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Just came back from seeing Dr. Koe. Abbie’s condition isn’t as bad as we thought, and we were wrong on the cracked and sore nipples too.
According to Dr. Koe, Abbie felt painful on her nipples because of the growing skin around the nipples, has covered the nozzles or outlets causing a blockage and blistering. The healing is simple as piercing through the blisters and end of story. It is quite common and nothing to worry about.
Finally, Abbie is fine and available again.
Areole – A ring of color, as around the human nipple.
Engorgement – A swelling of the breasts caused by expanding veins and the pressure of new milk.
There are two problems Abbie is facing now, firstly the engorgement of her left breast. Secondly, cracked and sore nipple on the same breast. When these two come together, it has no difference from getting a nightmare.
The affected side is the one Hayden loves the most, where he usually gets to latch-on. The other one, which is a ‘still’ available or healthy one, is mainly on pump only.
Abbie has to thank to her dearly son for the nightmare she is experiencing now. Hayden did not latch-on properly, as a result the nipple head got hurt so badly. The correct latch-on is that Hayden has to grab the areola into his mouth, but not the nipple only. There are so many sites on breast-feeding where you can read on, terms like latch-on, engorgement are regularily seen. Sore and cracked nipples are usually happened to inexperienced mothers like Abbie.
Due to the soring nipple, Abbie is not able to pump milk nor feed Hayden directly from the affected side. In another word, the milk production has been cut into half, which is about 50 ml in each pumping. The volume is sufficient enough to feed Hayden to full, but we have no extra to be kept in the fridge. If she doesn’t pump the milk out from the affected breast, engorgement will cause pain to her breast, end up with both the nipple and breast are killing the mother. Also, we worry the healthy nipple will come to this state before the soring one recovers. Ehh… Not really low in production, but the milk is not able to be pumped out, instead, Abbie has to press around of it in order to release the milk, quite a tedious thing to do.
In my opinion, when we find Hayden isn’t latch-on properly, we should part him from the nipple instead of leaving him there. I know, it is not easy to do the latch-on, so the mother will get impatient after a few tries. But isn’t it better to be patient a bit instead of getting hurt after that?
I do the bottle feeding most of the time. Sometimes, this little monster just doesn’t want to open his mouth for milk. I think, he could be not ready for milk, or he is ‘guk si’ there. Therefore I don’t open his mouth forcefully, I wait patiently like a safari hunter until I see Hayden opens his little mouth for milk, I stuff the teat into his mouth and the feeding can be done quite easily after that. If I miss it, I mean sometimes Hayden shuts his mouth before I can stuff the teat in, I will have to wait for the next round for the ‘door’ to open up again, like a hunter waiting patiently for his target. I think the same thing applies to direct feeding too.
Abbie just told me that the other nipple isn’t looking too good now. I think, besides the incorrect latch-on, perhaps over-pumping is another reason of the sores too. Anyway, we will see Dr. Koe on this. Another video of Hayden ‘guk si’ after this:-
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Hayden is improving in his input, but not in his output. Everytime he wants to poo, he seems as if pushing the faeces very hard through the anus, be it in liquid or solid form, and his facial expression is kinda funny. I can’t help but to video record it in order to show him when he gets elder.
By the way, Abbie is experiencing some breast-feeding problems. I will tell more about it later.
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Just finished feeding Hayden with bottle. Abbie is sleeping now. Since I am not working tomorrow, I help to take care of Hayden while Abbie can get sufficient rest.
Hayden’s consumption is average 40 ml in every feed now. The interval between each feed may vary, it depends on how full Hayden is in each feed. Also, Hayden likes to poo and pee during the milk feeding, he tells it by his facial gestures.
Hayden is on bottle feeding most of the time, we find it rather good as it eases our life so much. I can take up the feeding job at anytime. But our worry is that Abbie’s production may go slow very soon if we don’t feed Hayden directly from the breasts, the milk production needs stimulation if you do not know.
There was once, Abbie decided to waste her breast milk on that day as she craved for OldTown white coffee. After coming back from OldTown, the milk on that day was not consumed by Hayden but me. I am okay with most lactose products including the breast milk.
We came to know that the breast milk are divided into two types, the foremilk and hindmilk. Foremilk are thinner and lower in fat where it is available in the beginning of a feed, it is more watery. Hindmilk comes after foremilk where it is similar texture to cream and rich in fat. Understanding both foremilk and hindmilk helps to ensure we give the sufficient contents to Hayden.
