I mentioned earlier that I will blog about Baby C’s daily feeding schedule.  Well here goes :

My day with Baby C starts at around 8-8:30am. When Baby C wakes up, I will feed her 2.5ml of Bio-Strath, mixed with apple and cranberry juice. I used to give her organic pure Cranberry juice but it’s so terribly sour that she’d puke and shiver each time she drinks that yucky stuff.  I’d searched many organic shops for a cranberry juice that is mixed with some other sweeter fruits but couldn’t find any.  I finally found one which tastes good. It is unsweetened and is a mixture of apple juice and cranberry juice by Marigold.   She swallows this Bio-Strath+apple juice+cranberry juice (total of 5ml) with another 5ml of plain water. I have to feed her this Bio-Strath herbal supplement on an empty stomach so that she will not puke (it tastes yucky too) and the body absorbs the nutrients better on an empty stomach.

9:30 or 10am – breastmilk, then nap for 30 mins to an hour. Sometimes she will not nap.  If she does not nap, I will flash some cards (homemade words cards and picture cards) to her whilst I eat my breakfast.

11am – bath time

11:30am – breastmilk.  Don’t know how much she drinks coz it’s direct sucking.  If she doesn’t nap at 10am, she will take an hour nap at around 11:30am.

12 noon – a few teaspoons of barley water or plain water

1:30pm or 2pm – breastmilk, then a short nap

3pm – About 5ml of freshly grated apple or pear juice with 1 capsule of probiotics. Another 5ml of plain water or barley water to wash down the yucky powdery stuff down her throat.  Will flash cards to her as I feed her.  She seems to enjoy looking at those cards.

3:30pm – Breastmilk

4pm – a few teaspoons of barley water or plain water

5pm – Breastmilk and short nap of about 30 mins

6pm – 2.5ml of Bio-Strath with 2.5ml of apple juice and cranberry juice. Another 5ml of plain water.

6:30pm – bath

7pm – Breastmilk. Sometimes will take a cat nap.

8:30pm – 1.5ml of antibiotics with 5ml of water

9:30 or 10pm – suckles my teats to sleep….

12 or 1am – breastmilk

3am or 4am – breastmilk

6am – breastmilk

In between all the feeding, I have to change her diaper every 1 – 2 hourly.  On the advise of our nephrologist, her diaper is to be changed as soon as it is wet, to prevent bacteria from proliferating in the damp diaper.  I also have to break my back washing her bum each time she poos and also every 2 hourly to keep her diaper area clean and hopefully, free from bacteria. 

Twice a week, I need to collect her urine to inspect it myself.  If the pee looks clear and not cloudy, I can breathe a sigh of relief.  If it looks cloudy and smells foul, I have to collect another round of pee to be sent to the hospital for a urine culture.  Collecting her pee is another back-breaking chore which involves tons of patience and time.  Once every fortnight, I have to collect her pee to be sent to the hospital for a urine culture to see if there’s any bacteria in the pee.

In between caring for this high-needs baby, I still have to care for Alycia and Sherilyn, coach Alycia in her homework, read to her and entertain Sher’s whimps and fancies and daily meltdowns.  By 9pm I will be so darn exhausted, with my body half battered and back which feels like it is going to break anytime, I would doze off within minutes when I nurse Baby C and put her to sleep.  Most times, I would knock off before she does.  That’s motherhood…. and it is a darn tough job, a labor of love.