A scrapbook with pictures of Dexy! Enjoy!

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A quick update for now about our Osteopath visit...

Yes, yes - the slackness has returned and I've not updated here in a while!

I have lots to tell and to share including pictures. Like Dex giving us his first real smile on 25/3, as a day-early birthday pressie for Mummy! :) And now he's even giggling which is so cute...

He is also FIVE WEEKS OLD now - my gosh, it's crazy to think that! Well they say the first 6 weeks are the hardest and we're almost there :) I can't honestly say it's been too bad - I mean, how many other mothers only have to get up ONCE during the night (between 10pm and 6am) to feed at this age? But we have had our issues, and while Dex sleeps beautifully at night and settles RIGHT away after his feed, we won't do so during the day. He has problems with wind, and I suspect he may also have silent reflux. We'll be seeing my GP next week for our six-week check-up and I'll be mentioning all this at that time.

But anyway - I will post more here in the coming days (or even later today) but I just have NOT had much time lately. Sorry about that!

Today however, I am going to cut and paste in here a message I just put up on the message board I chat on over at Babycentre.com.au. I think it's pretty interesting and maybe someone will google "Osteopathy for babies" and find this to help them with their own newborn. Honestly someone needs to print an instruction manual for these little creatures and then we won't have to go through so much uncertainty and trial/error learning!!!

So anyhow - here is the story of Dexter's first visit to the Osteopath...

Hi everyone!

Well Dex had his first visit to the Osteo yesterday afternoon. I had decided to try Osteo to help his wind issues, which seem to be the main reason I have trouble settling him to sleep during the day. As you may remember he was taking an hour or more to settle at times, then only catnapping (less than an hour sleeps) during the day. I had started giving him Infacol (for the wind) which seems to help, but we still have our good and bad days. A good day will see him have at least one 2-4 hour sleep during the day - a bad one will see him have no more than 15 minutes maybe 3 or 4 times and be awake and upset (overtired probably...) a lot of time. He doesn't actually cry that much unless he has bad lower wind pain (when he SCREAMS!) but if he's awake he wants to be held upright which means I get NOTHING done.

So anyhow I had read on this forum and others (the Huggies site forum is GREAT for advice on this...) that going to a Chiro or Osteo could help. I decided on Osteo because I feel it is gentler, and my brother recommended a practitioner to me who is hugely respected here on the Gold Coast and has been practicing (and specialising on children) for 20 years.

So I went along yesterday afternoon. Dex had not slept much all day and was quite cranky, but fell asleep in the car. He woke up after we arrived and was cranky, wanting to be held. I'd fed him about 90 minutes previously.

Well the Osteopath asked me LOTS of questions about my pregnancy, Dexter's birth, and how he is eating/sleeping etc. It was quite an extensive 'interview'. While asking me these questions he was walking around his office holding Dexter, face out, against his chest with one hand around his chest and the other under his bum. Dex was so calm during this - and the Osteo later told me he was 'releasing' Dexter's diaphragm and loosening up his tummy by moving his legs in a certain way.

After this he lay Dex down on a massage table and then sat behind Dex's head with his feet away from him. While on the table Dex started screaming and did two LOUD farts. Seems that some of that wind had loosened. The Osteopath felt Dex's belly and said that it felt VERY tight and a bit bloated which he thought was surprising because by this time he'd had his last feed 2 hours previous, had done several farts AND a big poo just a little while earlier. He did some work on this area to loosen it up as well.

Then he said "I'll just wash my hands so I can feel his palate", went off then came back and stuck his pinky finger in Dex's mouth. He was feeling around a bit, didn't say much - but then he said "Ok now I'm going to work on his neck". This is where he started using the Cranial Osteopathy technique.

He left his finger in Dex's mouth (which Dex LOVED, he sucked like mad which he never does for me...) and put his other hand at the base of his neck. It didn't LOOK like he was moving his hands at all, but he was obviously applying some pressure because a few times Dex stopped sucking the finger and starting crying very loudly, obviously in pain/discomfort - but this stopped after a few seconds.

This went on for a while and then the Osteopath said "He's very tight at the base of the head. Sometimes I can do this manipulation and get a release in 30 seconds - but as you can see we're coming up to 10 minutes and I'm still trying. It's released a bit, but I want to keep working".
He kept trying for about 5 more minutes and then said he was going to leave it there for today. He'd made an improvement but he wants to see Dex again in a few days. He's booked out for weeks, but he made a special allowance because Dex obviously needs the work, so he's going to stay back one day next week to see us again.

I went to pay for the appointment after this and surprisingly it only cost me $24 after my health fund rebate! Bargain!