We went for Hayden’s birth registration at Putrajaya last week, a new experience to us. The process was simple and fast, the government has improved.
At Dr. Kow’s clinic last few days, Hayden was 1.95 kg on scale, 50 gram more compare to last week, a good process through a small one.
Oppsss… Abbie is alive again. I need to help her out to clean and change for Hayden, I think she will be feeding and pumping the milk for Hayden after that.
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On the first visit to Dr. Koe, we were told that Hayden needed to consume 30 ml of milk every 2 hourly in this stage. The syringe given by the doctor is 3 ml one, therefore, we need to feed 10 times of the syringe to Hayden in every 2 hours.
When we practised with the syringe in the clinic, we were able to make it slightly less than 10 ml, then Hayden was reluctant to consume anymore milk. Dr. Koe advised us not to hit 30 in the first time, Hayden needed time to take that much. She suggested 10 ml on that day, 20 ml on the next day, and finally 30 ml on the third day.
We did our best to hit 10ml on the first day but we couldn’t make it. The max we did is slightly less than 10 ml, like what we had in the clinic. The next day, we made it to 15 ml only. It was not sufficient enough, but there was an improvement, at least something for us. Yesterday was the third day, we were supposed to make it to 30 ml, but we only got 20 ml. The result wasn’t looking good.
This morning, the 4th day, I took the job to feed Hayden. To my surprise, I was able to make it slightly more than 30 ml, it was 33 – 35 ml if I am not mistaken. The reason he can consume so much now is that he has got sufficient sleep. We can handle him better now, as a result, he doesn’t cry as much as before and his mood is getting better too.
On the next visit to Dr. Koe, I hope to see Hayden’s weight improved as compare to the last visit.
We met Dr. Koe today. Hayden measured 1.9 kg in weight today. According to the doctor, it sounded good as the weight maintained, it would probably go up after that. Nothing much, Dr. Koe taught and corrected Abbie in breastfeeding positions. Also, I have recorded videos of Hayden being syringe fed, here they go:-
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Unexpectedly, Hayden’s umbilical cord has parted from him. There is a video on Hayden in this entry, click the link “Continue Reading…” below:-
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I could not stand anymore due to seriously lacking of sleep in the ward. So I slept from 12:30am until 6:30am, until I was awakened by Abbie. She was calling for help, she was too tired, she did not sleep at all the whole night. I felt guilty knowing that.
She said Hayden doesn’t want to sleep alone in the cot. Initially, I wanted Hayden to sleep with the mother, and I sleep on the floor alone, the cot needed not be assembled. But Abbie refused to it. She wanted me to sleep next to her, that was why I assembled the cot for Hayden. As expected, Abbie suffered the whole night. She had to carry Hayden in arm or shoulder the whole night, and to poke the nipples into Hayden’s mouth to suck for comfort like a pacifier. Hayden did not suck milk.
I took over the job, she went for a shower. Hayden’s legs were shaking, we thought it is jittery. Abbie was so depressed that she cried in front of me. We decided to take Hayden for a paediatrician early in the morning. Hayden cried out loud again. We guessed Hayden must had been hungry. We poked the nipples into Hayden’s mouth again, he did not want it. We had no choice but to use bottles to feed him. Finally, Hayden finished about 50 ml of breast milk from the bottle. We thought we are successful as Hayden really consumed a lot with bottle, plus I could feed Hayden for Abbie also, it is impossible for me to breastfeed hayden with nipples.
We took Hayden for Dr. Koe. at OUG. Dr. Koe is not only a paediatrician, she is also an experienced lactation consultant. Dr. Koe checked Hayden physically, she taught us the right way to breastfeed Hayden, she corrected us, she gave us advice. she advised us not to use bottle to feed Hayden as it could confuse Hayden about a nipple and teat. Hayden measured 1.9 kg in the clinic, it is 0.1 kg loss compared to the delivery day. Abbie cried.
Then, Dr. Koe found Hayden’s tongue is too short, it could have distrubed his sucking ability in direct breastfeeding. Also, with a short tongue, speaking ability will be affected too. Therefore, Dr. Koe suggested to cut little of the bottom of his tongue, it helps Hayden to extend his tongue for better sucking. She said it is a very minor operation, it takes a few seconds to get done.
