Our daughter, Inaaya Henriksen

Inaaya came to us all wrinkly like she was all dried up and dehydrated. When we took her to the doctor at Damai, she told us that Inaaya was badly dehydrated. The doctor at Ampang Point said the same thing, and thereupon began the constant feeding of water.

But later on when we met Dr. Ong, my favourite local doctor, he told us that Inaaya was probably and overdue baby. Prolonged period in the womb usually results in skin that seems as if it was shedding.

Hidayah and I applied copious amounts of lotion everytime we cleaned sweet uncomplaining Inaaya, but it did little to help her. She continue to seem pruney and wrinkly. Only when we began applying olive oil did her skin began improving almost immediately. The effects were quite amazing.

Inaaya was a beauty right from the start. When I took her out to Kim, that day at that house, his first words were, in a voice tinged with awe, "She's beautiful, our daughter." Indeed she was a delight to feast ones eyes upon.

She has little almond eyes, and cute little lips with the most adorable nose that is full of character. She watches me with little mousy eyes, she looks at me as if she is lost in her own thoughts and that look drives me to brinks of geram frenzy. All that I want to do is pinch those little cheeks and smother her with kisses.

She has problems though getting settled after her feeds. She can't seem to burp. And no matter how long I try to burp her, rarely does her burp come up. So for the first two weeks of her life Inaaya suffered from bouts of distended stomach, hard stools, flatulence which caused her great discomfort.

But she is not much of a bawler, more of the occasional cry here and there with a lot of wriggling, moaning and snorting.

Her Tok Mami cried when she was just how adorable little Inaaya was, but she also cried a little to know that now Taufik might suffer from bouts of broken heart from jealousy at having to share us with his new sister.

Inaaya loves bathing. Though her first bath was not a success. We were in Gopen, when Mommmy realised that we had not ever bathed her, only wiped her down twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. Ridiculous we were she thought. Wash Inaaya in cold water she urged. And so a cold bath was started for Inaaya in a little green tub. When Hidayah placed her in the water, she screamed her heart out. Her body stiffenned. She cried and cried and cried. The water was freezing. Hidayah was shattered and resented that I allowed our mother to push me to do such a thing to my little infant.

But after that first bath, Inaaya was only ever immersed in tepid water. And boy does she enjoy that tremendously. She is absolutely silent and observing when we wash her in the tub. She loves it so much that I try to prolong it as safely as possible. It must surely be the highlight of her day.

And the next thing she enjoys, which her Mak Ngah discovered by chance was a good infant massage as she is being oiled with olive oil and slathered with lotion. She becomes absolutely still, as if she is savouring the massage, the moment as her legs are being softly kneaded, or her arms stroked, her back slathered gently.

Now, everytime we take off her clothes she becomes still and happily waiting. She is quiet and does not cry when the cold draft of hair hits her skin, she just waits patiently for the moment when she would be immerssed in luke warm water.

She also quietens down substantially when she is swaddled in preparation for breastfeeding. True to Pavlov theory, she knows that this is a precursor to a lovely breast feeding session with Mommy.

I have begun breast feeding Inaaya for a week now. And that is a whole story in itself. Which I will write about tomorrow, cause I am feeling awfully sleepy now.

Love,
Nina Bobo