The Fourth Trimester

Happy 3 months Matisyahu

Did you know that the first three months of a baby's life is like the fourth trimester.  Although they are in the world, they are helpless creatures, their head is wobbly, they need to be fed, changed, and handled very gently.  Some mammals are almost ready to walk once they are born, I hear with humans our brains are large, so in order for the head to fit we are actually born 3 months too early.  Many people say its at the 3 month mark that the sleep is longer, it seems like your baby actually sees you instead of looking wide eyed into space.  Their tummy gets used to digestion outside of the womb, and you see them smile and make the cutest sounds.

My gorgeous little man was born 5 weeks early,and with some things they are their actual age, and with other things their gestational age.  I really feel that every baby is so different, but it is interesting to see how big other babies his age are.  I am nursing only, sometimes formula fed babies get bigger faster.  With my other two kids I nursed til 10 months, and then my milk ran low.  When Eli Tzvi was 9 months I got pregnant with Ziona Sofia.  With my daughter at the 10 month mark I got a bad cold, and she was eating great, so I felt good stopping at that point.

I am hoping with Matisyahu to only breast feed only for 6 months and then start introducing foods.  With Eli Tzvi we started rice cereal at 4 months because of a condition he had called Pyloric Stenosis.  At one month the muscle between the stomach and the intestine gets so tight, no food could go through, and the child projectile vomits.  He was eating fine, and it was my first baby, but I went to the emergency room the first time and they told me I wasn't burping him right.  The second time I was afraid he was going to choke on his vomit, Thank God they took an ultrasound and saw his pyloris was the problem.  In our modern world its a quick surgery through the belly button, and now he is a healthy big boy.  Apparently 1 out of 3 first born males get this condition, and in third world countries the children without the surgery have to be fed through a feeding tube.  I remember the night before I took him to the emergency room the second time, he was sucking on his pacifier so hard,later I realized he was starving.

With each child I have experienced something different and challenging, but for my personality I would rather them be checked out, know what is wrong, handle it, and then never have to go to the hospital again - only to the pediatrician for checkups.  I am all about preventive maintenance, that is why what I do is so important to me.  Doctors and health professionals have their place, but I firmly believe if you treat your body right with nutrition and exercise, and plenty of happiness and find your own spiritual path - you will live an amazing life full of health - without health there is nothing.

Wishing everyone a conscious healthy active lifestyle, find what fits you, I can help you figure it out.
Coach Yulia