Misha: 36 weeks

Doctor's visit
We had a follow up visit at Putrajaya hospital for her blood results. She is still having a low neutrophil count. ANC is 1.42 (normal should be above 2). But it's increasing so doctor said its a good sign.
We also got her weight...6.75kg. So she has only gained 100g in the past 2 months! I am trying to not stress over this...

Solids brocolli papaya
I am still doing 3 meals a day (occasionally I miss a meal if we had a busy day). By the end of the week she was eating as much as 100g in a meal. I am trying to slowly increase this amount and hopefully she gains some weight before her 9 month check up.

Nursing
Bacause she was sleeping so much, some days she only did 4 feedings. And she only nurses on average about 5 minutes each time. After our hospital visit I tried to get her to nurse more...I even offer her the other breast but most of the time she refuses. Occasionally she does nurse so I need to keep trying to get her to nurse both sides each time. I guess I need to have faith that she will eat if she is hungry...

Finger foods
She is getting much better at eating now. A few times she would enthusiastically move her hands whenever she wants more of it...not sure if she is trying to sign 'more'. Jing said he saw her sign it once but could be a coincidence. She definitely likes eating it cos every time I bring out the container (I always use the same green Tupperware) she will look at it and if I don't give her something to eat she will start to 'complain'.

Sleeping
No major issues. She seemed to sleep a lot this week! Maybe because of our busy weekend, she had to make up for a lot of lost sleep....but still...her morning naps were more than 2 hours followed by afternoon naps of 1.5 hours. Most days I didn't put her down for her 3rd nap. So she was sleeping around 15 hours a day.
Quite often she wakes up early in the morning (sometimes as early as 6am!). Sometimes she goes back to sleep but there are days when she just plays in her crib till I get her. So far she is okay to wait till 7.30am. One morning she was in there by herself for almost 1.5 hours!

OutingsLast weekend was very busy for us. We had dinners on Saturday and Sunday so Misha went to bed really late! Overall she managed well....it helps that she can eat finger foods now. She is quite content to sit in the high chair and eat while we have dinner. A bit messy but at least we can eat in peace! :)

Misha: 35 weeks (8 months)

Solids oats peach
I am getting more consistent at feeding her 3 meals a day. So far she is tolerating it well...not sure how much she can eat. I usually feed her about 80g which she finishes but I dont't want to give her too much in case she takes less milk.
I notice she will nurse less if she eats too much and she already doesn't nurse much as it is.

Pumping
So I have finally solved my pumping issues. After contacting customer service it appears my pump is worn out! Not even a year of use. Apparently the silicone parts can loose suction as early as 4 months though they're not sure what causes it. I contacted the UK office so they will be sending me replacement parts. In the meantime I got a new pump and am slowly trying to increase my supply. Sigh.... (Frustrated and relieved at the same time).

Milestones
She is finally moving. She does the combat crawl on her stomach...she still tries to get on all fours but can't seem to move forward that way.
She is very attracted to things she shouldn't touch... The first thing she headed for was the laptop wire (so we have move that away). Then she headed for the sockets (so we've blocked that too). Baby proofing is now ongoing.

Signing
I have been trying to sign 'more' to her and I think she is trying to sign back. But not in the right context...or maybe she does it when she gets excited.

Sippy cup
I tried offering her a straw cup but all she does is chew on it. Meanwhile she is getting better at drinking from the spout type. Not sure if it confuses her so I've decided to stop the straw type for a while.

Finger foods
One day I bought some rye bread so during dinner I gave her a bit.She loved it! She was busy gumming it the whole time we were eating dinner. Not much actually got eaten though...and her chair was a mess after it but at least we got to eat in peace.
She is also much better at eating other finger foods now and hardly drops her food. She still holds it in her fist though so she can't get to the part that's in her hands. She has yet to master letting go of her food into her mouth.

Sleeping
No issues here. Most of the time when we put her to bed she will move around a bit then settle down and sleep. Usually around 10 minutes or less. She is still taking 3 naps a day. For a few mornings she woke really early (one time it was 6 am) but she was just playing in her crib till I got her up at 7.30am!
Her morning wake time is extending I think. Sometimes she can do 2.5 hours before going down for her nap...and if she had a good morning nap, the next wake time can be another 2.5 hours.

