The prompt for today’s post is ‘The First Year of My Baby’ and this is my favorite among all the prompts till now as it was the time that changed me completely for good of course. The eventful year made me understand what exactly motherhood is all about. They say you need to be in the shoes of the mother to actually experience what she goes through and that’s what happened with me.

It brings me immense pleasure to share that I, along with 24 other bloggers are celebrating #9daysofwomanhood throughout Navratri. I thank Gagandeep Kochar for introducing me. Her blog is named as My Diaries and I loved reading her blog on the prompt for today ‘First year of my baby‘.

So, I am done with 9 months of pregnancy and 16 hours of delivery and now is the time to do some Bhangra, yay, my baby is out and in my arms and everything will go smoothly as I had wished for, poor mommy brain thinking like all the work is over and now the time is to be back to your old self.

How wrong I was, those long feeding hours started taking a toll on my health, I was sleep deprived to the extent that I fell off the bed twice because I refused to lie down and wanted to keep sitting for the next feeding session, those endless peeing, pooping, cleaning and washing made me felt as if these were going to be my best skills to be stated to others in future.

I describe my baby’s first year as 4 trimesters outside the tummy, into the real world – 1 to 3 months, 4 to 6 months, 7 to 9 months and 10 to 12 months! And today I will share some snippets from each, maybe you (expecting ladies and new mothers) can take some hints and prepare yourself accordingly. Rest others can enjoy reading it!

Trimester – 1

(0-3 months old)

I describe these 3 months as Depressive, I suffered Post Partum Depression from Day 1 we stepped inside the house. It was already the baby’s third day and I was longing for my 8 hrs of sleep but realized that no one could help me in that now. I was given many instructions to be followed for my baby’s health and that included remaining inside the room for 40 days. Then after a week, I felt like a useless machine which was done with its job of producing the baby and now no one needed it. All the attention was showered on the new member. At one moment, I hated my baby for coming into our lives and I blamed him for everything that was happening to me.

Thankfully, Sumit, my husband, noticed the change in my behavior and decided to find out the reason. He asked me, ‘Are you ok, want to talk to me?’ I cried hysterically, the baby started competing with my howls and he cried even louder. And, I told my hubby, how I was feeling neglected, no one was interested to talk to me, to ask me if I needed anything, they were just giving me instructions to get me complete my motherly duties. I expressed my hatred towards that little being and how I was planning to run away leaving the newborn behind.

Are you a new mother? Do you feel the same as I felt? Please talk to someone. Don’t keep things in your mind and don’t assume anything. There are people around you who are your family and they love you. It’s just the faulty hormones that are playing weird And once you discuss your feelings and express your emotions, you will start loving yourself back!

Sometimes, these emotions are nothing but ‘baby blues‘ which typically go away after a week or two. But if that still persist, then you may want to know more about PPD. The depression is very common among new mothers, and its effects can be felt during the first 3 weeks after childbirth. There are treatments available to bring you back to your normal self, but I would suggest talking to someone close and whom you trust the most before considering treatment.

Speaking with my husband worked for me, can work for you too. But, if there is no one who is able to understand you, please take the help of a specialist. Again counseling is what I would suggest before directly starting with medications, so you can consider meeting a Therapist too. By the 2nd month, you will start loving yourself and your baby. And by that time baby will also start babbling, cooing and responding to sounds, which make the experience a lot more fun.

We followed a trend of celebrating our marriage anniversary every month by cutting a cake or having something sweet to eat. Hence, we decided to follow the same for our baby’s monthly birthdays.

I spent the 2nd month in online shopping, buying everything which I thought our baby might need, I bought a cot, a rocker, a pram, a baby carrier, lots of toys, a baby gym, diaper bags, different types of diapers and cloth nappies, every new style of clothes and shoes, bathing tub, fancy quilts and blankets, nursery items and what not. It was my wrong decision and I accept that. My baby made his first ever road trip from Delhi to Amritsar during his 2nd month which was a total fun outing.

You may want to read this article, Must have items for your baby, where I have prepared a list of things which we found really helpful and useful for our baby.

Now came the 3rd month, the baby started looking bigger and acting smart, all the clothes bought in the previous month were not fitting him well and the toys were not as exciting for him the way we expected. He was responding to our facial expressions, would smile and babble as if responding back to us. He started liking his massage time, bath time and tummy time. But, what followed in between all these were the Growth Spurts.

During a growth spurt, your baby will put on weight, reach developmental milestones, feed more, and sleep more or less than usual. Please note, this period can range from few days to few weeks. While we were struggling to understand the pee poo session and colic bombardments, we were hit by these growth spurts.

