Well, I took Ebony for her checkup with the Maternal Child Health Nurse on Tuesday and was rather alarmed to discover she has only put on 90g since she last got weighed 2 months ago!

Last time she got weighed, she was 6.240kg, and now shes only 6.330kg! The nurse is concerned as last time she was weighed she was below the 3rd percentile, and now shes REALLY below the 3rd percentile! She referred me to my GP to get her checked out further in case there is some underlying reason why shes not gaining weight.

I went to the GP yesterday, and she is referring me to see a paediatrician at the childrens hospital.

She's just started on formula within the last 2 weeks (she was being breastfed but my supply basically stopped... I was lucky to get 30mls when I expressed BOTH breasts!), and has just started taking a real interest in food so I'm hoping that things will start improving naturally now that she's eating more... still very worried though!

She seems healthy otherwise... just very tiny! She's a munchkin!

Well so far, I've successfully managed to keep Ebony off the boob, and she's even taken 2 bottles of formula! She seems very picky about it though and will only take the bottle if I use a specific teat, and it has to be at just the right temperature. Not really warm, and not cold... what I call more like room temperature!

Still, the transformation is HUGE! It's like she's a completely different baby! She is sleeping through EVERY night now. She goes to bed around 7.30-8pm and is not waking up till about 9 - 9.30am!!! She's even becoming a lot more adventurous with her food! She's had a nibble of some cooked carrot sticks, brocolli and even some small slices of nectarine!! The vegemite toast would still have to be the best thing though... she's actually starting to eat it rather than just suck on it!

I tried her with some fingers of banana today but she turned her nose up at them... so I tricked her!!! I roughly mashed some banana up and mixed it in with her banana custard and she quite happily ate it! hehehe... I is too sneaky for you Little Miss!!!  Maybe I'll have to start trying this trick with other stuff too? Do you think it would be ok to mix pumpkin and custard too???? LOL

Well... it's been hard work, but it seems I have made a huge breakthrough again! For two days now, I have only been offering Ebony expressed breast milk in a bottle but she's been taking it. It took a lot of effort to get her to accept it, but it seems to be working - FINALLY!

I have found that the only way that works is if I lie her down on either her change table, or in her cot (although the change table seems to work the best!), as if I hold her, she just fights it - still what ever works!!!!

The funny thing is, I thought the hardest part would be when it came to night feeding, since she usually wakes every 2 hours... however, this has changed too!

The first night, I gave her a bottle at around 10pm (although it wasn't much... only about 60ml) and she started crying at about 1.15am. By the time I had boiled the kettle to heat up the bottle (our microwave is stuffed!) she had gone back off to sleep. I figured there was no point going back to bed as no doubt she would wake up again soon since she had already gone 3 hours instead of her usual 2, and she had only had a small amount before she went to sleep... so I sat up...

I had a cup of tea.... expressed another bottle.... still nothing... but I thought, Murphy's Law, if I go back to bed she'll wake up as soon as I start drifting off, so I decided to sit up and wait.... STUPID ME!!! I did the dishes... tidied up mine and my partners computer desks... tidied up the lounge room... I completely lost track of time and before I knew it, it was 4.15am - THIS was when she decided to wake up!

I gave her a bottle (which she basically inhaled!) and she went back to sleep... till 10.15am!!!!

The same thing happened last night too... gave her a bottle at about 8.00pm (again only a small amount), she woke crying at 12.15am... by the time I'd got up and boiled the kettle, she had gone back to sleep! I was smart this time though.. I expressed another bottle (since I was up anyway!) and went back to bed! It is now 8.30am, and I'm still waiting for her to wake up!

I think the most frustrating thing has been the fact that I seem to be permanantly attatched to the breast pump now... I've tried formula but she flat out refuses that.

I'm going to keep persisting with that too though, as hopefully that will start to change too and I can gradually get her off breastmilk altogether! My goal is to get her completely off by September-October... as I'm getting married in October and the thought of having to express on my wedding day seems impossible!!! I'm gonna have a hard enough time getting INTO the dress... let alone having to strip down to express all day!!! PLUS there's the hens night to think of... my dear friend Jim Beam... oh how I've missed you!!! hehehehe  

Well... who would have thought... little Miss Sweet Tooth who only ever eats custard and pureed apples has taken a liking to vegemite on toast! She's had a few nibbles and seems to like it. It's not much but its still progress! She quickly realises its much more fun to rip it up into little pieces and drop it all over the floor... and then suck the vegemite off her fingers! Still... she's putting it into her mouth which is definately a milestone as far as I'm concerned!

Just want to say a big thanks to those of you that have come to my rescue with suggestions about getting her onto solids... I'm starting to think that maybe the baby-led weening method may work for her since she doesn't seem to like me feeding her!

Still working on the not sleeping at night thing, but I'm hoping that once the eating picks up that will improve too??? *Fingers crossed*