Surviving the Fourth Trimester

Parenting Benefits Cartoon #122 by Cathy Thorne

What is the Fourth Trimester?

The first three months of a baby's life (after birth) is like a fourth trimester, where baby makes an enormous transition from the womb-world to the real world.

What have I been doing?

Surviving weeks 1-4. Weeks of baby blues, rebound jaundice, adjustments, realignment of expectations, etc. OMG. Blogged - Behind the scenes: First 4 weeks of motherhood

Baby's poop and pee. At first, I worried too much about his diaper counts and his poop's color. After a while, you just gotta stop worrying about every single thing and start enjoying the baby! Blogged - Poop-plosion!

Tummy ache. This is a major no fun. Baby will be yelling on top of his lungs with tears flowing and nose dripping. So sad seeing him like that. So, the solution is: 1) What I'm doing continuously is observing my food intake and I find out that baby's tummy has problem with me taking food cooked in coconut milk, spices, and curry. So I stop taking all those food; 2) After his daily morning bath, I'll rub his tummy and the sole of his feet with Yu Yi Oil (we mothers swear by this oil!) to prevent possible build-up of wind in his little tummy; 3) Burp him every time after he unlatches from drinking breast milk.

Growth spurt. This is very interesting. Common times for growth spurts are during the first few days at home and around 7-10 days, 2-3 weeks, 4-6 weeks, 3 months, 4 months, 6 months and 9 months (more or less). However, different baby may do things differently. Growth spurt signs include: 1) Wants to be fed MUCH MORE OFTEN; 2) Very fussy, crying without a normal reason, i.e. dirty diaper, hungry or sleepy; 3) Suddenly baby wants much more physical contact. For instance, your baby only wants to sleep when he lies in your arms, or he suddenly wants to sleep feeling belly-to-belly contact. In other words, the mother is going to be very, very tired, especially during the first 6-8 weeks of baby's life whereby mother and baby are having crucial adjustments between each other. Husbands, you must sayang your wife more. :D

Milk supply. Okay, this is a taboo subject. Some breastfeeding mothers, including yours truly will be experiencing episodes of low milk supply. I know some mothers have plenty of milk and they have a freezer full of frozen breast milk, but some just won't have that much milk. As much as I'd like to boast that my baby is fully breastfed, I couldn't shake away the feeling that my milk supply might not be enough to satisfy baby. To maintain and hopefully, boost my milk supply, here's what I do: 1) Eat oatmeal after each main meal; 2) Drink Pink Lady Oat Milk, Organic Black Sesame Powder, and Shaklee Energizing Soy Protein for breakfast; 3) Drink plenty of plain water; 4) Try to eat healthily; 5) Most importantly, try my very best to stay calm and rested, i.e. no stress, which is almost impossible. LOL.

Weight. By weight, I mean baby's weight. My baby is on the small side, meaning he doesn't look like a mini Michelin man. Everyone should read this article by Dr. Jay Gordon: Look at the Baby, Not the Scale. This is the best paragraph ever: Weight gain should not be used as a major criterion of good health. Developmental milestones and interaction with parents and others are more important. Do not be persuaded to supplement a baby who is doing well. Get help with breastfeeding and use other things besides weight to guide you.

Sleep. Baby's mantra: Sleep is for the weak. At least, that's what I think baby is saying because he fights sleep so much! Putting him down to sleep on the bed is a battle of will and wits. He prefers to sleep in my arms whole day. LOL!

What else to do with baby? Apart from the routine feeding, bathing, changing diaper, and putting him to sleep, I also put him at his little Simple Dimple play gym and let him look at all his hanging toys.