We called the clinic early this morning to check if we should bring Noah in for a check-up and were told to bring him in, together with his soiled diapers. Noah did another two more green poos before we got to the clinic, so there were three disgusting diapers for Dr Tay to examine. One was so explosive that immediately after it happened, it flowed out from the back of his diaper and he had to have his romper changed.
There were so many issues that Dr Tay discovered during the check-up today that it’s plain depressing to even think about them.
1. His head is flatter on the left side, so we have to get him to try and look more to his right by constantly repositioning his head and standing more on his right side. The good thing is that his cot is positioned properly, with me on the right, so I have to keep calling him and getting him to turn to my side.
2. His cradle cap is still a problem and is also probably why he has so many scratches on his scalp. I’ve been applying baby oil on it and stopped using the cradle cap shampoo as it didn’t seem to be effective at all. I know it takes time to clear but it’s really been quite a while already!
3. He has very dry skin and what looks like the beginning of eczema. Some areas are worse than others, in particular his cheeks, in and behind his ears, his neck and his arms. When I wipe his neck, there’s a yellowish paste and it’s particularly tough to constantly check that his neck is dry as you can’t even see it anymore. Dr Tay recommended that we use an even stronger moisturiser than Ceredan, so we got the Physiogel AI cream from her, with instructions to slather it onto him as though we were marinating him for a barbecue.
4. His nose is also a little blocked with some mucus. We can choose to leave it as it is or use a nasal spray on it. My friend Motherkao very generously gave me a bottle of the nasal spray the last time Noah had a huge booger stuck in his nostril, so we might try it soon. We need to figure out what the right pressure to use is, as we need to get a mist from it.
5. Noah has what appears to be a short frenulum but that has yet to be confirmed. Dr Tay says she will review it next week when we bring him in for his jabs and if it really is a problem, she will refer us to a surgeon to get it snipped. Right now, it looks as though it might be a problem as he can’t stick his tongue out fully.
6. He has quite a bit of gas in his stomach and might be becoming colicky. That will also explain his two nights of crying marathons. Dr Tay prescribed some probiotics drops which are to be administered every morning.
7. The green poop is quite worrying as he has been consistently producing it for some time already. A sample was taken and sent for testing as it might be caused by a virus which prevents him from absorbing nutrients properly. We’ll only get the results on Saturday so for now, we have to continue monitoring him.
8. Unfortunately, Noah also has diaper rash. I’m quite upset about this as I thought I’d been cleaning his bum quite thoroughly. I guess I need to remember to change his diapers more frequently, especially since he’s such a good-natured baby that he has never once complained or cried because of a dirty diaper. He just quietly sits in his own poop until I remember to change him. We were given another cream for it, to be applied under the Desitin, his skin has some abrasion too.
The only positive takeaway from today’s visit is that he has been gaining weight well. He is 4.79kg today, up from 3.67kg at our last visit, which means he has been putting on an average of 43g a day. A good amount would be 30g so he is doing just fine.
My nipples and boobs, however, are far from fine. On Monday, I learnt that he hasn’t been latching on properly when I went to get help from my godsis’ MIL again. Overnight, I had developed a row of blisters on my left nipple as well as my right one, and it was very painful each time I nursed him. There was no respite from the pain too, since both nipples were affected.
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