First Marriage Function

It was my hubby's cousin's marriage. Aisha was thrilled at the outing. She knows it when I change her in diapers. Diaper is used only when we go out of the home. As usual, I was worried about Aisha. The summer is blistering and with a lot of people gathered, it will be very difficult for Aisha. But she proved wrong. As a precaution, I dressed her in cotton clothes that were sleeveless and loose. I took extra pairs of dresses and towels so that I could give her a bath to cool her, if needed.
When we reached the auditorium, she was staring all around. My aunties-in-law, cousins-in-law, their kids, uncles-in-law and a lot of friends and relatives surrounded Aisha. One particular thing that Aisha found interesting was the movie camera. It was a big one, with a huge light, lighting the entire stage. When I was near the stage, Aisha started pushing me towards the flowers kept to decorate the stage. After the lunch, I went to the dressing room. The groom have left, the dressing room was empty. I took of Aisha's clothes and lay her naked on a cot in a flannel. She was happy to be out of her dress from the heat. My aunt-in-law was there with me, and Aisha started playing with her. We waited there till it was time for the bride to arrive.
At about 4 pm, someone announced the arrival of the bride. I changed Aisha into a new frock and took her to meet the bride. She liked the bride, who had a lot of ornaments, jasmin flowers on her head and dressed in a shining silk saree. The bride had around 1 kg of gold on her body! Won't Aisha be mesmerized?

Aisha with my aunt-in-law.

Sleeping Habit for Aisha

Aisha never slept at night until now. From the time of her birth, she always slept only after 2 am. Some days it went over to 4 am, and it reached even 8 am some 2 or 3 occasions. I consulted with all doctors, modern medicine, ayurvedic and homeopathic. Modern medicine never gave me any reason or treatment for this. Ayurvedic doctors suggested giving date juice. They also suggested bathing her in water boiled with goose berry. Well, at four months I started the treatment. Squeezed out juice from three dates everyday and gave it to her. That was the her first food. I also gave her dried grapes juice as a treatment for constipation. Her motion became normal with the grapes, but she was still sleep deprived!

Lights off, please!

One day at night, as usual when Aisha was in one of her best moods, shouting and laughing and cooing, my mom came to our room. She asked Aisha to sleep, in a harsh tone and then she shut the door tight. And Aisha slept! She slept till morning, with waking up only once or twice for her feed. I was surprised and glad. The next day, while going to sleep, I shut the door myself. Aisha slept that night too. It was at that time I understood. Her sleeping problem was due to the light from the hall. It was my suggestion to keep the lights on in the hall (dining room) of our home, so that I could see Aisha, and I can easily feed her.
For four to five months, she never slept at night and it never occurred to me that it was the light that was keeping her sleep away. I'm not a good mom, isn't it? I still feel sad at the thought of it, my little girl's sleep was disturbed by me.
Now she sleeps all-right, from around 10 pm to 8 am in the morning. No dates juices. Nothing else. A dark room is all she wants!

Exploring the world with her tongue

Pictures will say it all.

Grandpa's Newspaper

Her teether

Feeding bottle

Her rattle

Dress

Fingers

Horlicks Bottle

Ayurveda

There a lot of ayurvedic medicine given to pregnant moms, lactating moms and babies.  Well, I never took any of these, but I gave some for my baby. 

Usually after delivery, moms are given herbal decoctions (kashayam), electuaries (lehyam) and fermentated decoctions (arishtam). In my case, I started with decoction and the next day onwards Aisha started vomiting. I don't know if it was due to the decoction but I stopped the medicine anyway, against the advices of many, especially R-mom. The second herbal combination for the decoction was never opened. R-mom then made a electuary from dates, small onion and coconut flowers. Again Aisha was affected with gastro-intestinal problem. Within a couple of days, I stopped that too. Next it was a health mix powder, with many grains, nuts, roots, leaves, flowers, seeds etc etc. I never started that! Everything is stored in my fridge and I hope to take it after Aisha starts semi-solid food. Don't know if she will start vomiting again. There was a fermented decoctions made from Asparagus Racemosus, or Shatavari, which I took. It helps in producing breast milk. This medicine never affected Aisha.

For Aisha, I started date juice and dried grapes juice at her third month, both were taken as a medicine for improving her sleeping condition and digestion. At her fourth month, I started another set of medicine, called the Ura Marunnu. It is a mix of eight medicine, of which I know the name of only seven. :(

1. Sweet flag/ Calamus : The root of the tree is used. It is a stimulant, emetic, expectorant, carminative, stomachic, anthelmentic, nauseant.
2. Sandalwood : a piece of the branch is used.
3. Red Sandal wood : a piece of the branch is used. 
4. East Indian (nut leaved) screw tree : the stem bark is used. A medicine good for gastric problems.
5. Rosary Nut from Rudraksh tree : Nut is used to reduce epilepsy in kids.
6. Gooseberry : dried gooseberry is used. It is useful in conditions of asthma, bronchitis, diarrhea, cough etc.
7. Alexandrian Laurel : dried nut is used.
8. ------ : I think its a dried nut or berry.

