Kai's Baby Dedication Ceremony

What is a Baby Dedication Ceremony you ask?

A Baby Dedication is a ceremony in which believing parents, and sometimes entire families, make a commitment before the Lord to submit a child to God's will and to raise that child according to God's Word and God's ways. Many Christian churches practice Baby Dedication instead of infant Baptism.  You can also see Bible.org for more in depth information on the actual process.

The service was held at the Collymore Rock Church of the Nazarene and service began at 8am. Kai was dressed up nice in his three piece, all white suit and we arrived fashionably late. Kai's Godparents, Lakeisha, Deborah and Dillon came to be apart of the occasion along with his grandmother Heather, Uncle Antonio and other family members. I must say, he was well represented today. Missing from the service was his other God parent, Darwin, who lives on another island and was unable to make it since his girlfriend is also soon expecting a bundle of joy.

We made sure to put on a bib on Kai after we dressed him and it stayed on all the way to the church... at least his outfit would remain intact should he decide to spit up. Thankfully, he slept through the entire Ceremony and the little picture taking session at the end. His uncle Antonio was the photographer for the day, so will upload the photos to his facebook page as soon as I receive them.

We spent the rest of the day at a family luncheon and had a mini island tour. We are all very exhausted, and had a long day which was after a long night... not as bad as usual, but we're still a little sleep deprived. We had a wonderful day, completed an important milestone for Kai, ate some good food, had some good laughs and we are ready to tick off the next thing on the list.

Kai in the Big City

Good night, it has been a while since my last blog post but between work, Kai and fitting in sleep... somehow, I just haven't had the time. Much also has not been happening to blog about. Kai is now just over 7 lbs and feels like 15 lbs. His face is now round and chubby and has some big soft cheeks to die for. As I said in a previous post, we changed his formula and Deborah also changed her diet to see if it would help with his constipation. I happy to report that he no longer has that issue, but he still has gas every now and then. The silver lining with the gas is that it no longer smells like it would clear a room.

Now for Kai in the big city; Kai had an appointment at the Polyclinic in Oistins for his 4 week check up, Deborah got a wealth of information from the nurses on duty and encountered a student nurse who was here from North Carolina who couldn't contain her excitement on seeing him. She exclaimed how adorable and cute he was and as usual Kai is clueless to the fanfare going on around him. On walking the streets, we are now starting to get used to people stopping in their tracks to exclaim how cute the baby is before carrying on, while others walk up to us for a closer look and to enquire his age and try to talk to him. While Deborah was sitting at the bus stop waiting to head to Bridgetown, a lady that was already sitting there could not take her eyes off of him. She was caught in a trance and maintained it until the bus came, on the bus now she didn't sit too far and made sure everything was good, even leaping into action when it looked like Kai's baby bag was going to fall off the seat.

We were originally headed to town to collect a package but on realising the location of the business, we opted for delivery so Kai could get out the midday sun. Even with an umbrella, midday sun in Barbados is a force to be reckoned with. We decided it was best to purchase something to eat and just get out of town, so after weighing the options and distances, we decided on Chicken Barn which was supposed to be the healthier option to KFC or Chefette. We stepped through the door and like a scene in an old western the whole place went silent and looked at us. I had to make sure there was nothing on me and after a few seconds everyone went back to their conversations and watching the World Athletics Championships on the television. There was a line and it was kinda crowded but it moved quickly, plus we didn't want to miss the next bus out of town and the time was fast approaching.

All in all it was like any other day out in public, the usual stares, comments and fanfare, and as usual Kai slept through all of it. He is however becoming more active and his eyes are open a lot longer, for hours at a time just looking around the room. He looks directly at you now when you are talking to him, and depending on his interest level will determine how long he maintains it. We also found out during the check up at the polyclinic that his testicles have descended, he's also warming up to the idea of having baths and doesn't cry as much, sometimes not at all.

Ohh, forgot to mention we also applied for his ID card, which was a pretty quick and painless procedure... I always expect to spend at LEAST 2-3 hours at government places to get anything done. Next step is his passport so we can take our Canada trip next year that we postponed from winter season this year. Wouldn't want to subject our little guy to the height of winter so soon... I'm not even sure I want to subject myself to it, but would love to see the Ball drop in Times Square and the Festival of Lights at Niagara Falls... anyway, here are some pictures of Kai before we headed out to Oistins and Bridgetown. Don't forget to check out the facebook at https://www.facebook.com/kaikaihaynes

Kai's Tummy Woes

Good night everyone, as I said in a previous post, Kai was having some issues with Gas and Constipation. We took him to Dr. Jhagroo and she advised us to change his formula and for his mother to also change her diet. She advised her to cut out all dairy products and peas from her diet, no eggs either. Deborah was also having some issues with milk production caused by Edema, the medication given for the Pre-eclampsia and other factors, so Kai had to have a formula supplement to go along with her breastfeeding. The Doctor suggested adding oats to her diet to help with milk production and also Fennel Tea, which has lots of medicinal purposes including being a treatment for flatulence.

We had originally started Kai on the Similac SOY pictured above, but even though it is advertised as being for Fussiness & Gas, it was not very effective and lead to Kai's constipation and also some really horrible smelling gas... I mean clear a room, bio-hazard type of horrible gas. 

Under direction from Dr. Jhagroo we changed his formula and started him on the Similac SENSITIVE. Since then Kai hasn't really had a issue with constipation, and we have noticed a huge difference in smell when he passes gas, in that you can hardly smell it at all. 

Our baby is on the road to recovery and normalcy and seems much happier. He even spends more time now with his eyes open then before, maybe like an hour or so... don't know if that is related but it sure is great either way.

What formulas have you tried that didn't seem to work for your kid, and what where the effects that caused you to change them?