I have written this article, Do you know what Growth Spurts are? where I have mentioned how you can tell that baby is going through one of these episodes.

Trimester – 2

(3-6 months old)

This is my favorite trimester, the baby finally got a nickname, Noyi, as suggested by his Papa, earlier he had as many names as there were members of the family, everyone had their own favorite name. From this month, Noyi developed a sleep pattern during the day, he would take 3 naps which meant a lot of time for myself.

He started holding his neck for few seconds which was a milestone, he started using his whatever power he had to try to roll over which was again a milestone, his teething phase started as he would drool a lot and most of the times spent hours chewing on his frozen teethers. He loved to shake his rattles and smiling to their sound. There was so much to capture during this month and I loved every minute spent with my baby.

But, the month also brought unwanted advice from elders in the family’ to start the bottle feed as per them the baby was growing and not getting his daily requirements from my milk. That made me furious and mad and I would fight and reason with them but to no use. I had to go invisible for a couple of months just for the sake of my own sanity.

Noyi started crawling during his 5th month.

Although he was still not able to sit on his own, he liked crawling backward and tried to stand just like we elders do. This was the time when we prepared a separate room for him, completely baby proofed, we placed the mattress on the ground and ditched the bed just to avoid any falls, also this was necessary to avoid getting him near to Caesar as Caesar had still not accepted Noyi as part of his pack.

Next month was special. We arranged a family get-together to celebrate our baby’s first 6 months. That day Noyi surprised us by sitting on his own, unassisted. New milestone reached.

Trimester – 3

(6-9 months old)

Next 3 months were beautiful, Noyi had started recognizing me and he was expressing different emotions. It was fun to watch him grow and learn. He developed a liking for songs. His favorite one was ‘If you are happy and you know it‘ and we would play peek-a-boo a lot. The first day after his 6th month birthday, we introduced solid food. And to our surprise, he loved having something that tasted different from breastmilk. It was pure bliss watching him slurp his 1st meal, which was just 3 spoonful of mashed dal!

This was my Birthday month and we planned a trip to Goa, which happened to be Noyi’s first flight, first beach visit, first drenching in rain, first pool dip, first tasting outside food and sprouting first set of teeth. We soon realized Noyi is just like his parents and grandparents who love to travel to new places and meeting new people.

Next 2 months involved lots of new activities which I used to search over the net to make the growing process fun and exciting. These months were also the bonding months for Caesar and Noyi, gradually Caesar developed a liking for Noyi.

You may find this post interesting as I have shared a few tips on Let your baby explore!

Trimester – 4

(9-12 months old)

The past 9 months passed really fast. The next 3 months were for me like I was on a watcher’s duty. The baby was quite mobile and there was no way to stop him from moving around the house. And explore any and every new thing that came in his reach.

Noyi wanted to stand and walk unassisted but he was clearly not ready. And we had to witness a lot of falls. He liked climbing up the sofa, chasing Caesar, pulling his ears. And sometimes would try to chew his tail too.

I want to mention here, we never followed any rituals or practices in the name of tradition. Neither had any other so-called beliefs, we did not know what is Nazar utarna, never did that. We did not believe in the power of black tika and black threads, never used them.

We never used anything to assist easy teething. Luckily, we had a smooth teething phase without using any Tilsmi moti or giving any calcium tablets. And Noyi turned out just fine. He did not fell sick even once during his first 11 months.

It was just before his first birthday, he caught a cold for the first time. As per our pediatrician, getting common cold is actually good for improving baby’s immunity. We followed her advice and didn’t give any medicine to treat it. And to our surprise, he was back to normal within a week. That day we decided to keep the use of medicines as limited as possible. We only used the saline nasal drops and gave steam to provide relief from blockage.

Next month, Noyi was going to complete his 1st year outside the tummy, and that called for A Celebration. And for that, we planned a trip to Malaysia to make his birthday a memorable one. On his D-day, we spent the whole day at an Amusement cum Water Park. And, yet again Noyi surprised us by walking for the first time. Yes, Noyi walked for the first time unassisted on his 1st birthday on some other country’s land. And since then, there is no stopping him!!!

To read the story of 9 months, My Pregnancy, Click here!

To read further about the Pain that brought a Smile, My Delivery, Click here!

And if you liked reading this post, do drop a few words in the comments section below. And feel free to Share this post with your friends and family!

Now, I would like you to meet Sumira Bhatia, my friend, and co-blogger who blogs at The Cuckoo’s Nest. Read her blog on today’s prompt, The Beginning of a Journey! to know about Uday’s first 5 months and read some awesome tips from mommy.