These midicines are rubbed once or twice with a few drops of breast milk in a special vessel, kadodi, that is rough inside and smooth outside. It is then given to Aisha.

Kadodi

Searching Dad

Aisha's dad, S left to Dubai day before yesterday. You know what? Aisha searches for him whenever we get into our bedroom. She was whimpering all day long for two days. In her sleep, she turns over to the warmth of her dad. But when she finds the bed space empty, she turns back to me. She misses him a lot!

In the warmth of her dad.

Sleeping with dad.

Happy 3 Months

3 months completed. We reached Aisha’s dad’s home on Jan 26^th (the republic day of India). I was a little tensed not knowing what will happen with the change of home. The home, my in-laws etc are new to her. Even the climate. It’s a cool atmosphere at my home while it is hot at my Hubby’s home. No flannels, turkeys, blankets, mittens, booties etc etc. The fan is at its high. I don’t remember switching the fan on when at my place. Aisha’s dad came on 28^th. She laughed and cooed when she saw him. She was glad to see him.

Aisha was fine. She adapted to the situations and surroundings well. The only problem was her sleep time – from 4 am to 4 pm with a one-hour break for her bath. I am sleep deprived!

On Jan 22^nd, I gave her second vaccination. Although she didn’t have a high fever like last time, she was all quiet for two days. It worries me a lot.

Happy 3 Months.

Bathing Baby (ME)

Today I bathed Aisha. My mom was there to give me instructions. Aisha is 72 days old. I was afraid to give her a bath although I give her the oil massages form her 42^nd day. But today, my mom had to take my youngest brother, MN, to hospital and so there was none to give Aisha a bath. Yesterday and day before, my mom was in hospital with MN. I called my Aunty K to give Aisha a bath. Today I decided to do the task myself and so with my mom’s supervision, I washed Aisha. Tomorrow I have to take her for her second vaccination. I dread that! Last time, she suffered from fever for two days. It was sad to see her, without smiles, silent and weak.

Vaccination

I took Aisha for her vaccinations. We had two follow-ups earlier, on her 15^th day and 37^th day. She weighed 2.5 kg on her 15^th day, ie, gained around 0.25 after we left hospital. She was ok, the doc said, and there was nothing to worry about her pre-term delivery. On her 37^th day, which was my expected delivery date, she weighed 3.6 kg, was 51.2 long with a head circumference of 36 cm. The doc said she has become a normal baby, ready to explore the world. He gave me a short counseling, ‘coz of my worry when the baby vomits or makes sound when breathing. Well, that was right. Her sleeping time has reduced from 23 and half hours to some 15 - 20 hours and she started to observe her surroundings. She smiles, she knows my sound and smell.

Her vaccination day was her 52^nd day. She cried a little. My uncle was there in the hospital, a pediatrician, and he gave me advices about how to take care of her. Her belly button was protruding, which we haven’t noticed in any other babies. Uncle said it is ok to have protruding belly button till she reaches one year or so. I was relaxed.

Aisha's Day Out

I took Aisha for a get-together today. Usually in our place no one goes out with their children until they reach 90 days. But Hubby S gave me permission for the get-together, and so I went with my brother N. Aisha was happy. I saw four of my friends with their kids. Aisha was the youngest of all. She was glad to be out of the cold place, my home, and to be out of her flannels and blankets. She enjoyed the outing.

At around 4 pm, Aisha felt sleepy but couldn’t sleep with so many people and noises around her. And me, as a first time mom, had no idea about how to put her to sleep. Aisha started crying and then started screaming. I was planning to go home when my friend S, a mom of two, came to my help. She took Aisha from me, and cradled her to sleep. Aisha was asleep within minutes! Thanks S for your help! You are good Mom.

Aisha's First Day Out

Mummy Starts

Yesterday my mid-wife, Aisha's R-mom left. Now I'm here to take care of Aisha, with the help of my mom. Aisha was sleeping when R-mom left, and so she couldn't say goodbye to Aisha. Well, today I massaged Aisha with medicinal virgin coconut oil. Not that difficult as Aisha loves the massages. It was my mom who bathed Aisha, 'coz I was afraid if water would get into her ears and nose. Aisha was very co-operative.

Enjoying her massages!