and pregnancy.

2006-12-20T21:04:00.000Z

The most difficult thing my wife has had to cope with during pregnancy has been hayfever. She suffers a lot from hayfever and this last year has been particularly bad. Due to the pregnancy she could not take the tablets and she suffered a lot even indoors and taking the usual precautions (clean environment, remove the cloths that one has worn outside, wash hair ecc...). I have just learned that there are air purifiers on the market and from what I have read about they work very well with allergies and odours. They use filters that filter out the pollen from the air, there are several reviews in some allergy related sites and they all say very good things. It seems that the best filters are called High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters (entry for HEPA filters at the Wikipedia here). They are supposed to filter out 99.97% of pollen, dust, mould and bacteria and airborn particles down to less than one micrometer diameter. A few examples of these appliances are here, their prices range from £20 to a few hundred pounds. I intend to get one for next spring when the baby will be breast feeding and my wife will not be able to take the tablets. I'll put a post here again when I have seen it working.

Baby's sight. B&W patterns.

2006-12-17T15:23:00.000Z

I have recently learnt that babies continue to develop their sight gradually from the day they are born until they are about 8 months old. Although they can see colors from the very first day they cannot distinguish similar tones until they are 2-4 months old. Until this age they are more interested and thus stimulated by high contrasted black and white patterns as the one on the picture to the left or a chess board.

I have some B&W patterns in a pdf file that a friend passed me (thanks Gidon) that apparently babies love watching at. In principle it should be possible to download some dingbat font onto your computer and create your own black and white patterns (with animals, shapes or whatever you want/find). I have not yet figured out how to do this but as soon as I know how I'll put a post.

Some useful info

2006-12-17T15:11:00.001Z

Here is an interesting site a friend has passed me (thanks Ulrik):

http://www.nct.org.uk/

NCT is a charity dealing with pregnancy, birth and parenting in the UK. There is a lot of information on their website about everything related to pregnancy and parenting, from early birth to breastfeeding. They also organise lots of events like baby stuff sales or meetings with other early parents. On their web site there is a "events search engine" where you can search events close to you by entering your postcode.

Still waiting

2006-12-17T14:44:00.001Z

Still waiting for the baby to come. The question now is, how different are the "real" contractions to the "fake" ones?. I guess that if we have any doubts they are not the "real" ones. By "fake" I mean the ones that do not lead to the delivery, those the doctors call "Braxton-Hicks contractions" and that many women experience. But, from what I see in my wife, they are very real and somewhat painful.

I realize that a substantial amount of the posts that will appear on this blog will be about practical things like what nappies are best or what toys seem to have less toxic materials and where to buy them. If you already have gone through this you may want to leave here your advise or comment about anything you found useful.

The beginning

2006-12-16T00:23:00.000Z

After some thinking I have decided starting this blog. The idea is to post in it information about the adventure we are start to begin: having a child. I will try to post here "a posteriori" any information about anything that I would have appreciated having beforehand, just in case it can help somebody. It would also be great if readers left their comments about their own experiences, how they solved particular problems ecc...

I have had a look around Internet searching for similar blogs and it has a been a bit disappointing to find out that most of them were abandoned after a few posts. I guess that when the baby comes people get too busy or simply things change so much that they simply forget the blog.

Having said this, let me put my first post: a picture of ourselves waiting for the baby, only a few days to go...

Primera prueba con el blog

2006-12-15T15:47:00.000Z

One, two, three, trying