Sound Advice

Liverpool Echo 19 January 2012

By chance, on the day of Aruna's newborn hearing screening at the Womens' Hospital, we received a letter from the ENT Department at Alder Hey Children's Hospital about William's hearing investigations which took place between 2009-10 when he was suffering from glue ear.  The letter informed us that several children investigated by one particular doctor had undiagnosed hearing loss and, as a result, an internal audit has identified all the children investigated by this doctor who were not seen by anyone else.  William, one of these children, is now to return for re-testing, although we have to wait until the end of February for the appointment.

He was eventually discharged in 2010, and, until recently, I have been confident that his hearing has been quite good.  However, perhaps by unhappy chance, he has recently had a further infection which, I suspect, has resulted in a further bout of glue ear.  He shouts a lot, and doesn't hear us well when speaking with lowered or even normal tones.  (This has been quite wearing.  Since Aruna's birth, I am seeking a little more quiet than usual.)

So, we're off to the GP on Monday to have a look at his ear, and maybe get this follow-up expedited.  Two years ago, I had faith in the care he received at Alder Hey, and today, I still do.  However, a little part of me will worry about permanent damage to his hearing until we get some reassurance.

Aruna's newborn hearing screen 19 Jan (3.5 weeks old)

Reduce, Re-use, Recycle II

Botty Wipes

As I am inherently suspicious of any products with synthetic ingredients in, I am always looking for natural alternatives.  I'm sure some synthetic ingredients are perfectly inert and harmless, but what if their production carries extra environmental costs or by-products?  And, some 'natural' ingredients can be potent chemicals in themselves.  I'd love to discuss this with a chemist.

There are so many choices available for baby wipes now, many more than just even when William was pre-toilet-independent, not that long ago.  When William was newborn, I just used cotton wool and water, which, I suppose is about as natural as you can get.  He did occasionally get nappy rash though.  Over the last 3+ weeks, I have been using cotton wool pads/pleat for Aruna also, although with a homemade wipe solution, and it works a treat:


1 cup chamomile tea
1 small portion soap cube or blob of baby wash
1 t calendula oil
1 t olive oil
2-3 drops tea tree oil
4 drops lavender oil

Make a cup of chamomile tea and add a blob of baby wash (I've tried Neal's Yard) or most recently, a small cube of gentle soap from Larson Farm Naturals and allow to dissolve and cool.  Then add the rest of the ingredients and give it a good stir. 

At the moment, I'm using a small plastic squeezy bottle to apply a small squirt to each cotton wool pad as I use them.  For the cloth wipes, I can just make up a slightly larger quantity and pour it over the wipes in the plastic box so they are ready to use when needed.  I did something similar for William when he was a bit bigger, so rarely bought disposable wipes, and when I did, I still tried to wash and re-use them a couple of times!  So, why am I still consuming cotton wool and throwing it away?  Convenience.  And, it is what I did with William as a newborn, and old habits are hard to break.  I need to address this soon.  I spent some time making up new cloth wipes from old bits of towel and terry bath robe, cotton muslin etc when I was pregnant.  I only have about 20 though, which wouldn't get turned around in the wash often enough to make it 100% cloth use at present.  And, I would like some tiny ones, suitable for her tiny bottom, and, I don't think I can even buy those anywhere.

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A wonderful selection of recipes for cloth wipe solutions can be found here: http://www.zany-zebra.com/cloth-wipe-solution.shtml

Reduce, Re-use, Recycle

I absolutely LOVE charity shopping.  Where we live in Liverpool is well-furnished for charity shops, there being 3 around the corner on the main road where our local shops are, and in Old Swan, a short bus ride less than 2 miles away, a further half dozen or more.  You never know what you might find; some days nothing, and others, just the thing you have been looking for.  One thing I can count on in Liverpool though, is a plentiful supply of baby clothes, however.  Of course, I kept all of William's baby clothes, since we didn't know we were having a girl, thinking I would get lots more use out of them.  Not being one for excessive frills or everything in pink, this would not seem unreasonable, as quite a few were 'unisex' colours.  However, Aruna has awoken in me a newfound love of pink, that was completely unexpected.  She does look particularly pretty in pink.  Perhaps because she is a girl, something deep-rooted in my social subconscience is saying she is more feminine, therefore more delicate, therefore worthy of things with flowers on or a bow or two here and there.  I need to mull that one over, so I will leave it for further exploration some other time.

