Tag Archives: Health

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Weigh-in

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Tuesday, 23 September 2014: One Year, One Hundred and Seventy Seven Days Old.

Ayla had her first weigh-in in nearly a month this morning, and she’s put on 200 grams; her first weight gain in seven weeks!

When we first started weighing Ayla back in July she was 8.68kg; equal to what she weighed when she was nine months old. Since then however Ayla’s weight consistently declined week after week, hitting an all time low of 8.25kg in early August.

Just before we went down south Ayla’s weight seemed to have stabilised at 8.35kg, and while that was still extremely small for her age and height we were grateful she was no longer losing weight.

The whole time we were away there was no changes to Ayla’s weight, but after starting the prescription formula on Friday I swear I’ve already been noticing a bit more chub in her face, arms and legs (even though no one else can!).

So it’s not surprising I was keen for Ayla’s weigh-in this morning, if only to find out whether I was believeing my own wishful thinking or not! But, when I popped Ayla on the scales I coudl hardly believe my eyes when I read 8.55kg.

My theory, so far, is this….

As Ayla is not growing upwards at all, she doesn’t need much food to sustain her activities and therefore she hardly eats, hence why she’s not been putting on weight either.

But, now Ayla’s on prescription formula that’s full of good fats and oils it’s providing all the nutrients Ayla could possibly need and more. So although she’s is still not growing upwards, the extra calories Ayla’s consuming are making her gain weight, because I guess they need to go somewhere!

It’s all positive I suppose, although sudden and unnecessary weight-gain comes with it’s own problems. But, hopefully by plying Ayla’s body full of goodness something might trigger inside that makes her grow again. If not though, we can rest assured Ayla’s not losing weight, becoming malnourished or damaging her organs or brain through not having enough energy to sustain her. Mind you, this is only the first weigh-gain in a while and if I’ve learned anything through all of this it’s to take each day one at a time.

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Much better

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Friday, 18 July 2014: One Year, One Hundred and Nine Days.

When I walked into day care this afternoon the ladies exclaimed “Ayla is so much better!”

I was surprised at first, mainly because they’d looked at me like I was a neurotic hypochondriac when I explained we were going GFCF… only four days ago.

After the surprise wore off I was curious to understand why the day care ladies thought Ayla was “much better” when they’d obviously already thought she was fine before.

In fact they’d said to me numerous times, like countless other people have too, that Ayla was such a happy, healthy, social little girl they didn’t think I had nothing to worry about.

So after a bit of investigation I discovered that Ayla is now, suddenly eating more, sleeping better, drinking more water, has found endless energy and is developing even more each day than she was before.

And Hubby noticed the same thing too, after only being home a few minutes this afternoon.

The change is Ayla is hard to explain though. On top of the physical differences we can describe, Ayla seems… Brighter. More of herself.

It’s only early days of course and we’re by no means counting our chickens, but if definitely looks like we might be on to something, in terms of the tummy troubles at least.

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GFCF

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Tuesday, 15 July 2014: One Year, One Hundred and Six Days Old.

Ayla started a gluten free dairy/casein free (GFCF) diet today, under advice by a doctor and dietician.

Ayla’s been having tummy problems lately, along with a few other things I won’t go into here, and in order to rectify the situation we’ve been told to eliminate all gluten and dairy from her diet for at least one month until the exact cause can be identified and treated.

It’s going to be a tough month (what on earth do you feed a GFCF child?!) but Hubby and I feel very supported by Ayla’s day care centre, our friends and family.

Ayla herself seems unfazed. We’re putting a lot more fat into her diet too at this stage so she’s stoked, and Ayla sucked back her almond milk bottle tonight like a marathon runner sucks in air!

All in all, it’s going to be challenging and because it’s going to be a big part of our lives for the next little bit, I wanted to document it on here.

As we know, motherhood is full of ups and downs and diversions, and this blog is about sharing that; the good and the not so good, so stay tuned!

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But still, I worry!

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Thursday, 10 April 2014: One Year, One Week and Two Days Old.

Today was so full of worry that I am going to bed exhausted and completely overwhelmed.