The post Four Trimesters Outside the Tummy – My Baby’s First Year appeared first on Growing With Nemit.

The prompt for today’s post is ‘My Delivery & My Baby’. Whenever I take a walk down the memory lane to the day I was admitted to the hospital for the final verdict, I get a twinge in my heart, those 16 hours and that hospital bed, witnessed me in the worst of agony and distress. But, today, I am going to laugh away that pain and look for some humor in that.

It brings me immense pleasure to share that I, along with 24 other bloggers are celebrating #9daysofwomanhood throughout Navratri. I thank Gagandeep Kochar for introducing me. Her blog is named as My Diaries and I loved reading her blog on the prompt for today ‘My Delivery & My Baby’.

When I delivered a baby in January 2016, I was already a mother to a 9-month-old pup, Caesar, but I did not bring him into this world, he is my baby born from another mother.

So, when I got admitted to the hospital, I already had a little idea what being a mom is all about but what I did not know was, what is it like to give birth to a baby who had rented a place in my tummy for 9-long-months. Though I had read a lot about childbirth and seen numerous videos of live deliveries both natural as well as cesarean but nothing could prepare me for the climax.

Your mind says, if others can do this, you can do it too, whereas your body shouts back at you, “Shut the f*** up mind, we are going to die any moment“. And your poor heart has no idea what emotions to exhibit.

Yes, I felt like I was going to die any minute, I was shouting at the doctors and the sisters for not listening to me, as I wanted them to go-ahead with the surgery and bring the pumpkin out through C-sec, I didn’t care about the pros and cons of anything at that time, actually it didn’t matter at that stage.

It was 6 a.m. when I was almost drained out of energy, words had lost their way, and I hated everyone present near me including my mom. I asked my hubby to bring me something to eat, I was hungry. He went off and suddenly, I felt the urge to poop, (yes, poop and the urge was quite strong), thankfully the doctor was around.

But within a few secs, she started calling the sisters and giving them instructions to prepare the delivery room, while I could sense the panic in her voice, I was smiling because I knew the climax was near.

And, then, I heard her saying, ‘we are not yet prepared and the baby’s head is already showing up’. Oh my God, what did she mean by that? Weren’t they supposed to be prepared all the time? She turned to me and said, “Just hold on for few minutes, and don’t push”. Wow, I always thought one was supposed to push as hard as she can but there the scene was different.

It was 6.30 am when the doctor looked at me, smiled and asked me to push. And I was excited to do that, many delivery scenes from the movies flashed in front of my eyes. (Push, Push, Push harder). But, for me, it was just the second push and the naughty one popped out.

My hubby was back with the packet of chips when I heard the baby cry for the first time. What a timing!!!

There is something which I remember from that day, once the baby was out, I was anxiously waiting to have a glimpse, when doctor brought the baby near, she whispered, “It’s a Boy” and for a second I thought how? I finalized Tisya as the name, and my instincts told me it will be a Girl! Snapped back from the thought train, I kissed my baby and exclaimed, ” And he looks like his Papa!”

So, guys, don’t depend too much on your instincts, they can deceive you. My baby was niether a girl nor looked like me!!!

Hope you liked reading my delivery story and didn’t feel any pain. Do share your experience of childbirth with me in the comments below. I LOVE IT WHEN YOU SHARE!!!

You can also read My Pregnancy Story here- The Roller Coaster Ride.

Now, I would like you to meet Sumira Bhatia, my friend and co-blogger who blogs at The Cuckoo’s Nest. Read her touching and full of life Blog on today’s prompt, Hello Baby! Welcome on the Outside! Check out her blog now!!!

The post PAIN that left a SMILE – My Delivery appeared first on Growing With Nemit.

This post got published as Article on Babychakra!

To read it on Babychakra, Click here!

Letting your baby explore his surrounding is the best way of learning, take cues from baby and help in his observation. Make sure you are always keeping an eye on him, do baby proof your house once baby starts moving.

Few tips from mommy-

-Let your baby enjoy his meals on his own using hands, don’t worry about the mess.

-Let him have his food with a spoon if he seems interested to use one.

-If your baby is not fond of playing with toys and is always interested in shoes, utensils, remotes, combs, wallets, don’t stop him, just make sure he is not taking anything in his mouth and wash his hands frequently.

-Make water play and sand play a part of your baby’s daily activities.

-Don’t scold or shout at your baby, even limit the use of the word ‘NO’ because once u will start using it every time, the word will lose its value. Instead gently take your baby away from that thing or place and divert his mind somewhere else.

-Use ‘NO’ when your baby is in a dangerous situation so that saying the word will make your baby stop at once.