You can leave your answers in the comment section below.

Kai's 1st Doctor Visit

Last night Kai was very irritable with gas and what appeared to be constipation. Today is Wednesday and he didn't have a bowel movement since Monday, now it isn't uncommon for a newborn to go a day without a bowel movement but we could hear and see that Kai was straining. He was up for most of the night crying, breastfeeding and drinking formula. This was the first time that it was so bad that we didn't sleep a wink all night, we pumped his legs, gave him an ounce of water that was boiled then cooled and rubbed his tummy.

It was pretty tough to see our little guy in pain, especially when we were battling sleep deprivation and couldn't calm him.

Once again our plans to register Kai was pushed back as we called the Doctor who was recommended by my cousin to set an appointment for the same day. We had heard a lot of great stuff about this Doctor and in stressful situations it's always nice to have friendly and understanding people to interact with. Our appointment was set with Dr. Ranita Jhagroo from the "Well Kids Clinic" in Wildey. We were even called when the appointment ahead of ours was expected to run longer than expected and asked to come 30 mins later. This is pretty good since it minimises the amount of wait time after you arrive to see the doctor. We were greeted by two very nice young ladies at the front desk and after taking some information for our first visit we were seated in the waiting area. The waiting area was nicely decorated and themed with Winnie the Pooh characters painted all over the walls with a play area, a separate breastfeeding room and a flat screen television showing cartoons of course.

As expected, we didn't wait very long before we saw Dr. Jhagroo and we were shown to her office. We spoke for a while about our challenges and what brought us to her office. I must say thought that it felt more like friends getting together for a chat than a doctors office and it was very calming. After we spoke and asked any and all questions, she began to assess Kai. The entire time he was sleeping and wrapped up in his blanket and on first glance she exclaimed how cute and adorable he was. Now the office is air conditioned and set to 22 degrees C and my child does not like cold. We stripped Kai down to his pamper and she somehow managed to keep him calm throughout the entire assessment. She checked him from head to toe and the entire time Kai was passing gas. I must say that this had to be super gas, because in my wildest dreams I would never expect newborn gas to smell that way. This kid would clear a room!!

In the end she recommended we change his formula from Similac Soy to Similac Sensitive and for his mother to also change her diet and avoid dairy products. Gripe water was also recommended should we get another repeat of the "night without sleep". This was the most thorough doctor visit I have ever been to and we also got a sample of he new formula to see if it helps alleviate the gas and constipation problem. We even shared a few laughs with the girls at the first desk on our way out and definitely left with a feeling of that we belonged. Needless to say, Dr Jhagroo is now Officially Kai's Paediatrician. He has already had a bowel movement for the day and almost back to his old self, so we feel a little better. We are also hoping for great results from the formula and diet change so our baby boy will have less gas and easier bowel movements.

Dr. Ranita Jhagroo has received the Official stamp of approval and excellence from The Book of Kai and I would recommend her to anyone. 

Kai's Island Adventure

Today was supposed to be Adventure Day, we had lots of errands to run and it was about time for Kai to see some more of the land. Our first stop was Skymall, we always get good reception there and everyone is always so thrilled to see Kai. Almost three weeks after his birth, he still turns the heads of the people working and visiting there. One lady whom we assume was going to shop, met us at the midway point between Trimart and the mall; and at first glance of Kai started to walk backwards while expressing how adorable he was. She wanted to know his gender and age, but at first her quick action to walk backwards and across our path threw us off a bit. 

There was also another case in Cost-U-Less aka Cost-U-the-same-amount-as-any-other-store where while shopping these two older ladies asked us if they could take Kai home with them. Deborah smiled and told her that she can't because we would miss Kai, to which the lady replied that we would be allowed to visit. I'm not sure if Kai secretes pheromones that attracts ladies who want to kidnap him or what, but if he has this effect at this age and 98% of the time he is sleeping... I don't want to see how it will be when he is walking and talking.

We went all over the island today, from Haggatt Hall to East Coast Road, from Mile and a quarter to Britton's Hill and all in between. I took Kai to visit his older brother Dominic today as well, He is 7 years old and has been eager and waiting since he heard of Deborah's pregnancy to see his little brother. I can just see that the two of them will get along just fine... I know boys will be boys and bothers will have their little tiffs, but that's all apart of life and they will work it out. There is also Jayden, he's my cousin Janelle's son (around 2 years old) and and since we grew up together, she would also like our kids to have the same bond we had. So Kai, Dominic and Jayden will have lots of play dates, and hopefully exhaust each other enough that they sleep good at night. I almost forgot about Arianna, she is Deborah's cousins daughter and she is 4 years old, Ari was pretty ecstatic when she first met Kai and even asked her mother if they could take Kai home. So I'm sure that she will be included in the festivities and games.

Now back to our little trip, the rain was falling today and had some pretty spectacular cloud coverage. It looked like something from a movie and I was just waiting for a tornado to touch down. As we got past Farley Hill and into St. Andrew and along the East Coast road, we could see the mist just covering the top of the hills and for a moment it was as if we were in another country. When we reached close to St. John Parish Church the mist was all the way to the floor and we really couldn't see that far ahead of us, now I don't know if this is a regular occurrence but I've never seen it and thought it was pretty awesome. 

Now all of this happened and we saw lots of pretty interesting things while on the road, and would you guest that Kai slept through ALLLL of it? Oh well, we have lots of time to do it again when he is awake, and much more. So Kai's Island Adventure pretty much passed him by, but he was there. *chuckle*

Before we started our journey I snapped a few pictures of Kai. I will only put one here but you can follow along via his official facebook page for The Book of Kai. The facebook page will be the photo gallery, provide short status updates and provide easier interaction while the long stories will be posted to the blog. So head on over to facebook and "Like" the page.