The 3 P's of Parenting Renzo...

So we are into the third week after Renzo's birth, but I can't say that Feli and I have quite settled into parenting life yet (despite that fact that my mother-in-law flew in from China just to help us along for this few months). Late night feedings that can be as torturous as you might have heard from other parents, earth splitting havoc during water baths, diaper changing that seems to threaten your limited supply... But it is through all that I have come to establish the three Ps of parenting... well... at least in Renzo's case... Fully understand the three Ps, taking care of Renzo will be a lot lack hectic... or so i hope..=P

The first P... PEE

During the earlier days of Renzo's life, he didn't really pee much... In fact on the first 2 days at home, he only peed twice... Imagine that when we checked on his diaper, it was clean... puzzling... and to make matters worse, on the 3rd day... his diaper had pee with blood stains (OMG)... It was during consultation with our pediatrician, Dr Ong Eng Keow, did we confirm that they were 'crystals' passed out by Renzo that could indicate dehydration.

So mastering the understanding of your baby's pee would increase your understanding of your baby's hydration condition... =P

Clear Urine - Normal health condition

Yellow/Orange Urine - Indication of dehydration

Cloudy Urine - May indicate blood traces in urine

The second P... POOP

Renzo has been a little Poopersaurus recently, though we didn't need to change his diapers for poops until the third day we brought him home. On his record day, he needed 6 diaper changes due to pooping (and that didn't include the bathe change and his pee changes). His poop started out greenish and more runny and we believe it was because of the breastfeeding early on, but have recently taken on a slightly more yellowish shade since we switched to formula milk as recommended by our PD due to his high jaundice level during breastfeeding.

Breastfed infants are more likely to poop than formula-fed infants, mostly due to the fact that breast milk is more easily digested (so breastfed infants are less likely to be constipated). The excretory take on a more seedy appearance and is more runny and yellowish (like mustard...ewww). Formula-fed infants produces more poop in a session (they poop less daily though) and the excretory are usually firmer and are dark-yellow-to-green in colour. The three colours that should alert you to contact your PD are: red (signaling fresh blood), black (not including the first few days as the black maybe due to the meconium that fills the intestines before birth), or white (which may be due to bile system problems).

The third P... PUKE

Renzo feeds in multiple small meals and will go for a short naps before waking up hungry again (as opposed to other infants who can down 90ml in one sitting and sleep for 3 hours). Problem is, if we try to feed him in excessive quantities, his body will reject and he will puke them out. Well, technically it should be a spit up actually (puking is usually referring to projectile vomitting and usually through the nose as well, which Renzo has only twice or so thus far). To lessen his spit ups, what Feli would normally do is to sit Renzo in an upright position to burp him... and meehhh, the little guy sounds like an adult when he burps (cute~!).

Anyway, spit ups are nothing more than a mess during the earlier weeks of infancy and rarely causes chokes, coughs or pain. But in the event that your baby spits up large amounts of milk, spits up green or brown liquids or isn't gaining weight, you may want to contact your PD.

Lastly, should you experience anything like in this video below... kindly sign your kid up for civil defense... the fire department may require his talents...=P