-If u want to take something with which baby is playing with, don’t snatch it ever, the baby will not like it. Try saying, ‘Give it to Mumma’ and if he gives that to you, please say ‘thank you’.

-If baby doesn’t want to let it go then divert his mind to some other object and once he picks the new one, gently take away the other object.

-Talk, sing, dance best ways to bond with baby.

-Zero screen time is possible. (Check my article on ‘Is Screen time educational or distracting?’)

-Weaning off the bottle is also possible. You have to make a little effort and trust your baby.

-Give time to your baby, soon he will be a grown up.

-Take lots n lots of pictures, and save them in multiples.

All these tips are straight from my experience. Hope these are helpful for other parents too.

The post Let your baby explore his/her surroundings!! appeared first on Growing With Nemit.

Screen Time – Educational or Distracting?

Updated on Dec’19: This is one of the most loved posts from the time when I’d just started blogging. Just like any other first-time new parent we had no idea about the ill effects of screen time. Or you may say we didn’t know whether it helps or hampers the child’s growth.

It was Nemit’s vaccination at 15 months when we met his pediatrician after a gap of 3 months. While asking some general questions about his health, she asked us how many words does he speak and how much screen time we are offering him.

Well, we were happily showing him 1-2 hrs of daily rhymes thinking that he is learning something good while watching TV. And I was using that time for myself. But I simply failed to observe that he was not learning any words from those songs. He would be glued at one place for 2 hrs, eyes on the screen with a blank expression on his face.

According to the doctor, at around 15 months he should be speaking at least 7-8 meaningful words and that list should keep expanding with each month. Now, this was alarming for us because Nemit was hardly speaking any words except for Mumma & Papa.

PIN IT!

“It is recommended to avoid any screen media (TV, mobile phones, tablets, computers) for babies 0 to 18 months old” – WHO

She explained to us that the human brain is the least developed of our organ systems at birth. Most of its development occurs in the first two years of life. Neurologists have identified three types of stimuli that helps in brain growth.

(1) Babies need interaction with parents and other humans.

(2) They need to manipulate their environment (to touch things, to feel and move them).

(3) They need to do “problem-solving” activities.

Of these three critical forms of interaction, television provides none.

Our doctor then advised us to reduce his screen time gradually & bring it to zero in 10-15 days. Now, this was a BIG TASK for me. Because hey, I needed a break too & I had no help at home.

But being a mother, I know there is nothing which we can’t do for our little ones. We can fight the greatest battles for the well-being of our kids. Hence I took this challenge to see if it actually works or not. And alongside I started doing my research on screen time.

And I found out that there was already a lot of debate going on this topic.

PIN IT!

Is staying away from screen really the best approach?

There is research that shows when parents make screen use an interactive, shared experience, it can become a tool for learning and the potential negative effects can be reduced.

But moderation is the key. Let us understand a bit about Screen time.

There is Passive Screen Time which is like watching cartoons or rhymes or movies. Kids’ TV has become little more than a tool for keeping children from tearing up the living room.

And then there is Active Screen Time which is like communicating via Skype or playing an interactive game but it should not take the place of activities and games that should happen in the real world of a child.

We can move from a “no screen time” recommendation to “mindful screen time” in today’s media-manic world

But How?

Simply by following the 3C’s mantra- the Content, the Context, and the Child.

• This means being choosy about the type of content (apps, games, TV shows) you let your child see, such as electronic picture books, interactive apps or personal videos of family.
• Be aware of the context as to how their usage may be affecting other interests or activities, such as outdoor play.
• And be alert to the needs of the child as an individual: A child will react in unique ways to what he or she sees and plays with.

In comparison to the high stimulation that media screen offers, real-life can seem slow and children can respond to it with boredom and inattentiveness.

Eliminating screen time is a choice for engagement over stimulation and activity over passivity. The choice is ours.

As per my experience, achieving zero screen time is possible but if you can’t do that try interactive screen time. I tried to involve Nemit in fun and interactive stimulation activities using the DIY approach.

Here is a list of 30 age-wise Stimulation Activities which you can do with your baby – 30 Stimulation Activities

After 3 months –

It’s been 3 months after that visit to the doctor and since then we are following ‘zero screen time’. Within a month Nemit started speaking 5 new words, there is an improvement in his understanding of things, he happily copies the actions we do while singing rhymes.

I believe it’s not just the baby who is growing it is also ‘the parents’ who are growing & learning with them each day.

This post was first published on Babychakra. To read this article, Click here!

The post Is screen time educational or distracting? How to use it effectively? appeared first on Growing With Nemit.