How to get expelled from a US Embassy

...throw up your egg lunch all over the US Ambassador's annual Christmas Party.  Seriously, not the merriest of experiences, but exactly what young Master Luka managed this evening at 1800.  Things were going super, he was once again a main attraction with smiles, cuddles and more smiles abound.  Mommy sang in the Community Choir, then stopped to have a cold beer afterward.  Daddy decided that Luka looked a little hot in his stroller, so removed him - and then it happened.  Poor guy just opened up and barfed* egg everywhere over the floor of the outdoor veranda area.  Needless to say, we were dumbstruck and immediately concerned.  Chris had the wherewithal not to move him, rather holding him like an outstretched rugby ball to finish his business in a neat pile, before I swooped him up and charged indoors to bring him into the cool airconditioned air, just as he blew another load, right down my front (but thank heavens I missed the ambassador's rug!)

I wiped Luka down with cold water on one of the lovely white terry cloths in the Ambassador's guest bathroom, and cleaned myself up some too.  I decided best we head back out and make our leave gracefully or else someone might be concerned, or just deem me rude.  So here we were, Luka covered in egg-flavored puke, and myself looking like I had just participated in the Embassy's annual wet t-shirt contest, not carol singing.

We said our goodbyes, a few fellow parents commiserated mostly by reminiscing about their own offspring's most inappropriate reverse digestion.  Ah, parenthood.

At home, it was a bath, followed by a breastfeed, some more vomiting, some sheet changing, some more breastfeeding, some more vomiting - before mommy and daddy finally figured out just to put him to bed with an empty stomach.

So, at 21h00 we're off to what we believe will be a rough night with the young man.  Don't worry - we're armed with a flight schedule and emergency private number for a doctor in town, just in case.  

* Did you know that there are apparently 339 synonyms for 'puke' on this website.  Hopefully Luka does not make a habit of it and I won't have to learn all of them.

Weight Watchers - A six for our six

After a sluggish performance on the scales recently with all levels of stress that goes with it - I am thrilled to report that our little man finally tipped the scales at 6.04kg (12.25lbs) on Monday!  And this just in time for his six month birthday tomorrow!  The poor nurses at the Sunvalley Pharmacy clinic had actually stopped charging me for his weigh-ins, but I was happy to pay the R30 on Friday (and yes, I know that weight should be taken over a long-term period to see an overall trend and not to be watched daily due to fluctuations - but when your ex-prem has a negative weight gain over 12 days, that's a tough call).

The recent gains is slightly on the high side (as in 500g/1 lbs) in 11 days (45g/1.5oz) per day - or roughly the equivalent of 1 pint of beer (since we are on bottles this week), so we will be watching and adjusting accordingly.

Relief does not begin to describe the feeling - off to the pediatrician on Friday for his last synergis shot before our departure on Tuesday.

Weight Watchers

Weight has always played a very important part in Luka's life.  Obviously, Luka was born very small at 1.777kg/3lbs 14oz (though not bad for a 30-weeker), and we have since had to watch his weight gain very carefully.  For the past month or so unfortunately it has been rather sluggish - prompting the momentary panic over milk supply and other matters as described in this post.  We have adopted a concerted strategy to try and increase his weight gain including introducing solids and engaging in a series of bottle battles to introduce some higher-calorie formula in his diet.

We took Luka for a weigh-in again yesterday and unfortunately his gain remains on the low end at only 100g in six days, which translates to almost 17g/0.6oz a day (when 15-30g is what we are aiming for), though fortunately better than the average 9g a day he gained the preceding three weeks.

While it is normal for prems to gain at lower rates than full-term babies, and even expected that they should be smaller than they would have been had they been born at full term, Chris and I are trying everything to ensure a healthy and normal weight gain for our little man.

Luka's current weight is 5.540kg/12.2lbs.  While he is in the 'normal' range for his almost four month corrected age, it is on the small side - which, with parents like us probably would not have been the case :(

Anyone want to take bets on who will win the Bottle battles?