When Abbie heard this, she burst into tears, she collapsed and groaned:-
“No, no… I don’t want, I don’t want. Haydennn… Mummy is sorry to you, Denn… Sorry, mummy… mummy… Arrhhh… Why like that one? He is so small, so small… I don’t want… Dear, I don’t want!”.
I asked Dr. Kow if it is necessary to cut it, she answered certainly,”Yes”.
I asked again if the tongue will extend itself when Hayden grows bigger or something. Her reply was ‘No’ definitely.
I looked at Abbie, she looked at me, she cried, she asked me to decide. Without much thought, I agreed to it and signed the concent letter. Then Abbie collapsed totally, I hugged her, she cried on my shoulder. During the so-called minor operation, I asked Abbie not to look at it, but I was staring at Hayden curiously thoughtout the process.
After visiting Dr. Koe, we feel much better. Regarding the loss of weight, Dr. Koe said it is normal to newborn baby. We felt relief after hearing that. We told Dr. Koe that Hayden was jittery and sneezed. Dr. Koe said those are not jittery, and sneeze is normal for infant as their nose is freaking sensitive.
On the breastfeeding side, Dr. Koe advised us not to use bottle in the meantime. She wanted us to use syringe. We practised in the clinic with the guidance of Dr. Koe, it works well for Hayden. With syringe, I could help on feeding Hayden, to give more rest to Abbie.
Everything is good after seeing Dr. Koe. I could sleep well, Abbie gets enough sleep too, Hayden’s cry-frequency has been reduced to an acceptable level, which sound good for everybody.
By the way, Abbie just woke up from a 3 hours tight sleep, it is time for me to have a good sleep…
More photos of Hayden after this:-
Unexpectedly, Abbie and Hayden were allowed to discharge from the medical centre. That’s to show that the pre-matured Hayden’s condition is looking good.
When I was shopping for a suitable cot for Hayden, Abbie’s sister, Fei Ru, called me. She said she reads this blog and knows that I was needing a cot. she said she has an extra cot to give me. I happily accepted her offer, it saved me RM599.00. The non-original power adapter costs me RM65.00.
The cot had occupied my car seats, no place for my wife and son. I called Abbie’s cousin sister, Rinnie, for help. Thanks to Rinnie for helping. Rinnie must be proud for being able to be the first in the world to drive my son. We left for home after settling the payment and collecting the prescription, it was around two o’clock.
Undoubtedly, two of the happiest people are Hayden’s paternal grandparents. When we reached home, it was a bit messy as a lot of things were not ready. Rinnie, Abbie and her mother-in-law (my mother) were busy with Hayden, I was busy unloading the car. I kept all the stuff back to where they should be at, cleared some space for Hayden, I assembled the cot and playpen, I got all the necessary stuff ready for Hayden such as changing mat, wet tissues, milk pump, Hayden’s clothes and diapers, so many of things to be done.
The most difficult part was at night, and we had to bring Hayden for a new paediatrician the next day. Let’s continue in the next post…
4:18am – It is 4:18am. The nurse wheeled Hayden to us.
As usual, I carried Hayden from the cart, and handed it to Abbie, whom had her nipples ready. When stuffed Hayden to his natural teat, he started crying. He cried like a kitten, he was crying crazier and crazier, until both Abbie and I had no clue about it, until Abbie gave up and she said,”let’s call for helper please.”.
Immediately I pressed for help. The nurse came, and smiled to us. She said Hayden is hungry but he doesn’t want to be disturbed from his sleeping. She took Hayden and carried him on her shoulder. Without much effort, Hayden stopped crying. We thought Hayden is okay, but we were wrong.
Abbie got Hayden back, Hayden felt uneasy. When she inserted the nipple into Hayden’s mouth, Hayden started to cry, it was even worse than the previous time. Both Abbie and I looked so upset, especially the mother of Hayden. She could be doubting whether it is the right thing to do to breastfeed Hayden. I don’t know, maybe you can ask her.
After a few tries, Hayden finally calmed down and started his… ehh… breakfast peacefully.
By the way, one of Hayden’s teats is slightly over-pumped. It bleeds mildly, some brownish discharge comes out instead of colostrum or milk. It is worrying us now…
When Abbie finished breastfeeding Hayden, she had to continue to pump the remaining milk out of her breasts. I just checked from internet on the brown colostrum, it is a normal occurance and usually found in the start of breastfeeding. We are relief after reading the articles.