Mobile
I have removed the mobile from her crib. I notice she was always reaching up to grab it....after taking it down I realized that she must have been pulling the toy down so much that one of the strings attaching the toy to the bars has given way!

Misha: 33 & 34 weeks

Milestones
Misha has started clapping.

She can also make clucking sounds but I can't seem to record this. Still no crawling. She tries but seems to end up pushing backwards. She has not attempted to lift off her legs or hands. Not sure how to help her figure it out (if that's even possible).

Car seat
We have finally stopped using the infant carrier and moved her to a bigger seat. The only problem with this chair is it doesn't have a sunshade so sometimes the sun would shine directly at her face. We've fixed a window shades which helps a bit.

Solids brown rice, mango (from a jar), banana
I have started offering 3 meals a day. But with the pumping issue I was worried about supply so wanted to make sure she nursed more. So I have cut back to 2 meals a day.  Right now she is eating about 80g per meal. I usually make my own food (so its a lot thicker than the jarred types). But I will add water to thin it out a bit. I notice she likes the fruit types more. She will not eat the cereal plain though. I tried a few times and she kept whining (more like wailing) so I had to mix a fruit or veg with it.

Sippy cup
Right now I'm using a Munchkin sippy. I started around 6.5 months but she has only recently started drinking decent amounts from it. Before this she was mostly chewing the spout like a teether. I plan to start offering her the straw type soon.

Finger foods
She is getting better at holding it so a lot more ends up in her mouth rather than on the floor. She doesn't seem to eat much though...at most 3 rings. After that  she looses interest. She still uses a raking grasp to get the food but it's more precise than before and a lot faster.


Separation anxiety
I notice she is starting to cry whenever she loses sight of me. As endearing as it is it also makes things a bit difficult.

Nursing
For the past 2 weeks I have been having issues when I pump milk at night. Most of the time I can't seem to get a proper let-down which has led me to question my supply. Still trying to sort this out. Initially I thought my supply was dropping but I tried to pump in the morning and still couldn't get much milk. So I started to wonder if the pump was spoilt. Bought a pump today and hopefully that solves the problem. I usually nurse her around 5.30pm and the next time I nurse is the next morning. So if the pump was not emptying my breasts at night...it would definitely affect my supply.

Sleeping
We have been quite consistent with our bed and nap-time routine and I think it is starting to pay off. When it's nap time I will usually take her upstairs, turn off the lights, sing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' and put her down. She will roll over to her tummy and I will say 'Goodnight' and close the door. I have been doing this for many months already and now whenever I turn the light off and start singing she will usually start rubbing her eyes and lying down on my shoulder. And she has stopped crying when I put her down. Of course this only works when I put her down at the correct time. If she's over tired then she does fuss a little but not as much as before.

Mobile
We have a mobile on her crib and recently she suddenly turned it on by herself early in the morning. I was watching her through the monitor and I could see she was quite amazed with it. Normally when I turn it on she doesn't pay much attention to it but this time her head kept going back and forth from the mobile to the power box. She kept batting at it a few times too. Luckily it turns off after 20 minutes and she went back to sleep!

Reading
Jing reads a bedtime story to her every night before putting her to bed. And I read to her whenever the mood strikes (usually at least once a day...2-3 books). I notice that lately she tries to grab the pictures off the page. Most of the time she is quite content to just sit and listen to the story.

Schedule
7.30am  : wake up (sometimes she wakes up around 6.30am but usually will fall back asleep), nurse
8.00am  : send Meera to school
8.40am  : get home
9.00am  : feed solids
9.30am  : nap 2 hours after being awake (usually a short nap 45 minutes)
10.30am : wake up , nurse
11.00am : nurse
12.00pm: feed solids, then bath
1.00pm  : sleep (this nap is usually at least 1.5 hours)
3.00 pm : wake up, nurse.
4.00pm : feed solids
5.00pm : fetch Meera
5.40pm : nurse, put down for nap
6.00pm : nap (usually 30-45 minutes)
7.00pm : wake up (if she's still asleep I will wake her)
7.30pm : change to pajamas
8.00pm : bottle (150ml), story, bedtime
8.30pm : asleep