I got Ayla’s test results back today and while her bloods were ok, they still showed a low grade infection (due to “the virus”) and mild anaemia, which is apparently a lingering affect of Ayla’s gastro bug and her lack of appetite thanks to the lengthy fever.

But still, I worry!

Ayla’s weight is also about 800gm less than what it was two weeks ago, but the doctor assures me it’s probably just due to differing scales and that the difference isn’t significant enough to be concerned about.

But still, I worry!

Ayla’s urine screen also came back showing signs of a very dangerous bacteria called pseudomosa, but because the sample was ‘contaminated’, and because Ayla seems to be getting better by the day, the doctor doubts the results are accurate and has ordered new tests just to be on the safe side.

But still, I worry!

Ayla’s sleep routine is completely out of whack at the moment too, both during the day when she might not sleep at all, and at night when sometimes Ayla will be awake every few hours! Plenty of people have told me it’s just a normal part of adjusting to day care and getting into a rhythm so there’s no reason to stress.

But still, I worry!

On a more positive note however, the ladies at day care said Ayla has been eating much better lately. Personally I haven’t seen Ayla eat a proper meal for over a week now but they promised me the two biscuits and bowl of macaroni cheese Ayla ate today was great and that it’s a good sign she’s settling in.

But still… I worry!

I have never known worry like this before! There’s so much of it, all the time, and with no sign of it going away soon I wonder how I will cope!

It’s amazing how much worrying damages my self esteem and has me questioning my own decisions. After just one day of intense worrying I feel like my world has been turned upside down and I just want it to slow down and stop spinning!

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Twinkly

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Sunday, 30 March 2014: Three Hundred and Sixty Three Days Old.

Ayla’s eyes are getting more twinkly by the minute and its such a relief.

Last night was gratefully and gloriously uneventful, and when we spoke to the hospital this morning it was music to our ears to hear that Ayla is on the right antibiotics.

It means we’ve now been officially discharged from the hospital and Ayla will be right as rain in no time.

Hubby and I have been overwhelmed by the love, well wishes and support we’ve received from Ayla’s friends and family around the world.

Even people we barely know have made heartfelt efforts to share their regards and I can assure you every “get well soon” was so very much appreciated.

Having a sick Baby Ayla was an awful experience and no matter how hard I tried to stay strong and positive, on the inside I could feel my heart breaking and my mind reeling.

I am just so thankful Ayla’s illness was easily curable and I can only hope and pray that’s the sickest she’ll ever be. Touch wood.

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The good, the bad and the awesome

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Tuesday, 11 February 2014: Three Hundred and Sixteen Days Old.

There were lots of firsts for Ayla today that went the full spectrum: the good, the bad and the awesome.

THE GOOD:

Ayla had her first trip to the osteopath today. I took her because of the clicky left shoulder she’s had since birth and to investigate if there was any reason behind why Ayla has been rubbing the back of her head.

Ayla was pretty good considering the osteo rubbed and poked her while we tried to keep her still, but he said Ayla’s back and shoulder (which he thinks may have been strained in utero) is now cured and I’m to keep an eye on the tight muscles at the back of her head.

THE BAD:

Ayla had her first bout of sea sickness today. It’s Hubby’s week off so we went for a quick fish in the harbour this morning but by the time we got to the spot the wind had picked up, the sky had become overcast and the ocean was choppy.

Although Ayla had been fine on the drive out as soon as we pulled up anchor she started to look queasy and sorry for herself, Ayla even had a tiny little spew! Hubby gets sea sick too so he knew what she was going through and before long we headed for calmer waters where Ayla returned to her usual self and recommenced crawling around the deck.

THE AWESOME:

Ayla caught her first fish today! Well, kind of… She was sitting on Hubby’s lap with her hands on his fishing rod when he got a bite. Hubby was on, and Ayla kept her hands on the rod while he reeled it in. Within seconds up came a Golden Snapper!

I don’t think Ayla had any idea what had just happened though, because as I scrambled for the camera and Hubby wrangled the fish one handed, Ayla kept her eyes glued to the wet, flapping sea creature with a glimmering hook in its mouth trying to decide whether to touch it or not.