8:40am – The nurses came in with Hayden. I was awakened by the nurses. A good news from them, the baby is healthy and ready to discharge. We are waiting for Dr. Yong to check on Abbie, if she is also fine, then we will go home in this afternoon.
Before we go back, I need to shop for a baby cot for Hayden at IKEA, I need to buy a new power adapter for the traveller pump as the current power adapter is malfunction. I also need to go back to my mother-in-law’s place to get the infant car seat, to drive Hayden home. I will go for a good breakfast before I do the above mentioned stuff.
You see, I only slept for less than 3 hours and I have to do so many things. It is not easy to be a daddy too.
When Abbie was taken out from the operation theatre, she was very weak as she was into general anaesthetic labour.
Abbie had her first ever breastfeeding experience, something she had been longing long time ago. It was quite a successful one as Hayden is such a big hunger, perhaps a tit-tits lover.
But things were not the same on the next day. Hayden seemed to be reluctant to suck from the nipples. Probably he was too tired after the dripping. Oh yeah, he was diagnosed with glucose level low. Dr. Ling, Hayden’s paediatrician suggested either to feed with formula milk or glucose dripping. We opted for the dripping, we insisted to fully breastfeed hayden. We know it is difficult, but we don’t care, we want to give the best to Hayden.
I carried Hayden today, the first newborn baby that I have ever carried. I was quite inexperience in this, I always made Hayden awakened or cried. When Hayden felt discomfort, handing over him to Abbie is the best solution.
But it is good that I am inexperienced. I realized that Hayden falls asleep easily on his mama’s arms while sucking the nipples. You know, when he is sleeping, he will stop sucking. At this point of time, I will take it over from Abbie and carry Hayden, then he will awake and sometimes with crying. This is good, he needs energy after he cries, so he will suck harder and better after that.
As expected, relatives and friends came over to visit us, and to see Hayden. Thanks all for your wishes and blesses.
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Name: Hayden Sootho
Sex: Male
Race: Chinese
Religion: To be confirmed, Christian most probably
D. O. B. : November 13, 2009 18:06
Length: 45 cm
Weight: 2.0 kg
Remarks: Smart, handsome
Abbie and Hayden.
Sam’s family.
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Hayden is ready to say “Hello”!
Actually Abbie had contractions yesterday in the afternoon, but not so serious in the sense that the frequency was not high. Dr. Yong’s plan did not work out as planned. Abbie was on oral medication together with the injection of Ventolin, but the contractions kept disturbing her.
The contractions got extremely serious at night. The pains were on and off more frequent than the noon. I had to call the nurses a few times because Abbie was shaking like no tomorrow. ‘It’ was bleeding more, and she showed it to the midwife. Immediately they transferred her back to Labour and Delivery Suite. At this point, I was thinking Abbie will go into premature labour.
The senior midwife checked on Abbie’s ‘door’, the ‘door’ remained closed.
RED ALERT
9:48am – Dr. Leong checks the ‘door’, it is not opened yet but it is getting soft. Hayden measures 2.0kg in weight now, fortunately it is safe enough to deliver now. Most probably Hayden doesn’t need to stay in the incubator as he has reached the benchmark of 1.8kg. Abbie is going to give birth to Hayden at anytime soon prematurely, as soon as today. I need to go home and pack some stuff for Hayden and Abbie now. By the way, I did not sleep at all for the whole night. I seriously need a good sleep.
3:30pm – I reach the hospital. Abbie is sleeping but is disturbed by my arrival. The nurses came for a routine check up. At 4.00pm, they stop the Ventolin injection on her left hand as it is getting swollen. They have to rely on the Ventolin oral totally now, maybe Ventolin injection will be continued on Abbie’s right hand later if necessary. The side effect of Ventolin has caused Abbie’s skin became red all over her body, including her face. Actually her skin is kinda thin and she gets blush easily. Also, her hands are shaking, she is nervous, thanks to Ventolin. Anyway, Dr. Leong is coming.
4:48pm – Dr. Leong is not here yet. The contraction is getting better now, but her lower abdomen pain is killing her. She wants to puke, but nothing come out.
4:58pm – Dr. Leong just came. He is checking on Abbie’s vagina, to see whether it is big enough to deliever. He said it is about 4 – 5cm now, when it reaches 10cm, it can be delievered. He explains to us the pros and cons of both vagina birth and caesarean section. It is a difficult decision for us. Finally, we decides on caersarean as it is a premature delivery. It is easier for Hayden though Abbie might need longer to recover. Dr. Yong will be in charge in the operation.
