(Hadn't decided on ZY's name when creating the above)
They look kind of similar but ZY is much thinner. At 2.97kg, a mere 300g lighter than ZK at birth, ZY looked a lot more fragile, especially during bath time in the early days - I felt like carrying a chicken *.* We put it down to my pregnancy diets - I had beef and milk for ZK and chicken and soy milk for ZY...
ZY's skin was flaking everywhere! We don't remember ZK flaking like this. We concluded it must be the coconut water - I had loads for ZK but managed only two coconuts for ZY the day before he was born. ZY has less hair on his head but he's dropping a lot of hair now. He used to be super hairy on his back though. Now it's all gone.
Input, i.e. breastfeeding
Milk seemed to come in earlier this time. And I knew what to do! Or so I thought.. With a different baby, we both needed to learn from the top. He used to keep shaking his head as he latched on; there were times when he managed to latch on immediately, but there were also more times than I care for when we tried 20 over times to latch on properly. I was so worried cos that meant it would be very difficult to nurse him outside, but I wanted to go out during my leave! Thankfully, we soon started to latch on more quickly. Now, he sometimes moved a bit to find the nipple.
I figure that ZY is not as hungry as baby as ZK who used to nurse 45 min at a time with 15 minutes in between sessions sometimes! The way ZK chomped down on my poor girls was also absent this time. By bottle, ZK took 175 ml of milk at 4.5 weeks whereas ZY was satisfied with just 100 ml. But ZY's appetite seems to be increasing. Last weekend, he cried a little when he was done with his 100 ml. Today, he had 120 ml and cried a little when he was done too.
I also felt something else this round: I was chatting with Sito one day in the earlier days when I suddenly felt engorgement pain. But I wasn't engorged! My boobs were soft. So I took a peek under the bra pads and found myself leaking milk! I also leaked on one side when feeding on the other - could feel it more until this past month when the sensation reduced. Also sprayed some all over ZY's face a couple of times when trying to latch on. Hope this points to a good supply and that I can pump more to last him longer!
Output, i.e. poop
Unlike his brother, ZY had textbook poops. I remember reading about the amount of poop for breastfed babies - the size of a US quarter coin. ZK's diapers were full whenever he had a poop lor! In fact, he leaked poop all the time - up his back and from the side gathers. ZY just pooped all the time, especially right after a diaper change *.* At least he's not a 小臭臭!
But lately, ZY has been consolidating his poops. It used to be upon wake-up for a while. Now it's in the mid afternoon. Some days, he doesn't poop but poops lots the day after. And these days, he's been having gas so he can fart quite a bit in the day but suffer from some difficulty at night, sighs... I caved in and gave him gripe water since last week. I think it helps. Though he seldom does six-hour stretches of sleep this past week, he also doesn't wake every hour anymore. I can deal with three-hourly wakings.
Changing diapers was a breeze so far. Unlike ZK who resisted - and sometimes still resists! - diaper changing, ZY was quite happy to lie at the changing mat and be cleaned. In fact, at night, he can fall asleep there!
Update 16 Oct 2014
Well, we just met with an amazing poop accident yesterday morning... Was nursing ZY when he stopped and smiled at me ever so sweetly :) Then he made grunting sounds and I became fearful, cos he didn't poop the day before. And true enough, two looong farts came out of the boy - how could the small body contain that much gas?! And then I heard poop. And then I FELT poop. And worst, I SAW poop on my thighs flowing down my calves!!
Naps and sleep
ZK and ZY are so different here! Let me not jinx it :p
Bathing
Sito recalled that the nurse at the parent craft class we attended in hospital after ZK was born said that babies loved bathing. That was utter nonsense for ZK - there were very few occasions when he was happy taking a bath in his first few months.
But ZY loves it! He may fuss a little before bathing but once he enters the warm water, you can see his face light up or simply relax :) Similarly for baby spa, he loves it! Of course if he's already crying to begin with, the water can't make him happy! That happened at one bath time - one! And for baby spa, his more predictable routine allows us to choose the best time for the activity so there was just this once when I mis-judged his happy period.
Pattern
ZY gives us a rather different feeling from ZK.
Yes, the brothers look alike. As ZY is wearing ZK's clothes, sometimes I'd look at him and hey, it's Zk all over again! Even ZK looks at his own baby photos and thinks he's looking at didi! But there are significant differences. First of all, ZK was chunkier than ZY at every stage so far. And - this is the key difference - ZY is a lot more smiley than ZK! In fact, I think their sleeping and smiling faces look most alike cos at rest, ZK was pretty much a stern baby while ZY has 柔和的眼神 :)
Yes, we think our two boys have quite different temperaments. And as we look at them both, we thought we're lucky to have ZK first - good training! Imagine having an easy baby first and then be faced with the bouncy ZK *.* We also attribute that to pregnancy diets :p
But I think they complement each other. I can imagine ZK standing up for his little brother next time. And I can also imagine ZY soothing his older brother when he gets mad! I hope they will grow up to be great friends :)
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