I noticed that Dex seemed quite calm after this - I put him in his baby capsule while I paid the account and he was quiet, which is quite unusual for him as he generally dislikes the capsule until the car's actually moving.

I went from there to my Mum's house (about 5 minutes away) and went in for a visit. He needed to be changed and was really good, then got a bit grumpy because it was time for a feed. I fed him and then stayed for another 90 minutes visiting and during that whole time he was just so calm - wide awake, relaxed, taking everything in. He hadn't slept all day but wasn't cranky at all. I wondered whether it was to do with the Osteo - even mum mentioned that he seemed relaxed.

Got him home, and he was asleep in the capsule so I brought him inside just as Dave got home at 6:30pm. He slept for a while then woke hungry, so I fed him till about 7:30pm. Usually at this point we'll put him to bed for the night with our usual routine, but it could be an hour or two - or sometimes more! - before he'll actually fall asleep and STAY asleep for the night. This is so hard on us because we're trying to tag-team our evening meal, I tend to end up cooking quick/easy meals rather than the nice things I used to make us, and we don't get to relax and watch a movie or anything because Dex will keep waking up (every 5-15 minutes during that 1-2 hour period) and we'll have to re-settle him.

Well... last night after feeding I put him down as usual and as usual he fussed and cried a lot. I gave him his dummy (we only use it for night sleeps, it seems to settle the upper wind for him...) and then I did something I hadn't done before ---- I rhythmically rubbed his belly where the Osteo had said he was very bloated and tight. IMMEDIATELY Dex rolled his head to the side and closed his eyes. I kept rubbing for a few minutes - he was asleep!

I quietly left his room, thinking this was a lucky fluke. He DID wake up about 15 minutes later but with obvious lower wind pain - so I did the same thing again, which caused a big fart to come out, and then kept rubbing while he once again rolled his head and fell asleep immediately.
He woke again at 1:15am!!! Then went to sleep a half hour later after his feed, and woke as we did at 6:30am!!!

Now those sleeping periods are pretty normal for him as he DOES sleep well at night, but the settling to sleep thing was just SO different for us. We almost didn't know what to do with ourselves from 8pm with a quiet sleeping baby in the house! I actually felt quite relaxed and realised how TENSE I am normally because I never know if Dex will sleep, or for how long...
Anyhow this morning I fed Dex at 6:30am for about 45 minutes (he is always ravenous in the morning!) then he was really happy to lay in the rocker by himself while I pottered around and had brekky, did chores, got dressed etc.

About 9am he was showing tired signs, I tried to put him down to sleep but he was crying for food (his food cry is very different from every other cry) so even though it was only 2 hours since his last feed, I gave him another one (he's been doing this occasionally of late, maybe a growth spurt?). So after that I burped him, changed nappy and put him down for a sleep. He was laying there, awake but calm for about 20 minutes (he often does that) before he started crying with wind pain. I burped him again, then lay him down and did the tummy rubbing thing again - firstly both thumbs rubbing up/down while my hands sort of loosely hold his sides. Then one thumb rubbing around and around for a bit.

And wouldn't you know it - the same thing happens - he gets into his 'sleeping position' and promptly dozes off. Now - I KNOW we aren't supposed to pat/rock/rub them to sleep but when you're a desperate woman you try it all! And I HAVE tried it all - and although he'll sometimes get patted or rocked to sleep, he never STAYS asleep for very long afterwards.

But this time - well here we are over an hour & a half later and he's still asleep! He woke up once after about 10 minutes with more wind pain, so I did the same thing and we went back off and hasn't woken again. I only do the rubbing for maybe two minutes before he crashes. I don't want to get too excited but it's really like a miracle at this point!

I truly believe that it's not comfort that he's getting from it, it's relief from his pain. I've noticed before that on the occasions where he is in no pain he'll very very happily self- settle and roll over to sleep alone without needing me there. He's not a clingy baby at all - he can be in the rocker in the living room for ages without me having to be there with him, but ONLY when he's not hungry or in pain. Those are really the only 2 reasons he cries most of the time, and the pain has been something I just haven't been able to help him with.

But now I truly believe that the Osteo treatment has loosened things up so now I CAN rub his belly and give him relief, and possibly there is also less wind so this all works more quickly. But I'm really amazed at how things are working right now and I can't wait to update with progress as the days go on, especially after the next appointment.

Honestly - if this keeps up I won't know myself! If I can have a baby that will go to sleep within 15-30 minutes after I put him down for a sleep - well, that will be like MAGIC to me!
Sorry for the long post but I really wanted to detail this so that other ladies may find it helpful down the track to know exactly what to expect and how this can help their own bubbas.