5:30pm – I was told that I am allowed to witness the delivery process as Abbie will be on epidural anesthesia. But later on, Dr. Yong decides to go for general anesthesia as Abbie’s pain is unbearable and the vagina is big enough for delivery. Hayden can’t wait to meet us. Since then, I have no choice but to leave the operation theatre, it is around 6.00pm.
7:15pm – After having my dinner, I go to the operation theatre. While waiting for the lift, another lift door opens. Two nurses are wheeling a baby cart, one of them points to the baby, she looks at me and says,”Ini anak you.”. I go to Abbie after that, she is fine.
Thanks for visiting.
Early in the morning, I heard some noise. The nurses came in for regular checks on Abbie. I heard something but I couldn’t remember anything, my eyelids couldn’t even been lifted a little. I knew that there were something going on, maybe Abbie was having contractions, maybe they were joking around as Abbie was getting better, so many maybes.
Then, Dr. Yong came in. He said the contractions are unusual, and it could lead to premature delivery. Abbie was on 33rd week pregnancy, Dr. Yong said he will try to hold for another 3 weeks for delivery. He said it is okay to deliver now but the baby would have to stay in the ICU longer. He wanted Abbie to stay in the ward until tomorrow, he would have totally cut down on Ventolin injection and give oral Ventolin to relief her contractions pain so that Abbie could be discharged, but he wanted to see the result of the transition first.
According to Dr. Yong, if the contractions still continue, he has no choice but to give up and deliver Hayden prematurely.
Abbie was being shifted from Labour and Delivery Suite to normal ward, room 559. After shifting room and settling her, I went home for a shower after that. I called mum to prepare Abbie’s meal, Abbie wanted fried rice for her lunch.
I came back to the hospital with Abbie’s fried rice, mum was along with me. Mother-in-law and Shin were in the ward. Abbie looked good, she could talk, smile, eat, and even joke. We (my mum and I) left at 2pm. I took a good sleep at home before I came back for Abbie at night.
Abbie was not keen on the hospital meals. As we do not want to waste the food, I decided to finish it for her, and she would be taking the outside food. When I came back in the evening, Dorothy and Shin were already there. AuntyPauline, Chui Hoon and Rinnie came after that. Abbie looked okay at that time, but the nightmare began after they left…
Contraction – When a woman who is about to give birth has contractions, she experiences a very strong, painful thightening of the muscles of her womb.
Before today, I did not know how scary this word could be to a woman, until I saw Abbie’s facial expression.
It was sunny late in the afternoon, I couldn’t wait to go out for some sweating basketball games with the buddies. Abbie was okay at the time, I asked her if she felt any discomfort, she answered ‘no’. I told her that I would be back as soon as possible. Usually an hour or two is normal for me.
After the games, I went to the car for my cellphone, and I was shocked to see 12 missed calls from Abbie on the phone panel. I called Abbie, she was groaning with pain. When I reached home, she said the pain is on and off or contractions, and some brown spotting were found on the pad. Those were some of the symptoms of going into labour. Therefore, she may need to admit to hospital if she was getting more frequent pain. She added that her colleagues and friends who have had this kinda experience before suggested her to self-monitor before going to hospital. It could have been a temporary situation, according to them.
As usual, I went to ‘tapau’ supper for her. While having the nice curry wild boar and mixed vegetables, again she started to groan. We were kinda worried and I decided to take her to the hospital without more waiting. Eumora bar (soap), sun block lotion, facial lotion, hand lotion, stretch mark lotion, and any kind of lotions, all the lotions into the bag and left for Tropicana Medical Centre after that.
We arrived at the hospital at 12:30am. Abbie was taken to Labour and Delivery Suite, her contractions and Hayden’s heartbeat were being monitored there. The senior midwife called and consulted Dr. Yong V.P., Abbie’s gynaecologist. Dr. Yong advised Ventolin Obstetrics injection to be given at the rate of 4 mL/hr to Abbie, together with a single dose of dexamethasone.
Abbie’s contractions continued until around 4am, where the medications had worked effectively on her. I was still conscious but extremely tired and sleepy. She had the pain and I could feel her pain. Things were getting better after that, and finally I slept on the sofa until the morning.