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Vampire

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Friday, 24 January 2014: Two Hundred and Ninety Eight Days Old.

I’ve decided that for next Halloween Ayla should dress up as a vampire because she looks so cute with blood all over her face.

Now don’t be alarmed, she didn’t get an injury or anything, and to tell you the truth it wasn’t even really blood, but there’s no denying she can pull it off right?

It’s raspberry juice.

Now that Ayla is properly eating food (instead of just making a mess with it) but she’s hungry all the time!

So today while I was baking piklets for Ayla and she was constantly under my feet, ramming my already bruised ankles with her walker, I had an idea to put some frozen raspberries in her food net to see if that would keep her quiet.

It did, and it also resulted in everything turning a lovely shade of pink, including her hair.

Ayla had a ball, she must’ve loved the cool fruits on her sore gums and the tart tastiness of the berries, not to mention the truly spectacular mess!

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Ironic

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Thursday, 23 January 2014: Two Hundred and Ninety Seven Days Old.

Along with Ayla’s new found freedom has come a seemingly endless ball of energy.

In all of today Ayla has napped for less than an hour (instead of her usual four) but surprisingly she still isn’t showing signs of tiredness despite it being nearly 5.30pm.

It’s ironic because just this morning I took Ayla to the community health care nurse to discuss possible reasons for her being so tired and needing a nap after every few hours of awake time.

The nurse looked at me like I was crazy and explained that Ayla is far too spritely and active for there to be anything to worry about. I felt like trying to explain about the dark-ringed eyes, the yawning and the passing out in awkward positions but decided against it and chose to cop the “crazy lady” looks on the chin.

And now I realise that all the extra sleep Ayla was needing must have been to rest her brain after all it’s growing!

I can’t express how much Ayla seems to have developed in the last couple of days; it’s like she’s become a big kid overnight.

She’s communicating on a whole new level – talking almost – and she’s now comfortably 50/50 on solids and breast milk 😦

Ayla can sit up from lying down, her crawling has improved tenfold since yesterday and she’s way more interested and involved in things like books and songs.

It turns out Ayla’s little body has been busy growing too!

According to the nurse Ayla’s now almost in the 50th percentile for height and weight, even though she’s been the 25th percentile or lower since she was born.

Ayla’s stats at a little over 9.5 months are;

W 8.18kg / 1.2 stone)
H 70cm
H/C 45c,

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Hard to tell

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Thursday, 28 November 2013: Two Hundred and Forty One Days Old.

When Ayla woke up this morning it was hard to tell whether she’d gotten worse or stayed the same.

She was still sneezing and her nose was terribly runny, her eyes still had bright red rings with dark grey circles underneath, and her temperature was hovering around 38 degrees.

It’s absolutely true when they say you don’t know what it is to worry until you have a kid, so when Ayla started to show signs of improvement Hubby and I breathed a massive sigh of relief.

And then when her fever finally broke, we knew we were about to get our little girl back.

While Ayla is still no where near 100%, when she went to bed tonight her eyes were nearly back to normal (except for the watery tears) and she was HEAPS more active and mobile compared to the day before.

Ayla even found the energy to play this afternoon; she had a bath, some fruit for tea and a ride on her rocking horse before finally surrendering to the zzzzz’s.

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39.2

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Wednesday, 27 November 2013: Two Hundred and Forty Days Old.

After spending most of the day sleeping, Ayla’s temperature reached 39.2 degrees this afternoon.

The fever prompted an immediate visit to the doctors, which ended up with a prescription for antibiotics and a list of things to watch for.

It seems that Baby Ayla has a virus (the red itchy eyes and runny nose), an upset stomach (the diarrhoea), a flared-up case of nappy rash (due to the diarrhoea) AND an ear infection (hence the antibiotics)!

The poor little darling. She looks so terrible, she feels hot and she’s limp and listless but there’s not much I can do!

The doctor told us to keep her cool with damp face-washers is the fever persists through the Baby Panadol, and we’re to watch for any rashes or overall deterioration.

I don’t think it’s anything serious (touch wood), but having a combinations of minor illnesses is making it all so much worse for her! I just hope she gets well soon!!