6 Months Old

My baby is 6 months old today!!!

We thank God for his providence and guidance for the past 6 months as we navigate this challenging course of parenthood. My baby journal says it all:

- At Birth: I survived a near 24 hours of labour and emergency carsarean delivery to see my 3.31 kg lovely baby boy. It was so comforting to have Daddy by my side throughout the ordeal. Thank God!

- First Month: I tolerated an awful confinement month with an overbearing confinement lady and her nonsense. Dealt with daily scares and complaint from this lady about Isaac's feeding and pooing, her rough handling of the baby, as well as her health concerns(fainting spells, chronic knee pain, nasty cough). I was overjoyed when she finally left us. Mummy and Isaac survived this horrible month. Yeah!!!

- Second Month: My maiden attempt at caring for baby Isaac with some help from my mum. Fumbled at everything while nursing a nagging wrist pain. We were worried sick about Isaac's constipation problem and tried glycerin inserts on a barely 2 month old to induce poo poo. Life was hectic and routine disrupted constantly because Daddy and sometimes mummy needed to transit between hospital, office and home to visit his dad who was gravely ill. Isaac's Ah Da(Jimmy's dad)passed away on 4 May.

- Third Month: Isaac started his bottle fights with us and was extremely colicky in the evening. We tried everything from singing, stair climbing, car ride, park walk, non stop pacing in the house to rocking him in our attempt to stop his crying. It was extremely stressful and I broke down a couple of times when I was handling him alone on some evenings. It was so bad at times that he would cry from 7pm to 10pm and nothing could appease him unless you carry him to climb stairs, walk, rock and breastfeed him non-stop. I dread watching the clock ticked towards 7pm every evening. Our 9am Sunday Church congregation had to bear with his crankiness and crying whenever we were in service. I thank God for my supportive parents and husband who tried their best to be with me during this difficult month with Isaac. Late into the month, I started Isaac on Friso Comfort which seemed to help him with his colic problem, changed to Dr Brown bottle, applied Ru Yi oil diligently, made use of our rocking chair during his feed and prayed for the problem to go away soon. My prayer was answered. Praise God!!!

- Fourth Month: The bottle fight continued but his colicky problem eased. Isaac was easily distracted which made the bottle feeding difficult. His weight gain slowed and his bowel movement was affected because of his poor drinking habits. I remembered my helpful neighbour Stephanie(Mother of Four) who would dropped by every now and then to give tips and advice on his drinking and even helped us to feed him. We tried to change the teat size, change formula, and even considered starting him on semi solid earlier(the Christian GP we consulted advised us against it so we delayed our plan).In the end, we found that Enfalac seems to be suitable for him, his drinking improved slightly and his pooing frequency improved too. I started him on 'Baby Can Read' Starter DVD and Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes which he enjoyed tremendously. I made the effort to have daily devotion with him. Brought him to Hwa Xia for tub swimming and realised my boy's love for water. Oh, my boy mastered his flipping both ways during the month.

- Fifth Month: We made our first road trip to KL with Isaac and our parents. Travelling with a young baby is no easy feat. The car boot was stuffed with Isaac's diapers, bottles, formula, clothing, toys, stroller etc. I cannot imagine how my neighbour can travel frequently with her 4 kids(she has 3 young ones below age of 5)??!!! My little baby was getting cuter and more responsive by the day. He can flipped from back to tummy and flipped back easily, tripod crawl and do 360 degrees turn. He started his weekly swimming in the tub I bought him and was happily splashing water each time he was in the tub. The 'Baby Can Read' and Mother Goose DVD became my lifesaver because my boy will be so glued to the TV once I played these DVDs that I can bottle feed him without much fuss. We started him on rice cereal and fruit puree in the middle of the fifth month.

- Sixth Month: Isaac can get on his fours in crawling position and move slightly. With his hand, legs, neck muscles strengthened further, he managed to pull himself to a sitting position(not mastered completely of course) and sit unsupported for quite a while. His tongue thrust reflex is lessened and his swallowing improved significantly. My baby is enjoying his banana, apple, pear, sweet potato puree in his rice cereal. Oh yes, Isaac sailed through his first swimming pool experience with Aquaducks. He really loves to swim. We will be bringing him for weekly swim from this month.


So it has not been all smooth sailing for the last 6 months and we did not have an easy to manage baby boy, but God is leading our way. My parenting woes and complaint are all forgotten whenever I see my boy smiling sweetly at me when he opens his little eyes every morning.

I love you, my darling Isaac;)