I have received several gifts of clothes from friends and family for her, although by no means everything that is necessary, some are just lovely.  However, inevitably some are not to my taste, or simply for the above reasons, just don't seem right for her, or aren't practical for her to wear while wrapped up in the sling, where she spends most of the day.  So, I've had lots of fun rummaging in the charity shops twice in the last week to give me some alternatives.  Almost everything has hardly or even never been worn, as I suppose they are when for a newborn.  Some are only supermarket brands which I would normally tend to avoid buying new because of dubious production ethics, however I feel that buying them from charity seems to cancel this out somewhat. 

I am only human, however, so do still buy 'new', probably more often than I should.  I have often chosen things for William from Frugi, especially in their sales.  The quality of the cotton is superb and the sizing generous.

A Christmas Baby

Aruna Anemone Esther, our beautiful baby girl was born on Christmas Day at 5:01am.  The birth experience was so much more than I could have hoped for, perfect, an incredible journey that I will remember and cherish for the rest of my days. 

My mum and brother arrived on Christmas Eve to stay.  William was excited and we had all been enjoying the preparations for Christmas.  After a good supper and William tucked up in bed, I arranged the presents around the Christmas tree and got some stockings ready.  Eventually, we all retired to bed, I at around 11 pm.  Sleep did not come easily.  Around 1:15 I started feeling some cramps and noted their regularity, and just quietly observed for a while.  Several loo visits and some time later, I allowed myself the realization that I was in true labour and gently wakened Raj.  He got up and set to on preparing the pool in the lounge downstairs while I moved around and listened to some birth affirmations by Marie Mongan.

Raj had lit some candles and the oil burner with some lavender fragrance in the lounge and everything felt calm and peaceful.  Around 4 am I made a call to the Womens' Hospital Delivery Suite from the kitchen to alert the on-call midwife to my situation.  By now, I was seeing colours and hues like I'd never appreciated them before, beautiful, although the smell of the rubber hose filling the pool was strong.  Julie called back 10 minutes later and I let her know how I was feeling, which at this point was well, with slightly stronger cramps.

She reassured me she would be here in half an hour.  Raj then phoned Paula, our doula and she set off straight away.  The pool was ready, and in good time because I was ready to get in.  We exhausted the hot water capacity of our ancient heating system, so could not have the water to optimal depth, but I was comfortable.

Perhaps I should've been more prepared for the speed with which things eventually progressed, having had a precipitous labour first-time round.  (With William, my waters suddenly broke almost without warning and I reached transition in less than an hour.)  Of all my preparations for this birth, visualising a slower, more gentle pace to labour was foremost in my mind.  In fact, I did have more warning this time, with things progressing gently between the onset of labour and my getting into the pool about 3 hours later.  However, once I was in the pool, what I previously describe as 'cramps' soon became more all-encompassing contractions and I became very inwardly focused and lost my sense of time.  A tap on the door at about 4:30 indicated Julie had arrived though, and, after a quick scan of my birth plan, she noted my remark that I was now experiencing a lot of pressure: she could see the vertex of Aruna's head.  I was very excited to meet her, so soon now... 

This last half hour or so became the most intense physical experience I will probably ever know.

Julie phoned the second midwife at 4:46 and I overheard her explaining that she didn't think she'd get here in time.  At 4:50 am I gratefully accepted some Entonox, and, it seemed in just a few minutes and 3 or 4 contractions, Aruna was born.  At the first big contraction, the membranes released.  I could see the whole of my abdomen tightening with the contraction and felt an overwhelming urge to push, although I focused on breathing her down.  Her head was born.  After another contraction passed without further movement, Julie gently assisted because Aruna didn't initially achieve restitution (one of the cardinal movements of the baby as it negotiates the pelvis during delivery).  This was easily overcome with a turn of her head and during the next contraction, she was born.  I guided her up out of the water onto my tummy and she gave a lusty cry.

Paula arrived moments after Aruna was born.  (In the end, we hadn't called her early enough as she lives an hour's drive away, but at 4 am, I didn't expect to be looking at Aruna an hour later.)  I was sorry that she had missed being there during the birth but she spent some precious time with us all in those early hours of Christmas Day.  Ann, the second midwife arrived and the others awoke early to find the newest family member resting serenely in her father's arms.  I delivered the placenta sans chemical inducement, gave Aruna her first breastfeed and went upstairs to be sutured after a second-degree tear and rather ragged laceration to my perineum.  All that remained was to rest, celebrate and enjoy an extraordinary Christmas as 4.