Part 2, and I just discovered you can only use 8 smilies per post

Elliot is our second child, our first child, also a boy) was stillborn at 38 weeks, we had no explanation for his unexpected death after a healthy pregnancy. I conceived Elliot 3 months after delivering our first baby and he arrived at 36 weeks, weighing 8 lb and 9 oz. I had developed gestational diabetes but did not use insulin (late onset diabetes runs in my family), I do not have diabetes now.

Elliot had an assisted delivery - first ventouse and then forceps. He was badly presented. I was quite stressed during my second pregnancy.

He was breastfed until he was about 15-16 months old, he weaned himself. He started on solid food at about 15 weeks. He was fed a vegetarian diet until he was about 1 year old. He loves garlic, cheese, pasta, olives, fruit especially oranges, strawberries, grapes and lemons. He loves to lick lemons - "I like it sour" he said to me last week. I liked to suck lemons as a child, so does my dad.

He got his first tooth at 6 months and had all of them by 2 years. He experienced a little discomfort, which often simply needed a cuddle to sort out, he also responded very well to chamomilla teething granules and was also occasionally given one of the local anaesthetic gels. He likes to suck his thumb, and will suck either but seems to prefer his right. Occasionally his breath will smell foul at night or in the morning (a sour kind of smell).

He has had a few colds and tummy bugs but generally healthy. His snotty colds have usually responded to Pulsatilla. He had "hand, foot and mouth" disease when he was 1 yr old with pin-head blisters on his hands and feet and a sore mouth.

He has been given antibiotics several times - about 18 months ago developed thrush in his genital area and between his thumb and forefinger which has recurred several times on both hands. This has been treated with allopathic fungal creams, but has not recurred since I gave him a homeopathic Candida remedy early this year. He had an ear infection last year that responded to Chamomilla. I noticed a large raised wart/ verruca on the ball of his foot a couple of weeks ago.

He had an operation to repair a hydocele at 18 months. He also had an un-descended testicle, but this resolved after our regular homeopath prescribed a remedy - sorry I can't remember what that was.

He had oral vitamin k after his birth and has had all the routine vaccinations in the UK . This decision is not mine alone. (E's father does not believe in homeopathy).

He was admitted to a special care baby unit at just over 2 days old. He had severe jaundice as a result of the bruising from the ventouse. He was given antibiotics when he was in the special care unit for a minor infection around his umbilicus.

He was a sleepy baby at first - put down to the jaundice and being a month early. They also gave him soy formula in the intensive care unit (at 2 days old) as my milk had not come in (dairy intolerance in his fathers family). He was slow to nurse and I expressed which was mostly given by a naso-gastric tube. He did not regain his birth-weight until he was 5 weeks old.

end of part 2

Janyce